ENGLISH FAN EXPERIENCES MLS ATMOSPHERE! - AwayDays

Welcome to America. We're in America and people love to, in my opinion wrongly, slate football or soccer culture here in America. It's low hanging fruit I think. I think it's easy to moan rather than actually just try and experience something. So that's what we're here to do today. We're here to take in a soccer match and experience here and showcase to you what an MLS experience is really like. Anyway, today is a massive game and here's why. Today we're at the Exploria Stadium which has a capacity of 25,000 fans. People were sceptical when Orlando first got their MLS expansion saying it wouldn't work. Safe to say they were wrong because from what I can see their fans are incredible and I hope that we see more of that today. And I'm also very excited because we're going to see Alexandra Pato today. There's some of the away fans there. Boo! Are you lost? It's also tempting to beg for Alexandra Pato's shirt today but I'm 24 years of age so I won't do that. If you're watching this though, their opponents today, as we've just seen, are Charlotte FC. They're in their inaugural season in MLS which historically is an uphill battle for most sides. This has been the case this season so far. It's not gone overly well for them whereas Orlando are doing quite well this season so it's going to be interesting to see how the match goes. But to be honest, for the first time this season I'm not really here. Obviously we're here for the match but the stakes aren't what I want to hear about. I want to see the fans and the experience and what it means to be a fan of a soccer side. So let's get around, let's have a look around the stadium and then we're going to join a tailgate for an authentic MLS experience. Let's do this. So as I said, we're going to do an authentic MLS matchday experience today which brings us to the Broken Strings Brewery and Taproom which is right there, right near Orlando's ground. We've got Jeff there who is our contact from Orlando. He's wearing the Away Day shirt we brought out two years ago as well which is modelled by yourself. And we're going to soak in a proper MLS experience. You've got a beer. It's really nice. It's a nice beer. What is the beer? Mango or something. Mango or something beer. Well I said what should I get if I don't really like beer and I was given this. It's really nice. So there we go, we're going to get inside there. We're going to have a few beers with the fans. We're going to probably march to the stadium as well. Have a great time. And by the time you next see us, we are going to be plastered. How are you doing Jeff? You've got the Away Day shirt on. Very well, thank you. It's a beautiful shirt, don't you find? It's good on everything. Yeah, you're pulling it off superbly as well. Orlando matchday, what should I expect? First off, we have Tailgate in the back that I'm going to take you to next. Matchday about 6.30, we'll get inside. I think you and I are going to be part of bringing the Tifo up tonight. Really? Nice. If not, we'll be cheering for it. How different is a matchday in America? To Europe, what should I expect? I noticed when I was at Chelsea back in 1982, you paid your pound, you walked into the shed in, you got there 15 minutes before kickoff, players came out, life was good. Here, people got here at noon, so they've been here for 6 hours tailgating, eating, drinking. We'll get into the stadium about an hour prior to kickoff. They have happy hour for the first half hour, beers are $5 a piece, that kind of stuff. Oh, and we're allowed alcohol inside the stadium. Nice. Drinks, beers, food. I think you will be surprised at the quality of the, we don't have steak pie, so we won't be on your competition for pies, but we have everything from pizza to roast beef sandwiches. So Jeff, you've given me a lanyard to put around my neck, can you explain what the lanyard means? So we have supporter groups in America, you have to pay your dues, literally, and become a supporter, and then the team allows you to do neat stuff. They reserve the first five rows in the wall, which is a standing terrace that we have, we were the first club to bring that back in the United States. So we've arrived at the tailgate, there's a lot of people playing, what do you call this game? It's called cornhole, because corn pellets are in the bags. Is cornhole mean the same thing? I don't know, what does cornhole mean? I have no idea. When your camera's off. Alright, so now I'm at one point, you're at zero. Go on then, Jody, show us how the cornhole's done. You can't step past the line. We're fouling you. Oh, you've rimmed it. And then, for example, for England, that's also a term we can't say. So we're just now walking from the tailgate, and we're just looking at, the stadium is there in the distance, the stadium looks really cool. Jeff, if there was one thing, as an Orlando City regular, what would be the one thing that you would want people to take away from watching an experience about what it's like at an MLS game? I think we talked about the diversity. When I've been to games in Greece, Germany, England, Latin America, it's all men. Sorry, there's a chicken right here. Sorry, we're taking over. A very nice chicken. What do you think? Because in England, there's quite a few people who are quite sceptical about MLS, right? And US soccer fans, right? But I think it's gatekeeping, because in one breath, people moan that the US's main sport is in football, but in the other breath, they moan at how US fans embrace the sport. So what would you say about that? Because you're a USMNT fan as well, right? We have 330 million people in our country, and let's say 30 million of them, soccer is their number one sport, which would put us as a major European power. France, Germany, and England have more people than that, but Belgium, the Netherlands, the other countries, Switzerland, Slovakia, those countries have less than our soccer culture. And I think you will see. We said it in the 80s, we said it in the 90s, but I think you will see this World Cup team and our next World Cup team. I feel like more and more people are now accepting it. You've got like Jesse Marsh is now Leeds manager. He's on ESPN every night. We talk about him constantly. He's American hero, and you know, Captain America, who scores at 90 minutes plus last week for Chelsea to win the