Supporter culture is unlike anything else in sports. You have arenas nationwide chanting “DE-FENSE!” or “LET’S GO *INSERT TEAM HERE*!” for any major league in this country. But where’s the smoke...drums...tifos...Bueller? Fandom is a year-round undertaking regardless of your allegiance to a certain ball variety, but how many have a nine-month offseason? The efforts in planning for the upcoming season will more than likely span the entire offseason and into the season itself. Author Franklin Foer wrote in his book How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization, “Soccer isn’t the same as Bach or Buddhism. But it is often more deeply felt than religion, and just as much as a part of the community’s fabric, a repository of traditions.” You will get weird looks and the occasional unpleasant interaction with adults whose idea of a quality atmosphere is being able to hear player slugging a sports drink from the top row, just ask the Branch SG of Lansing Common. But at the end of the day, that club is forever in your blood.

Better Late Than Never

Dan Garrett, affectionately known as “Wheaties” to other supporters across the Midwest Premier League, is what you would call a late bloomer to the game. “Around 2010 I downloaded Football Manager kind of on a whim and I just got sucked into the whole thing of soccer and managing a team,” he said. “A year and a half, two years later I started going to Detroit City FC because they started up at Cass Tech (High School) and took off from there.”

Livonia City is no newcomer to the soccer landscape in Michigan. Founded in 2015 and adding a women’s team 2017, LCFC has found great success winning 12 championships in various leagues since 2018. With their most recent being the MSA Women’s State Cup Championship this year. For the way that Garrett discovered them is the dream scenario.

Many MWPL clubs strategize on maximizing the reach of their multi-platform marketing every year because budgets aren’t exactly in the six-figures. Coupling that with dedicated independent platforms like Michigan Soccer Central, Michigan Soccer Network and Protagonist Soccer amplifying lower league coverage, as a resident of Livonia, exposure to the team in one way or another was bound to happen. “I happened to be on YouTube last year and I saw the MSN broadcast for a team called Livonia City FC and I’m like: Holy crap, there’s a team in my own backyard,” he said. After that, Garrett went from screen to pitch to check out LCFC in person during their last game of 2022. It only took 90’ worth of convincing and he was hooked.

“I gotta come in and get involved.”

Not Just A Summer Fling

The Metro-Detroit Area is one of, if not, the most soccer-involved areas in Michigan. With USL Championship side Detroit City FC along with NISA competitors Gold Star Detroit & Michigan Stars leading the professional ranks, the Midwest Premier boasts an entire East Division of the Great Lakes Conference dedicated to the Metro Detroit Area. LCFC is the odd one out, being the only club in the area that is calls the West Division home, but passion for the pitch is not limiting to professional or summer development leagues. “Livonia has a deep soccer culture here; especially high school soccer has always been at the top of the state like [Livonia] Steveson” he explained. With club density in a highly populated are, it is undoubtedly a challenge to carve out a piece of the piece…to keep your siblings from stealing your slice is a never-ending game.

Clubs grow for and with their fans. While a team working together on the pitch is a no-brainer, cohesiveness with entities is absolutely needed. Garrett is well aware of the challenges ahead to build supporter culture for LCFC and understands that you can go fast if you go alone, but if you want to go far, you go together. “Are there things that we could do in the community that make us a PART of the community, not just ‘Hey we’re a soccer team’,” he said. “Becoming a part of the community, not just a place to watch soccer, but like a neighbor.”

The Few, The Proud

To say his presence is unusual at MWPL games would be somewhat of a half-truth. Three years since the birth of the league, there has only been three true supporter presences within a league of over 30 clubs:

Local 815 for Dekalb County United
The Branch for Lansing Common FC
Dan “Wheaties” Garrett for Livonia City FC

“Since last year since I have been doing this, even with a jam block and a couple smoke bombs I have had some peculiar conversations with people in the stands,” Garrett explained. “I think it is a little bit indicative of American sports culture in general. In Europe it is something deeper to them then just going to a soccer game. More than just showing up and going Rah-Rah-Rah.” Domestic supporter culture in the last decade has swelled compared to a decade ago and you don’t exactly have to decipher the tea leaves to realize this is a lifestyle that will not fade.

The presence of supporters of Garrett’s kind has been an exceptionally rare occurrence within the confines of Eastern Stadium, but The Branch has formed a special bond with Garrett. The unofficial “LCFC Derby” has grown between the friendliest of foes and shows no signs of dimming the excitement between these two clubs. The last home game of 2023 saw Garrett’s LCFC travel to Lansing and the pregame tailgate and excitement of seeing smoke that wasn’t theirs for a change made for a great way for supporters to end the season.

With the ability now to be exposed to an untold number of leagues, tiers, and cup competitions being offered by an ever-growing (and changing) list of broadcasters it is nearly impossible to ignore. The glitz and the glamour of watching Vinicius embarrass defenders or UEFA Champions League justifies the attention…but what if we looked inwards at the state of our own clubs. That $150 you dropped on a Haaland kit? That could probably pay for a season ticket and a kit from your local club. The skill level is not going to warrant VAR or post-game pressers, but you are investing in your community. Experiencing the development of players through their journeys at these local clubs is rewarding in its own right.

Embrace your local club and your community. Even if you’re the only one.

- Rich Schenck