Everything was there for Charlotte FC in its first 2023 match — except for one thing
Charlotte FC, the Queen City’s plucky Major League Soccer team, seemed determined to do a lot of things for the Year 2 season opener exactly like it did for the first-ever home game in Year 1.
On Saturday night, Charlotte FC again had a monstrously impressive crowd — the fans were 69,345 strong this time, which was only about 5,000 fewer than the first-ever game that set an MLS record in 2022. Charlotte also brought back the very same national anthem singer who had inadvertently started a beloved tradition the year before when her microphone went out and the crowd did a spontaneous singalong.
But the analogy ultimately was taken too far. Once again, just like in Year 1, Charlotte FC lost its first home game by a 1-0 score and sent the home fans back home disappointed. Everything was there for Charlotte FC in the match, except for the most important thing in soccer: a goal.
“The team played a good game, and I don’t think the result reflected the game,” Charlotte coach Christian Lattanzio would say later.
But results matter, and the only goal in this game was scored in the 89th minute, when a poor sequence meant that a deflection landed at the feet of the New England Revolution’s Henry Kessler. He happily slotted it into the goal past reserve goalkeeper Pablo Sisniega.
So ended the night, after another Charlotte header banged off the post and a possible foul wasn’t called and ... well ... you get the idea. Charlotte FC managed to do in the Carolina Panthers’ stadium exactly what the Panthers have done for most of the past five years — just enough to lose another close one for owner Dave Tepper.
Still, 69,345?!
That’s a heckuva crowd.
Ashley Westwood, an English Premier League veteran, wore the captain’s armband in his first game for his new Charlotte team. Westwood, who made 286 EPL appearances, said of Saturday’s crowd: “It’s mind-blowing. It’s incredible. I’d say it’s one of the best (atmospheres) I’ve ever played in. It’s a testament to this football club and what they’ve done, so I just want to thank the fans for their support. They were outstanding.”
That attendance came after a rainy day and on the same night that the Charlotte Hornets were playing just one mile away and drawing their own sellout crowd of 19,109 against the Miami Heat (the Hornets won).
The myth that Charlotte isn’t a pro sports town should have long ago been put to rest, but here’s some more evidence for you if you need it. Pro sports just drew 88,000-plus people into uptown Charlotte on a single night, without the benefit of a NASCAR race or a decent Panthers team.
Although the home team never scored, the game wasn’t without its entertaining moments. Charlotte attacker Karol Swiderski did one of the best flops you’ll ever see, a three-somersault rolling fall in which he acted like he had gotten pushed off Grandfather Mountain, only to miraculously recover once the foul was called. I know, I know, that sort of thing is a soccer tradition, but trust me — Swiderski took it to the next level.
And not to make too much of this, but every time I hear the Charlotte FC national anthem singalong — in which the singer belts out the first verse or two and then silently leads the crowd in the rest — I like it more.
“It was fun,” singer Michelle Brooks-Thompson said afterward.
Brooks-Thompson’s microphone cut out due to technical difficulties a year ago, leading to a viral moment she had never expected, but this time it was all done on purpose.
And she was right. The night itself was fun — as well as touching with all of the dignified tributes to the late Anton Walkes, as his Charlotte teammates played their first game without him.
And then came the New England goal, and some of the night’s magic crumbled.
“They wanted desperately to give them something,” Lattanzio said of his players, so wanting to score a goal for the home crowd.
It’s true, though, that the Charlotte FC crowd shows no signs of letting up in Year 2, a season after the team ranked second in the entire MLS in attendance behind Atlanta.
That crowd skews young and loud and dynamic. Now all it needs are a few goals to cheer.
