In this display, as ever, Stefan Frei leads his team into the final battle of the season. His teammates are rallying to his flag, supporting him, working together to advance the crest we love. And did they ever, as 90 minutes later they lifted the MLS Cup in the middle of Royal Brougham Park, bringing glory to the club and to our city. The stadium is filled with cards in every seat, spelling "SEATTLE SOUNDERS" on the east and west sides of the lower bowl.
With just 12 days after beating LAFC to earn the MLS Cup berth, and 11 days from Toronto beating Atlanta to make it a home match, we knew what we had to do and that it would take a monstrous effort. We knew there would be 68,000+ Sounders fans filling our stadium, our home, our cathedral. We knew our job, as supporters on our biggest stage, was to lift our boys to victory and raise the crowd excitement to new levels. So we set about it. By the time we left the bar Wednesday night, we had our concept. By Friday we had our design. By Monday the curtain was sewn, drawn, and ready to paint. By Wednesday night, 120+ volunteers had painted the 5000 square foot curtain. By Thursday night, those volunteers had cut 68,000 cards, over 20 miles of card roll. On Saturday, 150 volunteers set a card in every seat in the stadium in under 2 hours. On Sunday at 12:05pm, 68,000+ Sounders fans joined together and brought it to life.
Every bit of it paid for by supporters. Made by supporters. Set-up by supporters. Not by corporate sponsors. Not by the club. Not by the league. That's what tifo is, an expression of love from supporters to their team, a final encouragement before they kickoff. It's a huge part of what we do, and we want you to get involved! Get your membership and sign up to help! Buy merch or donate to help raise funds to pay for these displays.
Photo credits: Martin Buckley, DarleneLA5, Gouji, Max Aquino
For a record 11 consecutive years, the Sounders have represented us in the MLS Cup Playoffs. Throughout all these hard fought campaigns, our players have worn the symbol of our city on their chests with pride and honor. We begin every match by singing them a song of hopes and fears, laughter and beers. However, no matter the result, our club has filled our city with dreams that have truly lasted the years.
This display utilized 6000+ cards to fill out the entire Brougham End and two text banners on the concourse. It depicts the Space Needle with an emanating light around it as an enduring symbol of our city and our club.
We should start by thanking the people who allowed us to build a life in this land and we should call them by name: the Duwamish and Coast Salish People. The original inhabitants and stewards of this land. It is because of them why we are here today, them and all ancestors across all lands.
We the Emerald City Supporters and la Barra Fuerza Verde stand for equity, inclusion, and respect for all. We stand against fascism, racism, sexism, and homophobia. We stand for creating a space where spirited supporters build bridges between communities. Creating a space where we respect, stand next to each other, and support our team to the next victory. We sing for our boys, raise our scarves, and wave our flags proudly. We support all groups and communities that join us in supporting our home, our city, our team.
The choreo display is an image of Tlaloc, Aztec god of rain, giver of life and substance. We show our appreciation for the greenery that the pacific northwest provides, and the waters that give us life; Like the Duwamish and the Columbia. For this match we ask our god Tlaloc to make it rain, but rain goals. Many goals. Muchos Goles!
Porque- para ganar los Sounders, se necesita meter muchos goles!
We invite you to support the organizations that support our communities. The communities that stand with us until the next victory. If you need guidance, ask within Barra or ECS.
The Seattle Sounders are and always have been a club of the greatest ambitions, and history reflects that. That ambition defines the club, we have won trophies by making the shirt sweat and we’ve won them with beauty and goals. We’ve challenged for every trophy available when we were a USL team taking on giants and when we were the giants. When we made the move to the top flight, we weren’t simply happy to be there, we went after silverware and brought it home. Even our youngest Sounders are not content to be with the best, they defeat the best. Success is our legacy and also our expectation, one that we hold for our current players as well as our future, that we will continue to strive for the best with every opportunity and do what we have to to win.
Portland can't say that, because ambition doesn’t grow on trees.
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This display had the most painted area of any display we’ve produced. The three curtains and overhead totaled 26,500 square feet (0.6 acres), requiring over 1.2 miles of seams to assemble. Our production team constructed and painted the four banners over a 30-day working session. Overall, over 100 ECS members contributed to production, setup and deployment of the display.
Ambition is an expectation we hold for ourselves as well, always in support of our team’s highest achievements. Displays like this require commitment from our members and we are always looking for more people to contribute. [To learn more and sign up for the next production session, visit our tifo forum here.]
For many of us, pride is a safe and easy experience. We can feel pride in ourselves, our city, our club, and our supporters group with no risk to ourselves. For our LGBTQ+ friends and comrades, however, the simple act of being proud to be themselves is a radical and often dangerous act, risking erasure, discrimination, abuse, and violence.
Our message, “Pride of Cascadia, Pride of the Sound,” celebrates both the pride we feel in supporting the best club in Cascadia and the pride of our LGBTQ+ siblings to be themselves, help create space for others, and flourish in our football community.
Pride of the Sound is a loud and proud subgroup of the ECS open to LGBTQ supporters and allies to foster and inclusive community within our supporter culture. Learn more about becoming a member of Pride of the Sound here.
Photo Credit: Joe Towner [PNWMF]