by Since its inception in 2012, Detroit City FC has gained a significant following and become one of the best-supported clubs in American soccer, despite playing at a fourth-tier level. Partnered with a long list of local businesses and made-up chiefly of players who were born and raised in the Detroit area, the club is just one of a growing number of success stories coming out of America’s most maligned city.
My goal is not to recap games or compile statistics – MLive and The D Zone already perform these tasks very well. I want to provide a narrative of DCFC and the movement that has sprung up around it. My main inspiration is Nick Hornby’s Fever Pitch, a book in which the author relates the highs and lows of Arsenal F.C. to his own life and which has become the classic essay on fandom, with passages that are easily applied to any sport or team. If I can write pieces that are 1% as good as his, I will consider that a success.
It’s become clear to me that something special is happening in Detroit, and its story needs to be told.
