Story of the Club

Friday, May 16^th, 2014 – Detroit City FC 3, Michigan Stars 0

The signs are everywhere: longer lines and waits at the gate, increased TV, radio, and newspaper coverage, even street musicians who typically make their living downtown have made their way to Cass. The secret is out and Detroit City no longer plays in a bubble, isolated from the mainstream sports consciousness. All that remains for the club to have truly “made it” is a snarky article from Drew Sharp criticizing Ben Pirmann’s personnel decisions or questioning the ownership’s commitment to winning a championship.

After Zach Myers’ second goal capped a flurry of scoring, it had become clear that the Michigan/Dearborn/actually Dearborn Heights Stars were no more than an FC Sparta reboot with a fresh coat of paint. The vast differences between the two clubs remain, and this “Sparta 2.0” provides nearly as stark a contrast with DCFC as its predecessor. One club builds on its successes from year-to-year, one club has a carefully crafted image and style, one club is run as a professional enterprise.

The key to City’s success is that it was treated as a first-class, big-league operation from day one. It may have seemed a little overly-ambitious at first, but so do all worthwhile ventures. Two years on, that attitude has remained constant, resulting in growth that only seems to be accelerating.

Late in the second half, with the game in hand, a spontaneous chant broke out, the main stand shouting “DC,” the supporters’ section responding with “FC.” Moments like these are what make lifelong supporters. Just a couple minutes of pure electricity on a Friday night can do more good for a club than thousands of dollars of advertising and marketing or a lifetime of free ticket giveaways to local youth teams.

With The Chant and Kevin Taylor’s goal against Adria, the first two weeks of this season have already given us two of the most memorable moments in club history. Now, with increased awareness and a few more pairs of eyes watching, this team has the chance to make an even bigger name for itself. The flip side is that the players will be under more pressure to perform, but that’s the way life is under the bright lights.

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Random Thoughts

–The Game No in-depth tactical analysis needed here – City looked like a talented, experienced team playing at home and the Stars looked like a first-year team cobbled together with pieces from Dearborn Stars, FC Sparta, and a few others playing on the road. City’s attack was sharper than against Cincy and the defensive performance was even stronger – the Stars had one real chance, forcing a clearance off the line by Zach Schewee

–Standouts Zach Myers – AllHeDoesIsScore. Will Mellors-Blair bagged a goal and got an assist; just three games into his City career, he’s already become one of the team’s main attacking threats. Chaka Daley (UM HC) found himself a good one. The Myers-WMB pairing looks better with each game and is probably the most positive on-field development this season. We knew the defense and midfield would be good, and now it appears the attack is catching up.

Honorable mention to Josh Rogers, who shadowed [name redacted] all night and never let him get into the game.

–Attendance Another game, another record. 2641 is the new number to beat, topping the previous mark of 2634 (last year’s Great Lakes Semifinal vs. Cleveland). I was pleasantly surprised by this – the trend of the past two years tended to be: good crowd for the opener, a little bit lower numbers for the next couple games, then a steady increase peaking at the end of the season. At this rate, my preseason prediction of a 1750 per game average looks a little too conservative. Mr. Duggan better hurry up and get his USL Pro team in place because we’re rapidly capturing his potential customers.

–This Week in PirmannWear ™

–The Cross-Field Chant Amazing. Let’s make this a regular thing.

–Terry Foster attended the game, and you can read his articles here and here. Good introductions to the team and supporters. Money quote from The Man in Black:

“This is all about us working together and I would rather keep it this way,” he said. “If an MLS team comes we will probably lose a couple of people but I am not going. You have to remain dedicated to the club. You fall in love with the team. You don’t fall in love with the league. I take a bullet for this team. I take a bullet for these people. I text the owner. I text players. You can’t get that with the pros. I feel that soccer people are more passionate because they have a connection with the club. Why would I give that up?”

–Video Recap

Saturday, May 10^th, 2014 – Detroit City FC 1, Cincinnati 0

Detroit City’s third season-opener lacked the high-drama of their mid-week US Open Cup debut – there were no red cards, no second-half comeback, no penalty shootout, but there was something else. It was more of a feeling than anything, a sense of familiarity not unlike being home. Those ten long months of waiting suddenly felt like only a couple and, for me at least, that “new club” feel that DCFC once had was gone. That’s not a bad thing at all, but rather, a sign that the club has taken root and now has some history behind it.

City dominated the first half but left the door open by only putting away one of their several chances. Cincinnati had more possession after half time but couldn’t find a way through – each of their three or four direct free kicks went right into the walls set up by Mollon.

I recognized the players, except for a few new faces, I knew all the songs and chants, I knew where to go and what to do and when to do it. It didn’t feel like a novelty or just a cheap way to have fun on a summer afternoon anymore, it felt like a place where you belong.

When people talk about ‘the good old days,’ they’re usually referring to something that has come and gone. We’re lucky because instead of the past, our good old days are taking place as we speak. That’s not to say it’s all downhill from here – certainly not – but beginnings only happen… at the beginning. This thing we have is special, it’s exciting, and it’s ours.

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Random Thoughts

–The Game As mentioned, City completely controlled the first half but weren’t able to put the game out of reach. Luckily, the back four which featured two players making their debuts (Seb Harris at CB and Colin McAtee at RB), and Nick Lewin playing on the left (instead of his usual CB spot) only allowed Cincy to get one or two real chances. And did I mention Cincy’s free kicks were brutal? The ones at the edge of the City penalty area never passed the wall, and the long indirect ones were all caught comfortably by Bret Mollon with no attackers near him.

