With a population of over 8.5 million in New York City; it is a melting pot of people, traditions, and cultures from around the world. One of the traditions people bring with them to New York City is their love for soccer and their favorite team – so much so that the city has an abundance of supporters groups that follow clubs big and small from around the world.
Whilst most people enjoy sleeping in on the weekend, others can be found in their favorite soccer bar as early as 7am to catch their beloved team in action on a different continent and time zone. Bars such as Legends and Smithfield Hall in Manhattan host multiple supporters groups and is awash with groups of fans huddled around whichever TV is showing their match. Certain supporters groups are so large that they are spread out in multiple bars. Liverpool, unsurprisingly given their storied history, have so many fans that they are split into two main supporters groups – one based in Carraghers Bar (named after the former Liverpool player) and one at the 11th Street Bar. The latter becomes so busy on match days tat several other bars in the neighborhood have to open early too to handle the overflow of Liverpool supporters all trying to watch the match with their fellow reds.
A lot of the groups have an interesting mix of people – some are ex pats that have relocated to the city, whilst others are native New Yorkers that have adopted a team for a variety of reasons. English Championship team Sheffield Wednesday began its supporters group in 2012 with just four members at its first meetup. The group has grown so much that they now operate under the umbrella of Owls Americas which includes Wednesday supporters in cities all over North, Central and South America. The Owls Americas also began its own Podcast which has a regular feature of inviting a native guest fan on to discuss how they became a Sheffield Wednesday supporter in a different continent. The answers have highlighted the randomness of how fandom can be created, such as liking the colors of the jersey, a love for owls (Sheffield Wednesday’s nickname), and the fact that former US National Team legend John Harkes playing for them in the early 90’s.
Aside from watching the game, many fans also love to play too. In the past there have been tournaments in the city for supporters groups to represent their team in competition. The most recent such event was won by the New York Whites – the supporters group for Leeds United – but this was a few years ago. Paul Curran is a member of the New York Whites who played when they won the tournament. He recalled how much fun it was to meet like minded soccer fans from around the world and how many of those friendships he struck up during the tournament have endured.
Given the desire of fans to play and represent their club in New York City, Sofive Brooklyn wanted to ensure that these fans have an outlet to do so and have set up a Supporters Group Tournament on November 17th. The hope is that this can grow into something regular and provide a reliable platform for fans to represent their club in soccer action and celebrate with a few post-match beers with other like-minded fans from around the world. Because regardless of where we are originally from, who we support or why we support them… soccer is a universal language spoken by billions – and Sofive Brooklyn is here to provide service to the millions of which that reside in our city.
Learn more about our supporters club or sign up by clicking here.