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Why I’m a Fan of Orlando City: Love at First Sight

Published

9 years ago

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Welcome to the refreshed The Mane Land! To celebrate the new look and feel of our sports communities, we’re sharing stories of how and why we became fans of our favorite teams. If you’d like to do the same, head over to the FanPosts to begin. We’re collecting all of the stories here (see below for details of our fan contest). Come Fan With Us!

I had heard Orlando was getting a minor league soccer team a few months before the 2011 season began and I had made a mental note to drop in and catch a game. At the time, my daughter had been playing travel soccer on a State Cup team and I had been getting more and more into the sport over the previous few years, catching games from England, Germany, Spain, Italy, Colombia, Brazil, and even Ecuador through various cable channels. It began as a way for me to study tactics, formations, and techniques to help my kid, but I soon grew to love any competitive soccer and would watch GolTV for hours.

I attended my first professional game as a kid, when my grandfather took me to the Meadowlands in New Jersey to watch the old NASL’s New York Cosmos crush the San Diego Sockers, 5-0. My late grandfather (or “Granda,” as I knew him) was from a town on the outskirts of Newcastle and brought his love of the beautiful game with him when he arrived in the U.S. from England, when my mother was still a few years shy of her 10th birthday. I never forgot that first game at Giants Stadium that my Granda took me to.

I’d also been to see the Columbus Crew a couple of times on visits home, as they were my hometown MLS team, but they didn’t start up until the year I graduated from college and moved away, so even though I kind of had a rooting interest in them, I felt disconnected as I was living in Texas, then New York, then South Florida, and — finally — Orlando. I had never seen a live professional soccer club representing the city I was actually living in before. That would be a new experience.

I wanted to go to Orlando City’s home opener, but life got in the way. Things continued to come up and keep me away from the Citrus Bowl week after week. When I heard Newcastle was coming to town for a friendly in late July, however, I had no more excuses. This was the club my grandfather had been to see when he was young. I knew it was finally time to make an Orlando City match a priority.

When I arrived at the stadium, the first word I thought of was “fun.” There were booths giving away trinkets and raffling prizes. There were contests and games. There was a band giving a concert. This wasn’t a sporting event. It was a party.

I went to that match along with a couple other soccer dads with kids on that East Orange Soccer Club travel team. We got decent seats close-ish to midfield and settled in, thinking our little minor league squad would get run over by the Premier League side, but hoping we could give them a game.

Some of the names on the visiting side were familiar to me, having seen Newcastle on television — manager Alan Pardew and players like Jonas Gutierrez, Papiss Cisse, Hatem Ben Arfa, Demba Ba, and a few others. None of the names on the home side rang any bells. That would change.

I’d learn some names that day from the team in red — no iconic purple kits just yet — like Miguel Gallardo, Kevin Molino, Jamie Watson, Rob Valentino, Lewis Neal, Yordany Alvarez, and Dennis Chin. These are the players that stood out for me not only that day but forever, as I returned for more games, including the playoff run that year on the way to the championship. That day they began as strangers to me, but by the time the game ended, they were more like hometown heroes, regardless of where they (or I) came from.

Newcastle clearly didn’t expect such fight from a minor league American team. Valentino, Watson, Neal, Alvarez, and Mechack Jerome continually stepped into passing lanes to break up play. As the supporters beat on drums, the Lions seemed to keep that same rhythm on the pitch. It was mesmerizing.

English teams aren’t expected to be in top form in July, but I wasn’t going to excuse Newcastle on this day. This was a team that regularly went toe to toe with big clubs like Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, etc. Individually, they should be expected to beat their man when playing some second (or third) division side from the U.S. But as the game wore on, Orlando City grew stronger in the heat and humidity while the visitors were sapped by the oppressive Florida weather and relentless host team.

Gallardo made heroic saves when called upon but there was a growing sense that Orlando City could take something from the match. The Lions were getting closer to a breakthrough. A shot would fizz just wide of goal or players would be just inches away from linking up. It was coming. You could feel it.

Then Molino scored. The Citrus Bowl erupted. It was less than half full but it still sounded in full voice. The visiting Toon Army was stunned. And it could have been 2-0 or worse for the visitors if not for a couple of desperate saves down the stretch.

When the game kicked off, I was an interested party. When the final whistle blew, I was in love with a football club.

That one friendly match turned into a passion. The Citrus Bowl became a regular destination for me and I attended games until the team relocated to the Disney campus during stadium renovations. Although I didn’t attend those matches at ESPN Wide World of Sports, I kept up through game streams, news reports on TV, and online stories.

