I became a member of AO Chicago back in the Spring of 2009-with the world cup around the corner-and the possibilities of the US host a world cup down the line- I wanted to become a member of an organization that supported US Soccer. I looked online and found 3, the US Soccer official fan club, the American Outlaws and Sam?s Army.
After some reading of all three, I signed up to be a member of US Soccer and the American Outlaws. I thought the premise of the whole ?Outlaw? bandana was a neat concept. I recall trying to get a few people who were into the World Cup to join, as my vision was to have a chapter in town. I believe I was probably the only member in McLean County- quite possibly downstate Illinois. I think the total membership at the time was around 1,000 or so fans.
Fast forward to Sept 11th, 2012, my first road trip to Columbus Ohio for a World Cup Qualifier vs Jamaica. I want to say we brought a group of 4 from town to the match. The friendliness and outgoing attitude of people at the tailgate made me realize I made the right decision in joining this group. I had such a good time in Columbus a few of us made the road trip to Kansas City for a WCQ vs Guatemala.
It was during this year of 2012 where I reacquainted myself with Chris Kang during the Champions League Final of Chelsea vs Bayern Munich. We must have talked for a few hours after that match about soccer, this town and how ripe it was for an organization like the Outlaws. I explained my intentions of hitting up a couple of WCQ?s over the Summer/Fall and if he had any interest, which he did, but I think he didn?t believe I was serious. That fall of 2012 is when the pieces started to come into place. His ability to network into the soccer community really help the membership numbers rise up. We had our first AO BloNo get together January 30th to watch a friendly vs Canada. We had a good 30-40 people show up for this outing. That Spring we officially became the 81st chapter in the American Outlaws organization. During the summer we made 2 trips to WCQ?s, at Columbus (approx. 9 members) and Kansas City (13 members).
As we approach the 2014 WC, our membership has risen to nearly 60 members and are excited to be partnering with the Illinois Fusion in promoting soccer in the community.
Eric Vogel
I started following USMNT soccer in the build up for the 2002 WC. Fellow BloNo AO Justin Veach and I would go up to Chicago to watch the USMNT every time they were in town and Fire as much as we could. During the 2003 USA-Poland game I was hooked, seeing Sams Army holding strong and chanting at 50k Polish fans. I wanted to join a US Soccer movement. Sam?s Army always seemed to be unapproachable, and a hard organization to crack. It wasn?t until the USA-Brazil match at Soldier Field when Veach and I had a chance encounter with what was the American Outlaw?s first match. They were this incredibly loud little group behind Howards? net, and while there had only been about 30 of them it seemed like they were making more noise than Sam?s Army in the other end. After the match we happened to stop at Wendy?s in Bollingbrook where the AO?s also stopped in for a bite. We complimented them on their support and were blown away at their organization- these few guys chartered a bus from Lincoln Nebraska!?! Who does that!?! Veach and I were impressed. We continued running into these same few AO?s in parking lots during more WCQ?ers and friendlies in Chicago from 2007-2012- each time hanging out with them, getting free Nike stuff and finding out that they were colonizing across the US. Being from Bloomington Normal, a very small market when compared to the cities AO?s were being established, I had always been discouraged when I would mention starting an AO chapter- there wasn?t anyone who was interested. About five years ago I tried jumpstarting an ?EPL breakfast club? at Maggie Miley?s in Uptown Normal. I had to jump start that damn thing THREE times before we started getting a consistent flow of soccer fans coming in to watch Premier League matches on Saturday and Sunday morning. That is when I met Eric Vogel. Already an Outlaw with Chicago, we talked about starting a chapter during our first encounter and I finally saw the fire in his eyes that I had been hoping to see from another townie. It was all downhill from there, we quickly began putting names down as ?chapter founders?, we tapped our friends, family and local soccer networks and co-workers for memberships and it snowballed quickly to say the least- we were only a colony really for a month until we emailed Lincoln HQ that we had already breached the minimum membership. Looking back, it was just a matter of time before the right people met each other- the interest in town during the 2010 WC was certainly evident. The rest, as they say, is history.
It has been a real AO family experience. Running into the same AO?s on the road, reuniting with AO?s in town and even running into AO?s in Chicago with whom we partied with in other cities like KC and Columbus. It is one real legacy that I helped to build in town, as my United City FC side has certainly seen better times, and something that I?m certainly proud of. AO Chapter leader Brian Hexel has already been in touch with me with others who are now interested in founding a chapter in Fargo ND?
Stay tuned.
Chris Kang