Fans

Nashville SC was recently awarded MLS status for the 2020 season. Expansion clubs in the recent past have quickly worked to build soccer-specific stadiums (Orlando SC, LAFC and Minnesota United). Nashville's currently playing in the USL Championship, and the club announced that it will be building the biggest soccer-specific stadium in the U.S. on the Nashville fairgrounds.

The initial renderings of the stadium looked pretty raw, but still interesting: full roofing and upper/lower decks and an assumed capacity of around 27,500.

It's not everyday that you see a women’s professional team pack a stadium, especially women’s soccer. However, the reigning Serie A Women champion packed the house this past Sunday during its match against Fiorentina, reaching an Italian record of 39,027 fans in attendance. 


Everybody knew the atmosphere inside Nippert Stadium for FC Cincinnati’s home debut in MLS would be special, but a 3-0 victory over 2018 MLS Cup finalists Portland Timbers made it an unforgettable afternoon for a capacity crowd of 32,500. 

Should we mention that over in Columbus on Saturday, the Crew drew 9,687 fans for a match against FC Dallas, a difference of 22,813? Don’t shoot the messenger.

Yesterday, Barcelona opened a ten-point gap at the top of LaLiga with only ten matches remaining, all but guaranteeing the club’s fourth league title in five years. The performance that earned the cushion was a 4-1 away victory over Real Betis at the Benito Villamarín, and all four Barca goals were of the highest order.

Things are building nicely for FC Cincinnati ahead of its home opener against the Portland Timbers on Sunday. The expansion side produced the shock of Week Two when forcing defending MLS Cup champs Atlanta United to settle for a 1-1 draw at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and FCC’s upcoming opposition is still without a win after getting thumped 4-1 by LAFC. 

Back on Feb. 27, Mortensen Construction officially finished work at Allianz Field and handed the keys to the kingdom over to Minnesota United FC. The club began breaking ground at the site in St. Paul in June of 2017, but all of the work was completed on schedule with United set to open the stadium on Apr. 13 with a match against New York City FC.

After two seasons at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, hype is frantically building towards United’s 2019 home opener, especially since the team has shown immense promise on the road to begin the new season.

The Second City Derby between Birmingham rivals Aston Villa and Birmingham City was decided by a 67th-minute goal from Villa captain Jack Grealish, who’d earlier been punched in the back of the head by a pitch invader.

In the match’s ninth minute, with the ball in the Birmingham end, a City fan could be seen entering the pitch near the corner flag and hightailing it towards an unsuspecting Grealish.

After landing a punch, he was immediately apprehended and led away by police while blowing kisses to the crowd.