USA vs. Scotland soccer

[stephenc]

When the United States Soccer Federation named Jacksonville as a host site  in February for a pre-World Cup qualifying friendly against Scotland, it had no idea that fans would turn out in record numbers.

But with 37,500 tickets already sold, and a walk-up crowd expected to push Saturday night's attendance at EverBank Field to over 40,000, American star player Landon Donovan takes it as a sign that his sport might finally be gaining a foothold in this country.

Even the U.S. Soccer officials acknowledge that the anticipated big audience is much higher than initial projections of 20,000-25,000.

"It speaks a lot for the popularity of soccer," Donovan said after Friday night's one-hour practice at EverBank. "When we come to places we don't usually come to, it's always interesting to see the turnout. I think we're all pleasantly surprised here.

"I know you have probably a decent amount of people coming from other parts of Florida, perhaps Atlanta in Georgia. But it's impressive. I think we're all surprised to hear a number like 40,000, but we love it. It absolutely speaks to what's happening [with soccer in the U.S.]."

The U.S.-Scotland friendly should easily surpass the state-record crowd of 31,547 that showed up in 2007 for a 3-1 American victory over Ecuador in a friendly at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. Donovan scored a hat trick in that win.

"I remember a time not too long ago, maybe 10 years ago, where we were happy if we got 10,000, or 12,000 or 15,000," said Donovan. "So times have certainly changed."

http://jacksonville.com/opinion/blog/400617/gene-frenette/2012-05-25/donovan-encouraged-jacksonvilles-soccer-turnout

[marksjax]

Meet the Tartan Army at Mark's today before and after the match.
Friday was a blast. They are great people who enjoy a wee bevvy (or three)...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPYs5sVzoO8/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QpwAUx78iA/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0KAafxTzN0/

[control]

The team seems to appreciate the attention :

http://www.ussoccer.com/Social/MNT-Blog.aspx?plckController=Blog&plckBlogPage=BlogViewPost&UID=1a697a53-a181-4302-aa61-f454d97c88fd&plckPostId=Blog%3a1a697a53-a181-4302-aa61-f454d97c88fdPost%3a5dbdc622-3e73-4993-98c5-1490daf868b4&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDest

[stephenc]

Video from the open practice yesterday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G89CHrzDAJ8&feature=plcp

[dougskiles]

Anyone know if the river taxi will be running to and from the stadium for the soccer game tonight?

[edjax]

Attenhance of 44,438. Great job Jacksonville!!  Perhaps Mr. Khan should think of a MSL franchise for Jax.

[stephenc]

Attenhance of 44,438. Great job Jacksonville!!  Perhaps Mr. Khan should think of a MSL franchise for Jax.

my buddies and I were thinking the same thing on the way to the stadium. this should open a lot of eyes in the MLS.

[Jaimen]

what is an average attendance number for a MLS game???

[CityLife]

MLS league average is a little under 18k. There are no teams in the southeast though. So we're at a geographic disadvantage. I also think its bigger on the West Coast because more East Coast soccer fans watch the European leagues.

Great showing tonight by Jax and the USMNT. Was a great atmosphere. I was sitting right next to the Scottish section and they were surprisingly quiet. Even before the game got out of hand. Good people though.

[fsquid]

Damn that was fun.  My daughter and I got to see the team come out of the hotel, got pins from the Tartan army, and saw the US score five.  Nice night

[blizz01]

Quote from: edjax on Yesterday at 10:01:46 PM

    Attendance of 44,438. Great job Jacksonville!!  Perhaps Mr. Khan should think of a MSL franchise for Jax.

my buddies and I were thinking the same thing on the way to the stadium. this should open a lot of eyes in the MLS.

Some guy was handing out fliers outside of the stadium pushing for the MLS in Orlando.  I was like, "dude, look around at what's happening right here".....

What a great game.

[spuwho]

Great game, great crowd. Scattered but few hooligan events.

Over 44k for any US hosted soccer game, let alone a friendly is really pretty good.

I liked the demographics at the game, lots of kids, lots of parents.

The only snafu was the scoreboard operator to start the second half.

The funny part was that the sodas were sold in Gator Bowl cups from 2 years ago!!

With Donovan used to playing in front of 18k fans and then rolls in for 44k, I can see why he might get "up" for the game.

Overall, a victory for USA, but a big win for Jacksonville.

[dougskiles]

I took my family to the game and we had a blast.  We sat right behind the goal on the north side (where all the action was in 2nd half).  I liked the international flavor of the crowd.  Much more interestinging to me than the typical NFL crowd.  Is there any chance that we could get an MLS team?  I grew up going to NASL games in Ft Lauderdale - great memories!

[aaapolito]

From ESPN:

"Before a crowd of 44,438 -- the largest to see the national team in Florida -- the Americans wore new home jerseys with red-and-white horizontal stripes and silver numbers that were hard to read from a distance. Names were restored to players' jerseys for the first time since Klinsmann took over."

I am happy that jax supported this event and hope to have other international soccer matches here in the future.

[control]

A lot of soccer newbies around me, I'm happy it had a lot of scoring for them, would have been a total drag to get all these non-soccer fans out there and have it end nil-nil.

Stayed at the same hotel as the US team, which was fun to send them off and welcome them back, my kids got a kick out of that.  Perfect weather, huge crowd, 5 goals!  What a great night for Jacksonville.

I will say the stadium makes it very difficult to get into your section if its in the touchdown club, or whatever they call it.  From the concourse was a very long line which an attendant told me was for an elevator to go up.  She directed us to take the tunnel to section 240, and then cut over from there, which was so crowded and piled up with people that I mentally figured out where I'd put my six year old if it got dangerous.  When we did go where directed we somehow ended up on the wrong side of a barrier, and when I climbed over it I brought the wrath of about 5 staffers - who probably would have been better suited to helping people get to their section than watching for people doing it wrong.  The whole thing upset my daughter a lot.  These are the sections that always look empty on TV during Jags games, so I guess they aren't used to having a lot of people there.

enough ranting, great night, great game.