Midday last Saturday (4 March), I drove to Julie's house. After lunch and some wonderful conversation, we made our way to Downtown West in St. Louis. This was the long-awaited day of St. Louis CITY SC's home opener at CITYPARK.
Before arriving at the pre-match party at Schlafly Tap Room, I had to park my car on Locust two blocks from the party site. Julie and I then walked to the street in front of the Tap Room where the party took place. Our mates from the St. Louligans were there, along with The Thieves, Fleur de Noise, St. Louis City Punks, and the Riot Grrrls. Julie and I contributed to the St. Louligans' Charity du Jour, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in St. Louis. I also bought a St. Louligans' scarf and a button from Fleur de Noise, the latter of which I added to my cap.
Julie and I enjoyed beer from Schlafly, and later ate an early dinner from Locoz Tacoz's food truck set up by the Tap Room. We also chatted with others in the crowd and took in the scene. Hundreds of CITY SC supporters thronged the party area, plus a few supporters of the match's opponent, Charlotte FC, were there.
Nearly two hours before kickoff, Julie and I marched with the hundreds of supporters around the block north of CITYPARK, led by the drums of Fleur de Noise. Many of the bystanders along the streets and looking out from the buildings along our route cheered us. After about 20 minutes, our group arrived at CITYPARK and made our way to the Supporter Section in the stadium's north end.
Both of us found our places to stand in the Supporter Section as the teams warmed up on the pitch. The stadium was packed, a sellout of 22,423 spectators. The excitement reached a fever pitch as the starting elevens of both teams walked out the tunnel onto the pitch. Julie and I were ready, along with everyone else.
The St. Louligans unveiled a huge tifo while the rest of the seating areas displayed colored cards to welcome everyone to this first home match. St. Louis CITY SC kicked off the match and the cheering never stopped. Fleur de Noise's drummers set the beat and the capos led the chants throughout the match.
Charlotte FC scored the opening goal 25 minutes in, but CITY SC kept up the pressure. An errant back pass by a Charlotte player became an own goal in the 41st minute. Just into stoppage time, a hand ball in the Charlotte penalty area led to a penalty goal for CITY SC. The home side was up 2-1 at halftime.
CITY SC made a few scoring attempts in the second half, finally connecting in the 71st minute in front of the Supporter Section. We all went into maximum pandemonium at that point.
The final whistle left CITY SC 3-1 winners, and nobody left their seats. The players came over towards the Supporter Section to applaud us before moving around the stadium to give the other spectators their thanks. All of us (except for Charlotte FC and their supporters) left CITYPARK very happy. Julie and I walked to my car and we returned to her home.
The next morning, we had breakfast before watching some Serie A matches on TV. I then had to leave to get ready for refereeing youth soccer later that day, but Julie and I will have some special time next weekend.
Later.
Websites of Entiries Mentioned in This Post:
St. Louis CITY SC: St. Louis CITY SC (stlcitysc.com)
CITYPARK: CITYPARK | St. Louis CITY SC (stlcitysc.com)
Schlafly Tap Room: Tap Room Brewpub - Schlafly Beer
St. Louligans: Saint Louligans – Supporting Soccer in the St. Louis Area – St. Louligans – Supporting St. Louis Soccer (stlouligans.com)
The Thieves: Home | Up the Thieves! (stlouligans.com)
Fleur de Noise: Fleur De Noise
St. Louis City Punks: SLCP Home (slcitypunks.com)
Riot Grrls: SLCP Home - About Riot Grrrls (slcitypunks.com)
Locoz Tacoz: Authentic Mexican Food Truck in St. Louis | Locoz Tacoz
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society: Lower Plains | Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (lls.org)
