Huntsville City FC will host Nashville SC in a friendly exhibition on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Huntsville City FC fans cheer on the home team at Wicks Family Field at Joe Davis Stadium in Huntsville, Ala.Nashville SC president of soccer operations Mike Jacobs will be the first to tell you that the outlook Huntsville City FC is a little different than any other MLS NEXT Pro team.
Much of the viewpoint is a mixture of on the field success, fan support and community involvement in Madison County and beyond. “The idea of generating revenue with ticket sales and partnerships, it’s unique, probably, compared to almost any other MLS two team,” he said. “In Kansas City, we started a second team: it was the Swope Park Rangers, they’re now Sporting Kansas City II. They were lucky if they had 400 fans coming to games, Huntsville plays regularly in front of 4,000+.The praise for Nashville SC’s affiliate club comes ahead of an exhibition match hosted between the two teams at Wicks Family Field, which is set for Wednesday at 7 p.m. Tickets for the matchup that will see a professional sports team come to Huntsville on sale for $10. While having the club is big for Huntsville and Madison County residents, Jacobs said it also helps developing players on other teams get a taste of what it might be like playing in a true Major League Soccer venue.“Visiting teams, when they come in, they get a more meaningful game that more closely resembles an MLS match, albeit with a different set of circumstances,” Jacobs said. “It helps the whole league what we’re doing with Huntsville City FC, but to now take this next step of them being more competitive on the field. “When you do play in a separate market, there probably is more of a premium on trying to win because you’re trying to sell to a fanbase, maybe more so to a secondary team in the same market.” Huntsville City FC head coach Chris O’Neal said it’s “fantastic” to play alongside the crowd that the club consistently brings out. “It’s something that we’ve actually even started to try and encourage and get the players to do a little bit more of, which is that that player fan interaction, because once they kind of get behind them and say, there’s a foul or whatnot, and there’s a little bit of celebration and this, and now the crowd kind of gets behind you,” the coach said. “It finds ways to give you just a little bit more than what you might have had. “I think that’s such an important part, even scoring goals as well, celebrating with them, not just celebrating by yourselves and going there, you can find ways to to gainthat 1%. When we’re talking about this in terms of, you know, these players being able to move into that next level in terms of MLS, like 1% is a big difference.”The club is one of the few MLS Next Pro teams that is in a completely different market than its parent club, with the Nashville-based venue that hosts Nashville SC about a 2-hour drive from Joe Davis Stadium. Jacobs said while the team has had to make more of a direct effort in allocating resources and transportation to get a good look at developing players in Huntsville, communication and collaboration between both programs in Year 3 has helped make it easier on everyone. “There are very few games that Huntsville City FC plays that if either I’m not at myself, personally, I’m watching live on TV; the rare exception is maybe when both the first team and second team are playing at the same time,” he said. “It’s really encouraging to see the connectivity that we have among all three properties, with our first team, Huntsville and our academy, then the other way also. For those who are at the games, it’s not uncommon to see myself or members of our executive team, but to see guys like B.J. there, watching the games as coaching staff, that there’s definitely more connectivity right now than they’ve ever had between the two properties.” With a 11-6-6 record that ranks third in the Eastern Conference and sixth overall in MLS Next Pro, O’Neal and his group are gearing up for a crowd set to welcome what might be the only time a major-league professional team comes to Huntsville this year. “Every team that we play, they’re also excited to play,” O’Neal said. “There, you get a true look at where your team is actually at, and you’re getting the best effort from the opposition as well. You can look at it as we have home field advantage, but we have to find a way to do a little bit more and use that. Protecting is it something that our players take great pride in.” If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation.and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our
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