–Standouts Dave Edwardson got the start at one of the center-mid spots and did very well, breaking up potential Cincy breaks and making some good passes in the final third. He is arguably the best offensive-minded CM on the team and pairs well with any of the more defensive CM’s (Alashe, Taylor, Thompson).

As mentioned in the paragraph above that begins, “As mentioned,” Harris and McAtee hit the ground running. Zach Myers: all he does is score. AHDIS?

On an unrelated note, a few of the guys who played on Wednesday looked a little tired, which is understandable. It will be nice to see what they can do with a full six days between games.

–New Players Colin Helmrich (Mid), Eliot Tarney (GK)

-Best Dressed Coach in the NPSL Is there anyone to challenge Ben Pirmann in this regard? Cardigan for the Open Cup, this for the opener:

No sweatsuits or baseball caps for this man.

–Tifo A strong tifo game is an underrated way to gain recognition for your club and supporters.

Brilliant work by those who dreamed it up, put it together, and deployed it.

–Gameday Experience The attendance of 2147 is a new club record for a regular season game, beating last year’s game against Buffalo (1895). 2147 is also more than double the attendance of the 2012 opener (1072).

The ban on f*ck didn’t seem to have much effect, though the “F*ck Ohio” chant didn’t gain much traction. On the other hand, more and more people keep showing up to games, so it doesn’t seem to be driving many away. It’s still early, so we’ll see where it goes.

Nitpick of the Year: Can we get someone from CT to take down the green pads behind each goal? They hurt the stadium aesthetic and block primo standing/photo-taking areas.

–Cincy Players: Class The Cincinnati team applauded the supporters’ section after the final whistle. If they’re not careful we might actually have to start respecting them.

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Up Next

Wednesday, May 7^th, 2014 – Detroit City FC 2, RWB Adria 2 (3-1 Adria on penalties AET)

The last verse of our supporters’ anthem, Dirty Old Town begins :

I’m gonna make me a big sharp axe

Shining steel tempered in the fire

Things of value don’t come easy, and strength is developed through adversity. These are clichés, but there is truth in them. Detroit City’s introduction to the US Open Cup was supposed to be a warm-up to a 2^nd round matchup that everyone wanted to see, but it turned out to be something else: a furnace.

What began as reminiscent of April’s preseason friendly turned into a battle and ended up as the greatest game in City’s short history. No other game I’ve seen had a greater combination of stakes, drama, twists & turns, and controversy. Over the course of 120 minutes (give or take several) – from the slow start to the comeback, the frantic finish, the complete breakdown into chaos, and the ending whimper – there were the depths of despair, and the heights of joy.

No goal has ever resulted in such an outburst of emotion as Kevin Taylor’s 77^th minute tiebreaker.

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When City scores against Cleveland or Buffalo, we cheer, but subconsciously we kind of expect it to happen. Like getting cake on your birthday, you know it’s coming, it’s just a matter of when. The reaction to Taylor’s goal felt different – more spontaneous, more ecstatic, more… like this.

The exact opposite was felt at the very end of regulation when Adria equalized via professional balloon-popper/chalkboard scraper Vlad Baciu. Add in the extra-time cheap shots, hard tackles, and questionable offside calls, and you’ve basically experienced the full range of human emotions in one 3-hour span.

The result was disappointing, but it should prove valuable in the long run. Playing in a high-pressure, chaotic environment, City battled to the very end, even playing at one point with 9 against 11. Last year, the first real adversity they faced didn’t come until the division final against Erie, a game in which they went down twice and weren’t able to come back. Now, with a strong test already under their belt, they can draw from its lessons moving forward.

Teams are made in games like these, games with heat and pressure. The axe has been forged in the fire, now it can be wielded.

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Random Thoughts

–The newcomers fit right in. Tyler Arnone (#2) played on the wing and looked very good making attacking runs. William Mellors-Blair (#10) came on for Wade Allan at halftime and showed good speed and ball control. Striker depth issue solved? Ryan Thelen (#5) is a definite asset at left back, hopefully his injury isn’t too serious.

–Other standouts Zach Myers, Josh Rogers, and Cyrus Saydee all picked up right where they left off last July as the team’s best attacker, best defender, and best on-the-ball player. Bret Mollon also looked sharp when called upon.

–Ups and Downs The first 15 minutes were slow, but City was the far better team over the next 60 minutes. Both of Adria’s goals came from scrambles in the box rather than defensive breakdowns. On the downside, there were too many giveaways in midfield – some were due to the hard field causing the ball to bounce, but some passes were just in the direction of nobody. A few of the giveaways in the last 5-10 minutes of regulation were especially costly – rather than going for goal #3, a better effort could’ve been made to keep the ball in the corner and win some throw-ins, which may have killed the game off.

–Officiating Not much to add to what has already been said. Was it bad? Yes. Was it really bad? Probably. A few more yellow cards in the first half may have kept the game from falling apart toward the end, but I thought the worst calls of the night came from the linesmen. One or two borderline offside calls are forgivable, but when you’re closing in on double digits, there is an issue. My favorite moment was when the closest linesman incorrectly called a throw-in one way but was overruled by the referee from a good 40 yards away. Allow me to make a suggestion.

–Adria was surprisingly good. I have to admit I was expecting a more… amateur-looking team. Credit to them for hanging around, especially when they went down and had all the momentum against them. They play in a lower division but are easily better than several of the NPSL sides we’ve seen over the past two years.

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Recaps:

Detroit City FC

The D Zone

Press Row Sports