Sports Opinion: MLS This Could Be Us But…
Posted: Friday, May 20, 2016 1:14 pm
Just imagine the possibilities. A team playing in front of a capacity crowd. The most loyal supporters club marching through downtown on their way to the stadium for the evening’s match. The entirety of the game’s attendees standing at once and singing their support for the soccer team on the field, led by a three-time English Premier League champion who has played in multiple World Cups for England. Sound’s like David Beckham’s Miami dreamland? Well imagine my surprise when I realized this exists already, and it’s name is the Tampa Bay Rowdies.
During a recent trip to Saint Petersburg, Florida, I had the opportunity to attend a Rowdies game at Al Lang Stadium, a former minor-league baseball field that has been turned into a soccer mesa for the Tampa Bay area, complete with affordable concessions, roaring capacity crowds, and a beautiful view with Tampa Bay quite literally across the street from the stadium’s eastern sideline.
That night, former Chelsea player and England World Cup regular Joe Cole was introduced as the team’s newest signing, immediately making an impact in the Rowdies’ 1-1 draw with fellow NASL team Rayo OKC.
While sitting there and watching the game play out in front of me, watching as the supporters’ group “Ralph’s Mob,” who had earlier marched through downtown, including a stop at the bar that is named for the team, called the referee a “wanker” after a bad call, it all suddenly hit me…this could be Miami!
Certainly, this atmosphere, as well as that in Orlando for the MLS’s Orlando City and WPSL’s Orlando Pride, is precisely what Beckham and his investment group has been dreaming of when trying to put together a team in Miami for the past few years.
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