game. I mean, that's front page news here, even in Orlando, and even in some non-soccer cities. That's a big deal. I think if we look back at this video in five years' time, the sport would have boomed in America. There's more of the tailgate. And what is this? This thing's called the British... This is the British Pavilion. And you toast the Queen here. May have already happened, but that's what we do every game. So why is it you've got the Queen here? Why do you toast the Queen? Well, why are you laughing? I'm not laughing. She's 96 years old. She is 96 years old. Orlando City, started by Phil Rollins, Cade Rollins, English, British, British born and bred. Our heart is British, and... It belongs to the Queen, then, yeah. You've missed it, but if you look here, we've set up a special little... Is this a... We're going to do the whole thing for you. Oh, amazing, yeah. Volunteers for Scotch. We're with you around. So we've got a shot of Scotch whiskey. Nice to meet you, Alice. Nice to meet you. God save the Queen. God bless our troops. This is our city. To our absent friends. And three ******* boys. Well, that is straight whiskey. That's nice. Very good. We're now walking into the ground. We're now about to go in. We just filmed something very exciting for another video for next week. So we filmed two videos in one day. I'm not going to reveal anything about what it's about, but come here 2,000 likes this video. It's about a certain footballer, about a shirt, maybe. I'm not going to say anything. I'm just going to keep walking to the ground and we'll see you inside. Now we're inside the stadium. The concourse is really cool. You've got like forever Orlando graffiti there. Jeff's now showing me to my seat. We're now about to walk down. Number five. Number six. Number seven. So Jodie's sat in there. You can see her waving in the distance. There is. There is Jodie. She stopped waving. Hello, hello. So Jodie's there. She's not on ultra tonight, sadly. Here come the players. Here comes the national anthem. It's also different. It's American. Very American. Somebody burned our capital. Oh, never mind. It's an interesting app you're using there, Jeff. It's wonderful. Oh, he's on the bench. So he's okay. Pato's on the bench. We don't talk about no free promo here. Just like a separation from the game a minute. So Jeff, is it just here or is it the whole MLS? We're able to walk to any section now, right? So we can go anywhere in the stadium. No one can come to our section, but we can go to any section. And also they do ICs here. So I want an IC. There we go. We got an IC. I know people are going to moan about this, but I love these. This is amazing. So for context, the Charlotte fans have to drive over a thousand miles, I believe, to get here. That's them in that section over there waving their flashlights. And also this game is half seven. So it's like Carlisle away for Plymouth, plus then some in England. So that's the equivalent. And they're a new franchise. So that's the Charlotte fans over there. So an example of what I was talking about, actually, about the fact we can walk around the stadium is we were literally just stood over there in that section. And now we're here with... There she is. Hello. How are you finding it? It's really good. Yeah? Yeah, yeah. How does it compare to like... I'm taking you to like big European fixtures. How does it compare? It's a lot more friendly. Yeah? Yeah. Like they don't need a net. They're away fans. Yeah. It's true. Hey Joe, what you know? So over there is the main Ruckus Ultras. And then the left is the Ruckus Kids. So they can still be involved, but they're not in danger. So in terms of halftime food, we've got a grilled brisket, grilled sirloin or carved turkey sandwich, which looks... You get with... They call them chips, but we call them crisps. So halftime, I've got this brisket sandwich. Jodie has got a turkey sandwich. I could get used to eating this at halftime, I'll be honest. They've got a pizza hut on the concourse. Okay, we've got this man here. And apparently he chugs drinks. How quick can you chug one? Pretty quick. Okay. Go on then. I'm expecting big things here. Very impressive. Good work. It's a penalty to Charlotte. He's scored. Christian Fuchs. Premier League winner. Christian Fuchs there. He's just chilling. Premier League winner. Oh no, last attack of the game. Pato heads out. That's it. Across the pitch with a flag. So, what was an MLS experience like for me? I made it clear that this video was a normal away day. We're here to watch the football, but I also wanted to show what the experience is like here, because I feel like it's the most patronised and looked down upon culture in the world of football. And what I've seen today, it's been amazing for equality. As I sit here in pride seats for LGBTQ, because as the stadium was opening, there was the horrible nightclub shooting at a gay nightclub. And it just feels like everyone's united here. It doesn't matter where you're from, your religion, your race, your sexuality. And I get that we have that in England as well. I'm not trying to say we don't, but it feels like here it's celebrated more. And I feel like you can feel comfortable whoever you are. And I know you can get that in England as well. I'm not saying you can't, but I'm just saying the positives of being here. And like I've said before, me and Jordi were saying ourselves, if you go and hear ultras in Hungary or anything. We've done Hungary, Romania this season. And to be honest, we did the Bucharest derby in Romania. The atmosphere here was a bit better, to be honest. I'm not just saying that to be like, oh, look at me, like look at me trying to impress the American fans. I'm just saying what I experienced. And I had a great time. And the thing about football is I'm here as a tourist. I'm here to have fun. And I had fun today. And there's been some experiences this season in particular I haven't had fun at football. I was able to have fun. Obviously, I'm really keen to know what your guys' thoughts are in the comments on this. Now you've seen my video and my depiction of what an MLS game is like. Be sure to let me know in the comments section down below. Can we get 2,000 likes on this video? I've been Ellis. Be sure to subscribe for more football shirt content and more away days. And I'll see you soon for another away day. Ciao, ciao. Bye.