Soon, MLS became a conversation and then a reality. A sports blogger covering college football and basketball for the previous several years, I began to plan out a site that would provide news, analysis, and context for fans of the team. I knew some folks at SB Nation and reached out, in hopes that my dumb little idea would blossom and grow. It did. I found some like-minded, talented, passionate kindred spirits who wanted to grow our free WordPress site into something. The folks at SB Nation took notice of our content, voice, tone, and professionalism — and mostly, I like to think, our passion. They accepted us into the fold in late 2014 and the rest is Mane Land history.

None of what we’ve done over the past (almost) three years here would have happened without my visit to the Citrus Bowl that July night in 2011. That’s where and when I let a minor league soccer team get under my skin and plant a flag in my heart.

It was love at first sight.

Win a $500 gift card to Fanatics.com! Reader Sweepstakes Instructions

  • Readers who wish to participate should go to our FanPosts section and write a post with the headline 'Why I'm a fan of Orlando City.’
  • Posts should be under 800 words. 
  • We will collate these posts into a section and participants will be automatically entered into a random drawing.
  • That's it!

Here are the full Official Rules for the reader sweepstakes.

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. SB Nation Why Are You a Fan Reader Sweepstakes starts at 8 a.m. ET on May 25, 2017 and ends at 11:59 p.m. ET on June 8, 2017. Open only to eligible legal residents of the United States, 18 years or older.  Click here for Official Rules and complete details, including entry instructions, odds of winning, alternative method of entry, prize details and restrictions, etc.  Void where prohibited or restricted by law. Sponsor: Vox Media, Inc.

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Orlando City

Orlando City vs. San Jose Earthquakes: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More

Orlando City restarts its 2026 MLS campaign late tonight out west at San Jose.

Published

1 week ago

on

July 22, 2026

By

Image of Braian Ojeda taking a shot in a friendly against FC Dallas.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Justin Glatt

Welcome to your match thread for a late night midweek matchup tonight between Orlando City (4-9-2, 14 points) and the San Jose Earthquakes (10-3-2, 32 points) at PayPal Park (10:30 p.m., Apple TV). This is the only scheduled meeting between the teams in 2026 and the first time the teams have met since 2024.

Here’s what you need to know ahead of tonight’s match.

History

Orlando City is 3-1-3 in the previous seven MLS meetings with the Quakes since the club joined Major League Soccer in 2015. The Lions got their only away win in the series in the last meeting and enter tonight 1-1-2 on the road against San Jose.

The teams last met on May 18, 2024, with Jack Lynn coming off the bench to score the game’s only goal. Lynn’s strike in the 89th minute broke the scoreless deadlock and lifted the Lions to a 1-0 victory.

The teams met in Orlando most recently way back on June 22, 2021, with the Lions beating the Quakes down, 5-0. Orlando got things started with an early penalty kick goal by Nani, followed by braces from Benji Michel and Daryl Dike to easily put the game away. The lasting memory from the game is Michel’s celebratory dance wearing a cowboy hat that came out of the stands.

Prior to that Orlando City romp, the last time the teams met was on Aug. 31, 2019 when the Lions got freight trained 3-0 at Avaya Stadium, giving the Quakes their first win in the series. San Jose’s offense came via a Chris Wondolowski brace and an early opening goal by Magnus Eriksson. Orlando looked flat and weary out of the gate.

The Lions were victorious in Exploria Stadium in the 2018 meeting on April 21, a 3-2 Orlando win. It was the first win in the series for either side after three straight draws. Chris Mueller, Sacha Kljestan, and Dom Dwyer gave the Lions a 3-0 lead before Florian Jungwirth pulled two back in the game’s late stages.

The Lions led all of the first three matches in the second half only to see San Jose pull level, with two of those tying goals coming late. In the 2017 meeting, Carlos Rivas finally broke the scoreless tie and gave Orlando City the lead in the 81st minute, but Wondolowski spoiled the Lions’ night with an equalizer two minutes later as the teams drew at Avaya Stadium, 1-1.

In 2016, the Lions were gut-punched in the 94th minute in an emotional match that ended in a 2-2 draw. It was the first home match following the Pulse nightclub tragedy and what appeared to be a storybook ending to a cathartic win turned sour on a last-gasp equalizer by Shea Salinas. Seb Hines — now the Orlando Pride’s head coach — opened the scoring for Orlando, only to see Chad Barrett tie it up. Julio Baptista restored the lead in stoppage time, but Salinas ruined everything.

The two teams also drew in the first meeting, a 1-1 affair at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, with the Lions down to 10 men after Brek Shea was sent off in the first half. Kaká and Wondolowski each scored from the penalty spot four minutes apart in that initial meeting.

Overview

The teams meet tonight to get their post-World Cup portion of the season started. Orlando City has been terrible on the road all season long, keeping only one MLS opponent under two goals all year away from home and allowing five goals twice (at New York City FC and Nashville) and six goals twice (at LAFC and in the team’s most recent match away at FC Cincinnati just before the break).

