The Verde explosion: Fans make Austin FC debut at Q2 an 'incredible experience'
Photo Credit: Scott W. Coleman
The soccer community in Austin and Austin FC majority owner Anthony Precourt had been waiting for professional soccer to arrive ever since Precourt announced his intentions to bring a Major League Soccer team to the city in September 2017.
When Matthew McConaughey walked onto the pitch in a bright green suit with a bongo drum at Q2 Stadium on Saturday night, it finally did.
“It was an incredible experience,” Austin FC head coach Josh Wolff said. “We’ve been working a long time to get to this day. The way we’ve been taken in from this community from day one, and certainly that relationship and how it’s grown in the last six months — it’s impressive.”
Austin FC played San Jose to a 0-0 draw in the first MLS game at Q2 Stadium, but it was the sold-out crowd of 20,738 that truly stole the show.
Just before kickoff, Austin FC supporters unfurled the first tifo — a choreographed display of a colorful banner that normally depicts something important about the city or team.
The first-ever tifo, which was worked on by supporter groups Los Verdes, Austin Anthem and La Murga de Austin, featured McConaughey, Willie Nelson, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Barbara Jordan a Barton Creek Salamander and more.
“We have the best fanbase all around the league,” midfielder Diego Fagundez said. “It was amazing. When I stepped out right before the game started, I got the chills. It was something special. The whole team was ready for it.”
Fagundez especially has a special relationship with the supporters.
After scoring the first-ever goal in club history on the road against Colorado, he sprinted to the mass of Verde-clad supporters and threw up an ‘LV’ hand sign to signify the Los Verdes supporters group.
“The atmosphere and energy, and their awareness of the game of when they’re cheering and booing, it was incredible to see,” Wolff said. “I’m proud of the organization and all of those that made today possible.”
Since September 2017, so much has happened to make Q2 Stadium and Austin FC possible.
The fan rallies in front of Austin City Hall started early on, the late-night Council meeting lasted for weeks before a stadium site was approved in August 2018. McConaughey and a few other local investors joined the ownership group in August 2019, and the team broke ground on Q2 in September 2019.
Wolff and sporting director Claudio Reyna were hired in November 2019 and Rodney Redes became the first-ever player signing in June 2020.
Austin FC began its first MLS season in Los Angeles against LAFC and started the year with eight straight road games.
“It’s been such a long road to get to this moment that when you finally walk out of the tunnel and you finally hear the fireworks and the crowd erupt, it was kind of surreal,” forward Jon Gallagher said. “The fact that they were able to sustain that energy, a few of them were probably cramping up with everything they were doing.”
After a midweek match in Minnesota, Austin FC returns to Q2 to take on defending MLS Cup Champion Columbus Crew SC, the team Precourt previously owned and the one he wanted to move that started this whole process in the first place.
It figures to be another emotional night, but the Verde Wall is sure to be just as loud.
“This is just the beginning,” Fagundez said. “We’re going to make this a place that no one wants to play at. We’re going to make this a fortress.”
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Originally published at https://www.hillcountrynews.com/stories/the-verde-explosion-fans-make-austin-fc-debut-at-q2-an-incredible-experience,87459?