LOUISVILLE, Ky. — No matter how you slice it, for Lou City fans win or lose:
“In two-or-three years, I think we’ll look back on this year and say, ‘wow this roster was awesome,” Kevin Schoamaker, a Lou City fan, said.
“Every year, it gets stronger. And, it only helps when you go to the championship,” another fan, Jim Nalley, said.
And at Saints Pizza & Pub, in St. Matthews, it was all about the pies, pints and purple pride, Sunday.
“Oh absolutely, it’s great to have [customers] back time and time again and to see everybody,” restaurant manager Kelly Jaggers said.
Jaggers said 10 of the restaurant’s regulars traveled to San Antonio for the USL Championship. He also said the projected turnout for Sunday’s watch party was at least 200 to 300 people throughout the night.
Some of those people even forged new friendships.
“I just met [these people] tonight,” Terry Grissom, a patron and Lou City fan, said while sitting at a table full of fans. “I was trying to bum a dollar off of [Matt, here], and he said, ‘well come on in.’”
“We’ve got a groupchat called the Louisville bootleggers because of the bourbon but also the bootleggers like soccer,” Matt Pino said.
Those friendships bridge all ages too.
“Over the last 20-30 years, this is a sport now kids can embrace. It’s pretty cool,” Nalley said.
And, no matter the outcome of the game, one thing was for sure, Sunday, for everyone.
“[It’s] 90 minutes of just connecting with strangers who become game friends and lifelong friends,” Shoemaker said.
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