JACKSONVILLE, Fla – The Armada Football Club makes history today, playing their first match this afternoon against the Philadelphia Union from Major League Soccer.
It's the first exhibition match for a team that is hoping the growing soccer popularity in our city will lead to huge crowds.
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Eighteen months ago, the Armada was just a vision for team owner Mark Frisch, a hope that soccer fans, who showed up in huge numbers to international matches at EverBank Field, would also rally behind a club that they would see playing week in and week out.
This time last year, the city's newest sports franchise didn't even have a name.
Now, not only have they already sold over 10,000 tickets for today's exhibition match, but they have already sold over half of their season tickets.
"This is really unprecedented in terms of the level of support and the intensity of support from the community," said Cole Pepper, the team's Director of Broadcasting.
"I think that says a lot about the city of Jacksonville about how they rally and get behind their home team," Armada FC President Steve Livingstone said.
"That is what we want to see, that's what the Armada is all about."
After a recent scrimmage against the New York Red Bulls, from Major League Soccer, the Red Bulls players commented on how shocked they were by the Armada's talent. Now, fans will get to see the players in action, rather than just hearing about them.
"Playing matches will be a great way for them to get to know our squad," Livingstone said.
"We've got some world class players on the squad. Also great local players too. I think our fans will make that connection quickly."
The Armada will play their regular season matches at the Baseball Grounds, with a capacity of about 8500. For this exhibition match, having it at Everbank Field will give them a chance to have a much larger crowd the first time they are in action.
"Not only a big crowd, but a very passionate one, really involved in what is going on on the field. And this will be the first chance to really get to know these guys on the field," Pepper said.
The hope is that after Saturday's match, that passion will carry over to make home games a great atmosphere.
"The only thing that is going to limit the crowd is capacity. I think we've got a really good chance to see a lot of these matches, maybe all of them, packed to the gills at Community First Park when we get into the regular season."
Tickets are still available for the match online, or at the stadium box office before the game. The game starts at 5:30 p.m., but the pre-match party starts at 2:30.