CHARLOTTE (QUEEN CITY NEWS) – It’s been a long time coming for soccer fans in Charlotte, and there’s a lot of anticipation building for both fans and the players.
The reach for Charlotte FC has gone global already.
Ticketholders for Saturday’s match represent 12 countries:
U.S., Mexico, Canada, Nicaragua, Colombia, Brazil, Spain, Italy, Germany, Ireland, U.K., Australia.
Fans from 48 different states bought tickets leaving out Arkansas and Vermont, however, according to the team fans from all 50 states have purchased some sort of gear.
“Wild and craziness,” said fan Jeremy Heller. “I’ve seen all the European soccer games on television.”
“[I] was super excited when Charlotte FC started,” said Jeff Birch.
“I’m just glad that we have a team, to be honest,” said longtime soccer fan, Tiffany Eck.
Saturday’s inaugural home game against the LA Galaxy will be the team’s second game so far this season, and maybe their first win.
“Honestly, watching the first game, I actually think we did play well,” Eck said. “Like most people, I’m going to blame it on the refs.”
When fans do pack the bank, they’ll be a part of MLS history in more ways than one. The fan attendance will set a new regular-season record with north of 74,000 fans.
“We can’t wait for this game, all players,” said Charlotte FC striker Karol Swiderski. “We speak all the time about this in the dressing room and this is something special to have $70,000 people behind you.”
Today, the players put in the work on the turf, and just a stone’s throw away, fans were gearing up at the team store.
“I think the city is starving for it,” Birch said. “We’ve got the Panthers. We’ve obviously got the Hornets. There’s a whole segment of the population that is ‘football first’ and so I think this is really filling a pretty substantial gap.”
Whether or not Charlotte FC gets a win or loss, they’ll walk away with the recognition that this season is the start of something special; but a win wouldn’t hurt, right?
“We got it,” Eck said.
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