Orlando City fans rally to fly banner over pitch for final
During the past decade, there was one constant when it came to Orlando City — the fans on The Wall.
It didn’t matter who was playing on the pitch or coaching on the sidelines. It didn’t matter whether the Lions were winning the USL title or fumbling through a 22-loss season. Orlando City fans remained faithful, filling the terraces each year and cheering even when there wasn’t much to celebrate.
The coronavirus pandemic has blocked the supporters from cheering on the Lions in person during the team’s historic run through MLS is Back Tournament, creating a sense of loss for both the fans and the players.
After the Lions punched their ticket to the final match, Julian Rios rallied fellow supporters to raise funds to fly a banner over the field at ESPN Wide World of Sports.
His hope was to find a way to bring a small part of The Wall to the players.
“The Wall is the heart of the game, the heart of the stadium,” Rios said. “Each and every game, even if it’s 0-5, everybody’s still there just cheering until the clock stops. You don’t hear us quiet.”
Fans had been tossing around ideas for socially distanced support in a popular Orlando City Facebook group for days before the final. Although many supporters wanted to find a way to line the streets on the way to the pitch with signs and smoke, they recognized the difficulty pulling it off while remaining safe and healthy.
Rios and several other fans pitched the idea of a flyover, and it stuck. Seattle Sounders supporters already had made a similar effort, flying a banner that read “Para Ganar Los Sounders” over the field shortly before the team’s first morning match of the tournament.
After contacting Aerial Messages, a local sky banner company, Rios learned it would cost $1,050 to fly a personalized banner over the pitch. The company’s owner is a fellow Orlando City fan, and he was eager to help if supporters could foot the bill.
On Friday, Rios explained the idea and the price in the Facebook group and attached a GoFundMe account. Within four hours, fans pitched in more than $1,200.
The immediate support rolled in from a fan base that feels vindicated by the Lions’ recent success.
“This is the team that Orlando City would have liked to have seen many years ago,” Rios said. “This is who we are. This is the passion, this is the drive that we have as a team. We’re some good supporters and we deserve a lot. … This is what we deserve. Everyone just can’t be more proud.”
For two hours before kickoff on Tuesday night, a simple message will be flown over the pitch — “The Wall will shoulder you.”
Those words are lyrics to one of the Lions’ longstanding chants, a reminder of the years of support Orlando City fans have provided. And as the team chases its first trophy since joining MLS, Rios and the rest of the Orlando City supporters hope the message will boost the players and coaches they love.
“It’s just kind of saying, ‘Hey, we believe in you and we have your back,‘” Rios said. “We’re here. We’re not going to stop. … That little message when they look in the sky, I hope that’s just the extra push for them to win.”