This Saturday, Keyworth Stadium in Hamtramck, Michigan will be rocking. Not that that’s anything different from most Saturdays during soccer season. Detroit City has been filling Keyworth for years now and the club’s faithful fans are known across the country for their voracious support for their home club. But Saturday may be a little different from the norm, as Detroit will be facing Club Universidad Nacional, A.C., more commonly referred to as Pumas UNAM, who play in Liga MX and will draw fans of the Mexican league into usually cozy home field of Keyworth.

Pumas coming to Detroit City is just the newest feather in the cap of an organization that has excelled at bringing in quality opponents to play friendlies with the Championship club. But Sean Mann, the CEO and co-owner of Detroit City FC, was quick to point out that streak started well before the club became a division two powerhouse. “We’ve always prided ourselves on our friendlies, going all the way back to our NPSL days,” he responded when asked about the upcoming match, “We’ve always tried to be intentional about the matchups, but some of them have just fell in our lap.” Then he began rattling off the names of the clubs who had visited Keyworth in the past. FC United of Manchester (England), Venezia (Italy), FC St. Pauli (Germany), and Club Atlas (Mexico) are only half of the clubs that have come to Detroit to play Le Rouge. In fact, this weekend’s matchup with Pumas will be the 9th international friendly, going back to the amateur days of the club.

FC St. Paulie players are welcomed by Detroit City. *Image courtesy of DCFC*

The friendlies have benefited the club in many ways beyond the gate. While the players enjoy the chances to take on teams from around the world, the fans the matches attract have been introduced to Detroit City, sometimes to become DCFC fans themselves. The matches with Liga MX clubs are “great ways for us to reach out to the Latino community in the Detroit area,” Mann mentioned. “Those matches have really springboarded our growth.” The large historically-Latino Sunday leagues that play outdoors now spend the coldest parts of the year playing in the Detroit City Fieldhouse and Mann credits friendlies with Mexican clubs as the introduction. “By hosting those international matches, we’ve built those relationships with that community.”

“You can see from all the kids in the neighborhoods wearing their jerseys, Pumas is a big club here…this is a great chance for us to reach more people in the area and raise our credibility. But more than anything else, friendlies are just fun.” Mann laughed as he said that last part and you can feel his energy brightening as he looks forward to Saturdays match.

The match this Saturday will be the second part of a double header, as the undefeated Detroit City USL W League team will take on Kalamazoo. That’s an intentional decision on the part of leadership to get more eyes on the women’s team, who have improved every season since founding. “When we lined up the International friendly, it just made since to do a doubleheader and make a festival of it.”

That festival kicks off at 4p, with the second half kicking off at 7p. The matches will be played in front of a packed house, with some of the best soccer atmosphere in the country. Just another notch on the belt of an organization who prides itself in being the best in its class.

If you’re wondering, Detroit is 3-1-4 in its international friendlies.

- Dan Vaughn