Orlando City is a putrid 1-6-1 on the road this season, and now the Lions must face the Western Conference co-leaders tonight before coming home to face Supporters’ Shield-leading Nashville SC at home on Saturday. They’ll have to play at least tonight’s game without Martin Ojeda, who is out with a thigh injury sustained some time between his first-half goal a week ago in a friendly against FC Dallas and the time the availability report dropped on Tuesday.

But it isn’t all bad news for the Lions, who should have both Antoine Griezmann and Dike in the lineup. Griezmann was the club’s highly prized and widely publicized summer Designated Player signing, while Dike’s return to Orlando came together more recently, following his departure from West Bromwich Albion. They’ll help the club’s offense, but the attack hasn’t been the issue in 2026 — it’s been the historically porous defense, which is on pace to shatter the MLS record for goals conceded.

Meanwhile, San Jose is one of the first half of the season’s biggest surprises, as the Quakes have been outstanding in 2026. Scoring 34 goals while conceding just 15, San Jose is among the league leaders in goals scored (tied for third), goals conceded (third), and goal differential (+19, third).

The Earthquakes are 4-2-1 at home and are coming off a 3-1 road win at Portland in their last game prior to the World Cup break. San Jose boasts Golden Boot challenger Preston Judd, who leads the Quakes with 11 goals, adding two assists in his 15 appearances. Ousseni Bouda has chipped in five goals and three assists. Niko Tsakiris leads the team with seven assists to go along with his two goals, but he’s still recovering from a lower body injury and is not available tonight. However, the arrival of Timo Werner (four goals and five assists in just seven games) has truly elevated Bruce Arena’s Quakes, and he’ll need to be one of the main focal points for the Orlando defense.

To have any shot at taking something from this game, the Lions will need to play better road defense than they have all season. Orlando can score goals, but with Ojeda out, Griezmann will need to adapt quickly, and someone other than the team’s leading scorer will need to find the net.

The Lions will play without Ojeda (thigh), Joran Gerbet (knee), Nolan Miller (knee), Colin Guske (international duty), and Clovis Archage (international duty). In addition, Marco Pasalic may or may not have returned to the team after the World Cup. He was not in training Monday, although interim head coach Martin Perelman said he expected the Croatian back soon. The Earthquakes will be without Nonso Adimabua (lower body), former Lion Earl Edwards Jr. (lower body), DeJuan Jones (lower body), and Tsakiris (you guessed it, lower body…come on, San Jose).

Match Content

Official Lineups:

Orlando City (4-4-2)

Goalkeeper: Maxime Crepeau.

Defenders: Adrian Marin, David Brekalo, Robin Jansson, Griffin Dorsey.

Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Braian Ojeda, Eduard Atuesta, Tiago.

Forwards: Justin Ellis, Antoine Griezmann.

Bench: Javier Otero, Bernardo Rhein, Tahir Reid-Brown, Zakaria Taifi, Iago, Wilder Cartagena, Luis Otavio, Harvey Sarajian, Tyrese Spicer

San Jose Earthquakes (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Angus Gunn.

Defenders: Jamar Ricketts, Reid Roberts, Daniel Munie, Benjamin Kikanovic.

Defensive Midfielders: Beau Lerouox, Ronaldo Vieira.

Attacking Midfielders: Timo Werner, Nick Fernandez, Ousseni Bouda.

Forwards: Preston Judd.

Bench: Jonathan Gonzalez, Dave Romney, Paul Marie, Jack Skahan, Jack Jasinski, Ian Harkes, Francesco Montali, Max Floriani, Darius Johnson.

Referees

REF: Elijio Arreguin.
AR1: Adam Wienckowski.
AR2: Mike Nickerson.
4TH: Timothy Ford.
VAR: Jose Carlos Rivero.
AVAR: TJ Zablocki.

How to Watch

Match Time: 10:30 p.m.

Venue: PayPal Park — San Jose, CA.

TV/Live Stream: Apple TV.

Radio: AM 810 FOX Sports Radio Orlando (English), Mega 97.1 FM (Spanish), Nossa Rádio 1160 AM-WRLZ (Portuguese).

Social Media: For rapid reaction and live updates, follow us on Bluesky Social at @themaneland.bsky.social or follow Orlando City’s official Twitter (@OrlandoCitySC) or Bluesky (@OrlandoCitySC) feed.

Enjoy the match. Go City!

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Podcasts

PawedCast Episode 542: Tampa Bay Friendly, McGuire Traded, OCB Beats Cincinnati, and More

Lions maul the Rowdies in friendly action, OCB wins on the road, and it’s transfer season.

