ORLANDO – Adrian Heath admits he has never seen anything like it. Phil Rawlins is blown away by it. Luke Boden says it could only happen in America. And the people responsible for it insist they are ready to take MLS by storm.
The "it" in question is Orlando City SC’s fervent fan base, a rapidly-growing band of zealots who believe they are about to unleash a unique level of soccer following on Major League Soccer.
Led by the high-profile supporters’ groups the Ruckus and the Iron Lion Firm and boasting a de facto mascot known as the Orlando Unicorn, City’s supporters have already made a name for themselves in the USL for their crossover Latin-European style, which also boasts some Caribbean flair.
“It’s something completely different in all my experience,” said Heath, OCSC’s head coach. “It has the kind of community style we used to have in England back in the day.”
“They never cease to amaze me,” Rawlins added. “There is so much passion for soccer here, we couldn’t have chosen anywhere better in the whole country.”
With a 60,000-strong sellout now guaranteed for their MLS debut on Sunday against New York City FC, even the players have caught fan fever.
“It’s hard to explain to people back home,” said Boden, a native of Sheffield, England. “I think we’re lucky to be at the center of all this fan frenzy and it means a lot to us.”
What makes the fan base special is its distinctive ethnic mix, with much of Central Florida borrowing from first- and second-generation immigrants from soccer-loving parts of the world such as Brazil, Central America, Cuba, the UK and Spain. In fact, there are more Brits residing in Florida than anywhere outside Britain, while Brazil’s love affair with the Sunshine State is growing on an almost daily basis.
Rawlins remains firmly in touch with the fans – many insist he is the biggest fan of all – and Ruckus president Jerry Updike believes they are creating a peerless environment around Central Florida’s flourishing MLS hotspot. Their own membership has swelled past the 500 mark, making the Ruckus the club’s largest organized fan group, and they typically join with other groups like the 300-plus member Iron Lion Firm to provide a dynamic backdrop on gameday.
“The one thing we pride ourselves on is not restricting ourselves to a particular style,” Updike explained. “We want creativity through diversity. We have a huge South American membership and influence, a huge British group and even a German group, all under the one umbrella. That means we can be very old school but also very modern. We’re always open to new ideas.
“Tailgating is super-important to us, for example. But then we have the march into the stadium and a tifo project for every game, which we have already budgeted for. It should get pretty lively.”
The 1.2-mile walk from downtown Church Street to the Citrus Bowl is a bit too far for a mass march. This season’s pregame festivities will focus on tailgating and the march into the stadium from the parking lots. But City’s soccer-specific stadium, scheduled to open in 2016, will rise just five blocks from the Bar Central entertainment district, and the atmosphere should reflect the proximity.
Keeping the environment under control, however, will be an important challenge for Orlando City's supporter groups as the club joins MLS. Some negative headlines followed the fans back from Tampa after the local derby with the Rowdies last season, and the episode led to the club to suspend the Ruckus and ILF and introduce new guidelines for the official groups.
“The hardest thing with a group of any sizeable number is managing the behavior,” admitted Updike, an attorney by trade.
The two main groups band together for game days to form "The Wall," a massed drum-led phalanx that leads the fans into their section behind the south goal at the Citrus Bowl. It is a stirring call-to-arms and promises to be one of the spectacles of the season.
And then there is the aforementioned Orlando Unicorn, a.k.a. Ruckus member Danny Voss, who has become widely known for the vivid purple unicorn costume he dons for every game. He was even front and center at this year's MLS SuperDraft, where he snagged a photo with MLS Commissioner Don Garber.
“I have no idea how it started,” Updike said of the unicorn. “We have members in both groups who found their voice through costumes. The groups between them have: Deadpool, Ruckador [a Ruckus Luchador], a Narwhal, a Viking, a Teletubbie, and at some point we had a Predator. Needless to say, as long as they show up and bring their voice and passion for 90 minutes, people can wear whatever they want.”
It’s the soccer that draws folks, and it’s the community that keeps them, according to Charles Tolman of the Iron Lion Firm. And nothing figures to bond Orlando’s purple-clad faithful more than an expansion season full of intrigue, world-class talent and high expectations.
“The big thing is the club includes the fans in everything they do,” Tolman insisted. “You get a sense of community year-round. We are the third pillar of the club, if you like, and we spread the gospel.
“The atmosphere we generate has a completely different feel to anything else. It’s all organically different because of the area’s make-up. And, win or lose, we are going to be at ‘11’ the whole game.”
