Let's talk soccer! -- Chicago Fire vs. Everton F.C.

[Tannerman]

At the end of July, my friend George invited me to join him in attending a soccer game.

Steve wants a goal!

I've never been to a professional match before and don't know much about soccer, so I took him up on the opportunity. After all, it was going to be fun to ask questions about a sport for a change rather than having to explain how everything works (as is often the case for Arena Football games).

George and Steve at the game


Life is more than English

We attended what is known as an "international friendly" match... basically, an exhibition game between the Chicago Fire and Everton F.C.

Chang sponsors Everton.
Best Buy sponsors the Fire.
(Source: Getty Images)


George stands in the Everton fan section

Everton is a member of the Premiere League, the top soccer league in England and the 4th most profitable sports league in the world (behind the NFL, MLB, and NBA).

Yes, this is Toyota Park

The Chicago Fire -- which by the way, have a great name and well-executed team branding -- play at Toyota Park in Bridgeview.

And yes, there are actual cars on display

Prior to getting their own soccer-specific stadium in 2006, they played at Soldier Field, working with the Bears to rip up the grass on a regular basis!

We had great seats close to the field

Given that this was a mid-week and exhibition game, attendance wasn't as high as it would have been for a MLS league game... it was reported that there were 9,125 at the game. Still, I got a good feel for what a Chicago Fire game experience was like.

Video: Section 8 leads a chant stating "We got the Fire!"


Watch out for flying objects!

To me, having been exposed to a lot of promotional events and over-the-top pregame shows thanks to the Chicago Rush, I was expecting quite a bit from the Fire. In that regard, I was somewhat underwhelmed, especially when it came to pregame stuff.

Video: Pregame introductions

I mean, c'mon, you are named "Fire"... I expect a lot of pyro! Yet the introductions were pretty low key, except for some low-level fireworks. George had to remind me that "this is what we do for classy sports that don't require gimmicks". Ouch.

Se habla Best Buy?

Something that was very impressive was a complete section of dedicated fan support. Right next to the area we sat was a complete section of fans who stood the whole time, banged on dumbs, chanted cheers, waived flags, and in general lead the fan response for the team.

Video: Action from a corner kick!

This was Section 8 Chicago, an association of fan supporter groups from multiple nationalities and backgrounds.

Huge banner unveiled by the Section 8 folks
(Source: Getty Images)

The team has denoted this section as general admission with the intent of this group of folks providing a decided home field advantage at games. (The name "Section 8" comes from the location of this group at Soldier Field. At Toyota Park the location is actually noted as 117/118, but they kept the historical name.)

Does this mascot look familiar? It should.

I had never seen anything like this at a sports event, and it was pretty cool. (I guess stuff like this happens all the time at soccer matches in Europe.)

Video: Smoke ignites in the endzone after a goal

Granted, I would guess there was a large amount of inebriation at play there, but still... impressive. I'd love to see something like that at Rush games. That would be awesome.

It was the perfect night for a game

In the end, the Fire ended up winning 2-0, so that's a good thing.

I had a really fun time at the game and would totally see a game again. Go Fire!