Published

2 weeks ago

on

July 14, 2026

By

Image of Antoine Griezmann and Ivan Angulo celebrating a goal in a friendly against the Tampa Bay Rowdies.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City welcomed I-4 Derby rival Tampa Bay to Inter&Co Stadium for a friendly match on Wednesday and then proceeded to bludgeon the Rowdies with a couple of hammers named Antoine Griezmann and Justin Ellis. The two attackers combined for a goal and four assists in a 6-0 beatdown of the team from the Gulf Coast, with five different Lions scoring and Griffin Dorsey forcing an own goal. We discuss Griezmann’s first minutes with Orlando City, what the team showed in its formation, and how good Justin Ellis’ vision is.

Oh, and it’s also transfer season now. Duncan McGuire is on his way out and Marco Pasalic reportedly will follow soon, while a new left back may be headed from Spain to Orlando.

Following all of that, we discuss Maxime Crepeau being added to the MLS All-Star Team and the announcement that he’ll participate in the 2026 MLS All-Star Skills Challenge.

Our mailbagbox asked us about which World Cup semifinalist players we’d want to join Orlando this season (if we could only pick one), and more. Remember, if there’s anything — and we do mean anything — you want us to address on the show, just ask us by tweeting it to us at @TheManeLand with the hashtag #AskTMLPC, or hitting us up on Bluesky Social with that same hashtag.

After the mailbagbox, we dive into OCB’s 2-1 road win at FC Cincinnati 2. It wasn’t the prettiest game by the Young Lions, but they managed to do enough to earn three points on the road, where they’ll stay to face Chattanooga on Saturday. We briefly preview that game.

Finally, Orlando City will be in Dallas Wednesday for the second of two friendlies leading up to the restart of the MLS season. It’s unlikely we’ll get a lot of details about that one, but we’ll see what happens. Maybe the FC Dallas folks will help us out.

Be sure to rate and review our show wherever you get your podcasts. Remember, we’ll read any five-star reviews we get on Apple Podcasts on the next show.

If you’d like to support our independent writing and podcasting efforts, we’d love to have you as a subscriber or donor over at our Buy Me a Coffee site.

Here’s how No. 542 went down:

0:15 – Orlando City crushed the Rowdies, the transfer season is in full swing, plus: hey now, Crepeau’s an all-star.

28:50 – The mailbagbox is always good for a hypothetical scenario.

36:54 – The Young Lions slipped past Cincy and head to Chattanooga, while the senior Lions head to Dallas.

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Podcasts

SkoPurp Soccer Episode 119: International Break, USWNT, Louisville Preview, and More

The Pride return from a long international break looking to get their first-ever road win against Racing Louisville.

Published

3 months ago

on

April 22, 2026

By

Image of Haley McCutcheon scoring the opening goal in Orlando's home playoff win over Seattle.
Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

It feels like months since the Orlando Pride last took the field, but the calendar says otherwise. If you believe calendars, it’s only been a little less than three weeks, but time moves strangely in the post-pandemic apocalyptic world.

Anyway, we don’t have a match to recap, so we touched on a couple of Pride players putting the ball in the net during the international break and chat a bit about the United States Women’s National Team’s three-game friendly series against Japan. Emma Hayes used a lot of players, and the team looked solid for two of the three matches, but the rotated middle game seemed a bit disjointed. Hayes has greatly expanded the player pool and will have plenty of options when the World Cup approaches.

Our mailbagbox had questions about a potential change in the NWSL schedule, as the league explores adopting the fall-to-spring slate, and opposition own goals. Remember, you can ask us anything by hitting us up on Twitter at either @TheManeLand or @SkoPurpSoccer and using the hashtag #AskSkoPurp. You can use that same hashtag and hit @TheManeLand.bsky.social up on Bluesky. Or you can visit our show page, scroll down, and fill out the handy form. We’d also appreciate any ratings or reviews you can leave wherever you get your podcasts, and if you do that on Apple Podcasts, we’ll find them easily and read them on the show.

After the mailbagbox, we turned our attention toward Friday’s late afternoon tussle with Racing Louisville in Kentucky. The Pride have never won on the road against Louisville, and it’s about high time they did. This match begins a congested push to the June World Cup break, and although Friday’s hosts aren’t high in the table, the Pride must be at their best to get a road result in this fixture. We look back at the series history, compare the two sides, provide our key matchups in the game, and make our final score predictions.

If you’d like to support our independent writing and podcasting efforts, we’d love to have you as a subscriber or donor over at our Buy Me a Coffee site.

Here’s how Episode 119 went down:

0:15 – We open the show with a little banter about the Pride in the international break and the USWNT’s series vs. Japan.

9:03 – The mailbagbox features questions via both eletronic mail and social media. We welcome all modes of delivery.

19:59 – The Pride travel to Louisville to face Racing. They’ve never won in Kentucky, but we inform them how to do so.

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