Fan Fest
As much as we love the action on the pitch (field, court, grounds, etc) we love being with the fans before, during, and after the matches just as much!
Miami's Messi Cooks Magic On The Pitch, Hard Rock Hopes The Same For Their Restaurants
John Clayton
Myrtle Beach, SC
Lionel Messi has a new team mates... And I'm not talking about Inter Miami, it's the Hard Rock Cafe chain of restaurants. The new Messi chicken sandwich is available at the restaurants, so we at Southern Pitch had to get our hands, and taste buds, on one. The chicken sandwich is a great entry into the chicken sandwich wars raging across the country and in the south specifically. With the motto of Love All, Serve All, Hard Rock has delivered with a yummy sandwich and a fun interactive feature included by scanning the QR code on the flag atop the bun. Rock On!
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Memorial Stadium Better Than River Street?
John Clayton
Savannah, GA
OK, I'm not going to tell you to skip River Street, it's one of the most iconic streets in the country. What I will tell you is after a good lunch at the Pirate House or a few cocktails at Rocks or the Nest, you should look to head over toward Memorial Stadium.
Pre-game with the supporters at Tequila's Town at Sandfly. The steak quesadilla's are a hit! Make sure to pair your meal with a margarita or choose from a full selection of Mexican beers (I'm a big fan of Pacifico).
Dinner or not, once at the game grab some swag from the merch area and enjoy a coke or beer to keep the southern heat at bay.
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A Battery of Options in Charleston
Cathleen Cleary
Charleston, SC
What's a sporting event without beer and a hot dog??? You can get that here, and more!
In addition to the beer pavilions of Wicked Weed, Bud Lite and Heineken, you can also find a cute trailer with strawberry Frose'; The Wicked Weed setup also included snacks and sodas but the star of the food offerings was definitely Mac Daddy where you can get your mac and cheese topped off with buffalo
chicken, fried chicken, pulled pork, bacon or roasted vegetables. They also serve hot dogs and chili dogs for those die-hard sports fans. On warmer days, don't forget the Ben &Jerry's ice cream truck! On big matches, they invite in additional food trucks from one of the best food cities in the country!
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Good Neighbors Make For Good Competitions
Let's have a bit of unofficial fun! Our southern teams have league titles in mind, but as fans we like to know our club is better than our neighbors' club. With that in mind, we at Southern Pitch will be tracking the clubs in our region and how they fare against one another.
5 MLS teams in the southeast: Charlotte, Orlando, Atlanta, Miami and Nashville. They each play all the others home and away for 20 total matches
3 NWSL teams: NC Courage, Orlando Pride, Racing Louisville for 6 matches
And finally, 4 USL-1 teams in the Carolinas and Georgia that play each other 3 times for a total of 18 matches
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Updated through April 10, 2023
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Charlotte FC Looking For Players for Unified Team
In conjunction with MLS Works and Special Olympics, Charlotte FC fielded an inaugural Unified Soccer Team in 2022. Charlotte FC is now developing teams to participate in "Carolina Unified" soccer in the Columbia and Greenville areas in South Carolina (as well as cities in NC). Unified teams include players with and without intellectual disabilities.
Looking to populate these teams with men and women ages 16-29. For more information, join a Zoom call on March 19 at 8pm. Questions? Email Kevin Sims, simskm@yahoo.com or Unified@charlottefootballclub.com
CLT FC Pre-Match with Middle James Brewing
Who doesn't want to start their CLT FC tailgate with a beer and a soak in a hot tub? Middle James can be found providing both for fans of CLT FC before all the home games this year. Grab a beer, maybe a hot dog, and hop in their hot tub-on-a-truck.
Statesboro: Meet At The Clubhouse
Statesboro, Georgia is the smallest metro area with a professional soccer team. But small town does not mean small ideas. Most clubs have a pub as a partner that host their supporters, That's pretty typical, but the team at Tormenta has taken a unique take... The Clubhouse. Bowling, Go Karts, Video Games... and of course a pint or two for those interested.
Orlando: Soccer Town with a Theme Park Problem
With theme parks dominating any conversation about reasons to go to Orlando, you may not have noticed that it is a great town for soccer! It is one of just 8 cities in the US to have both an MLS team and NWSL team. In addition the NISA professional Club de Lyon also call Orlando home. Not to mention some top level college programs in the area. We here at Southern Pitch aren't the only one's to notice either; the US National Teams have added Orlando to their fixtures this year.
As fan, why Orlando? Other than the afore mentioned theme parks (they are fun, trust me) but Church Street station acts as the hub of any pre-match warmup for fans of any match. Whether you want a cold draft (available at just about every other doorway) or some good food, you'll find it. You can find Greek, Italian, Irish, Mexican, Indian... and of course plenty of TVs to catch the rest of the soccer world.
Church Street area can easily be reached by SunRail so you can leave the car at home (or the theme park)
Wrexham in 4th Round of FA Cup
You don't have to be a soccer (err, Football) fanatic to have fallen in love with Welsh club Wrexham (or even know where Wales is for that matter).
For the first time in nearly 3 decades, Wrexham has advanced to the 4th round of the FA Cup. The FA Cup is similar to the American 'Lamar Hunt US Open Cup' (we can talk about that another day). They earned a "replay" after a 3-3 draw against Sheffield United which will be held Tuesday February 7th at 2:45 eastern time. Should Wrexham win, they would host one of the big clubs, Tottenham, from the Premier League! Most of us have only just become aware of Wrexham through the FX (and Disney+) series "Welcome to Wrexham" where American celebrities Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds (Ok, yes Ryan is Canadian) learn to run the third oldest professional football club in the world. In 2020, Rob and Ryan teamed up to purchase the fifth tier Red Dragons in the hope of turning Wrexham AFC into an underdog story the whole world can root for, but the concern is that neither have any experience in football or working with each other. From Hollywood to Wales, from the pitch to the locker room, and the front office to the pub, the docuseries will track Rob and Ryan's crash course in football club ownership and the inextricably connected fates of a team and a town counting on two actors to bring some serious hope and change to a community thay needs it.
Ted Lasso Season 3 - March 15
Coach Lasso is back in the Spring of 2023 for season 3 on Apple+!
Our favorite mustached protagonist is sure to drop some positivity while we watch where Nate the Great's arch takes him!
We here at Southern Pitch can't wait! Haven't seen it yet? Catch seasons 1 and 2 before the new season kicks-off