Mary and Dieter Karnstedt are Rowdies' royal couple

(Follow link for full article.) 

http://www.wtsp.com/entertainment/places/bobby-lewis-on-the-road/mary-and-dieter-karnstedt-are-rowdies-royal-couple/238195531

Mary and Dieter Karnstedt are Rowdies' royal couple

Bobby Lewis, WTSP 6:30 PM. EST June 10, 2016

The only time the couple have missed a Rowdies game was when Dieter spent a short time in the hospital last year. He began attending Rowdies games in 1976.

“Because I love football,” he said very matter-of-factly. “Not soccer. Football. Let’s get that straightened out.”

He played professionally in Germany and caught his future bride’s attention while cheering like a maniac in the stands decades later.

“He was sitting this far away and he was purple. He’s screaming at the linesman,” recalled Mary. “I said to my girlfriend, ‘That guy’s going to have a heart attack.' I didn’t meet him until two years later.”

They wed in 1983. He took her to see the World Cup qualifying matches in Orlando and she was hooked on soccer – ahem – football.