New England ‘Til I Die

[ornoth]

I must have been terribly bored, because sometime around 2012 I started watching MLS, the top-tier American soccer league, with specific interest in the local team: the New England Revolution.

Sporting my Revs kit, here in the farthest seat from the pitch...

The matchday poster I snagged at the end of the game.

I’ve never been into sportshead culture, but in 2019 I paid for membership in the Midnight Riders, one of the Revolution’s supporters’ groups, specifically to back them for calling for the dismissal of the team’s coach following years of underperformance. I’ve followed the Revs and been a member of the Riders ever since; but I’ve never been to a game, because their stadium is an hour’s drive out of town, and at that point I was living car-free.

In 2022 Inna & I moved to Austin, where the local team — Austin FC – had just joined MLS. Which brought up the obvious dilemma: do I root for Austin or New England?

Although I’ll always support the Revs, I really want to like the local team, but that hasn’t been easy. Austin FC has been a perpetual underperformer, saddled with poor coaching and mystifying personnel choices both on and off the field. Plus, their supporters’ groups are best known for drawing attention to themselves and ignoring what’s happening on the pitch.

Fortunately, Austin plays in the Western Conference and New England in the Eastern, so the two teams rarely face each other. In fact, although Austin joined the league in 2021, they have only played New England once in four and a half years!

As of July 2025, New England was the only MLS team that had never visited Austin’s Q2 Stadium. But on July 12th they would finally face off here in my new hometown. For me, it was a must-see game. It would be the first MLS game I’d ever attended, so equally my first Revs game, and my first Austin FC game.

The next question was whether to go as a general local fan, or if I should wear my New England kit and sit in the away supporters’ section.

On the plus side, getting tickets through the Midnight Riders would be cheaper than general seats, and I’d be sitting amongst other vociferous New England fans for the first time. The downside was that away team seating is as far as you can physically get from the field, and on the side of the stadium that receives direct afternoon sunlight.

In the end, what swayed my decision was it being my only chance to sit in the away supporters’ section, whereas for any other game I could sit wherever I wanted and cheer for Austin with the rest of the crowd.

That’s a lot of build-up, just to get to the point of saying that I went. I’d like to say it was amazing, but the reality was considerably less.

It was indeed cool sitting in the away section with other Revs supporters, joining in on their chants and general merrymaking. My seat was indeed in the very last row at the very top of the nosebleed section in the extreme northeast corner of the stadium.

I made particular note during warmups to focus my binoculars on Andrew Farrell, a New England fan favorite who – after 13 years and a club-record 341 appearances with the Revs — is nearing the end of his career as a player.

As befits two perennially mediocre teams, 90 minutes of soccer resulted in a pretty predictable 0-0 scoreless draw.

Having some local foreknowledge – and knowing neither team was likely to score – I left just before the game ended, so that I could score the free 11x17” game matchday poster before they ran out. It’s nothing special, but in the absence of paper tickets, it’s the best cheap memento of what was, for me, a memorable event.

I’m sure I’ll go to other games at Q2 – rather soon, in fact! – but you always remember your first, right? And it was a good way to honor my dual loyalties to both Austin and New England.

Oh yeah, PS: here's the match highlights video...

Watch on YouTube