There’s no point in denying it anymore: The coronavirus has wrecked Louisville City FC’s inaugural season at Lynn Family Stadium.
A mere seven weeks ago, LCFC had just played the first game of their sixth season, a season which would see their debut in one of the finest soccer stadiums in North America. April 11 had been set as the official date of the stadium inauguration, which had been worked on and dreamt about by the club and it’s fans for nearly two and a half years. It was to be a christening, a celebration of the momentous climb of a club which only came into existence a mere 6 years ago.
Seven weeks ago, we were focused on things that seem almost ridiculously trivial. After the April 11 game quickly sold out, there were more than a few complaints that the team had sold too many season tickets, and that there weren’t sufficient numbers of single game tickets available.
To some, the club hadn’t given enough forewarning about pending sales of parking passes, which were quickly snatched up. There was genuine consternation about how difficult it would be to find a parking spot and walk to the game.
Seven weeks later, these talking points seem almost impossibly quaint.
As it stands today, wouldn’t we love the opportunity to battle gameday traffic, fight for a parking spot, and walk a half mile to a soccer game? The idea of actually having to hustle in order to secure a ticket to a Louisville City game because there are 15,000 other people trying to do the same sounds more like entertainment than a chore today.
Seven weeks ago, Louisville City had just played their first game of the 2020 season, a hard-fought road victory against North Carolina FC. Returning hero Cameron Lancaster had scored upon his return, and the mood around the team was bright.
We were talking about the signing of Jonathan Gomez. Fans were making plans for early season away days at Pittsburgh and Indy 11. Tickets for the April 7 US Open Cup game had just gone on sale. There was praise for the relative quality of the new kits, and also derision at their $100+ price tag.
These were the things we were thinking about just seven weeks ago.
As of today, the team would have already completed three home games at Lynn Family Stadium. The crowds were going to be massive, and the energy surrounding the club would have been through the roof. We would be talking about the game this Sunday afternoon against New York Red Bull II, always an entertaining affair.
Fans would have been settling into a routine by now. Tailgating crews would be organized. Good parking spots would be spreading via word of mouth. New pregame venues like The High Horse, Bar Stadt, and Ten 20 Brewing would be gaining reputations as the place to gather before games. The new March to the Match route would be established, and Butchertown would already have begun feeling like home.
In the past couple of weeks, the stadium would have hosted a massive crowd for Thunder Over Louisville Festivities. LFS would have been the location of the Derby Festival Marathon and Mini-Marathon finish lines. These long established events would be introducing an entirely new crowd to Louisville City FC.
Summer concerts at Lynn would have likely been announced around this time. The stadium would be emerging in the consciousness of Louisvillians as a vital hub of activity, an amazing place to be whether you had ever been to a soccer game or not.
As it stands today, the stadium sits empty and quiet. It tantalizes as we drive past it on the interstate, the immaculate pitch and shiny newness beckoning a crowd that cannot come in.
Seven weeks ago, it was a source of excitement. Although we still had more than a month to wait before the first home game, it was coming. We’d been waiting for the moment for years, so a few additional weeks was bearable. The waiting was hard, but it also promised an unparalleled celebration to a devoted fanbase once the date finally arrived.
Now the day has been snatched away in the cruellest fashion. To make matters worse, there is no end in sight. The inauguration of Lynn Family Stadium hasn’t been simply delayed, it has disappeared altogether. Of course, the day will come eventually, but quite literally no one knows when that day will be. The debut of Louisville City FC at Lynn Family Stadium is in limbo, along with the entire USL season. Meanwhile, we are all stuck inside waiting, and lamenting the good times that have already passed us by.
During these past seven weeks, I’ve read a lot of stories about the lessons of the Coronavirus pandemic. I honestly appreciate the attempts to find a silver lining in an overwhelmingly negative event that has affected the entire planet. The search for the positive during hard times is a genuinely endearing human trait.
Part of me, however, feels weary, and on many days the only conclusion I can arrive at is summed up by saying, “This just sucks”.
The best I can hope for is that when things get back to normal, or when the “new normal” finally begins, that we can all have a deeper feeling of gratitude and thankfulness for what we have.
A realization that many of us have had is that the “social” part of being a Louisville City fan was more important than we realized. Perhaps even more than the game, we miss the people at the game. We miss being with our friends and family. We miss the familiar faces that we’ve gotten to know over the years through supporting the club. We miss the pregame tailgating and carousing. We miss the post-game revelry and celebrations.
Attending a mass gathering such as a sporting event or concert is the antithesis of a “socially distant” act, so their absence looms large in this quarantined era.
The delay or cancellation of the Louisville City season is a profoundly miniscule drop in the bucket of disappointment that is filling up the world over, for a virtually endless multitude of reasons. It matters to us, but at the same time, it barely matters at all.
It’s precisely because of that relative insignificance, however, that we should be all the more thankful when soccer finally returns.
