This story was originally published in New England Soccer Journal. Hartford Athletic supporters can apply the code HA25 at checkout for 25% off either a year-long digital or all-access subscription. Launched in March 2013, New England Soccer Journal covers youth soccer up to the professional ranks across the entire region. Click here for more info and to subscribe.
Ryan Madden made his way to Connecticut for Hartford Athletic’s first match at revitalized Dillon Stadium last July. Madden, the United Soccer League’s Vice President of Communications and Public Relations, asked chairman Bruce Mandell and Joe Calafiore (VP, Marketing and Strategic initiatives) where would be the best spot to watch the USL Championship clash against Indy Eleven.
“They said, ‘Well you know you’re here about an hour-and-a-half early, so we’d normally send you to the press box or maybe the bar down the street, but where you should really go is to [the Supporters] tailgate,’ ” Madden said.
Mandell instructed Madden, wearing a suit during the hottest July on record in the Greater Hartford area, to head for the parking lot where Mad Hat Massive, an independent supporters group from Fairfield County, set up for pre-match festivities and tailgating led by The 19th Regiment, a Hartford-based independent supporters group.
“So I’m walking through the parking lot, and it’s dusty, and I’m walking through the cars, and all of a sudden there’s this guy in a Hartford Athletic jersey waving a flag with a green wrestling mask on,” Madden said. “‘It’s the suit!’ he yells out to me, and flags me down, brings me over to the tailgate, and they give me wings, a Jell-O shot, and it was such a wonderful experience.”
Madden eventually made his way into Dillon Stadium to watch Hartford defeat Indy Eleven, 2-1, before a sellout crowd of 5,500. The scene linked two of the USL’s most essential pillars: building an organic grassroots community and soccer-specific stadium development.
“The heart that’s beating in Hartford is Dillon,” said Mandell, who also serves as Hartford Athletic chairman. “When you’re there, and you’re tailgating before that game, and the supporters do the march, and the music’s loud, people are getting excited. I think that’s going to bring a lot of positive elements to our project, and hopefully, it will carry us through.”
Dillon Stadium has a well-chronicled history that includes soccer fans seeing Pelé and the New York Cosmos play, as well as concert-goers watching Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones strut across the stage. But those days faded away long ago and a lack of investment eventually left the stadium in a state of disrepair.
Broad cooperation paved the way for a new era. Dillon Stadium underwent nearly $14 million in renovations ahead of Athletic’s inaugural season. The work was financed by both public and private sources, including $1.2 million from the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving for a state-of-the-art FieldTurf pitch with organic infill and a shock pad. The City of Hartford owns the stadium. Hartford Athletic is the primary tenant with community use dates built into the calendar.
“Clearly, professional soccer is a driving momentum behind this; it helped make the numbers work, but we were willing to invest into a public asset to ensure public use alongside a high-profile sports tenant, which I think is just a win all the way around,” said Hartford Foundation president Jay Williams. “They’ve got a first-class facility to play their soccer, the city has an improved asset, and the community has access, so to me, this is one of those rare, three-way wins where there was more upside than down.”
Mandell said there was due diligence done on playing at other potential venues such as Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field in East Hartford and Dunkin’ Donuts Park in Hartford.
Athletic ended up playing some home matches at Rentschler Field due to delays at Dillon, but the 40,000-seat stadium is not a practical fit for the USL Championship side. Mandell added there were multiple meetings with the Hartford Yard Goats owners, but reconfiguring a Double-A baseball stadium for soccer was “putting a square peg in a round hole” from both an economic and playing perspective.
Perhaps most importantly, playing at one of those venues would make it more challenging to connect to the community beyond match days, according to Mandell. Hartford Athletic pays for all non-game day operations at Dillon, which in addition to community-use events, saw high school soccer and football return to the stadium in 2019. The University of Connecticut men’s and women’s soccer teams also played matches at Dillon due to stadium construction in Storrs.
This renovated stadium hosts crowds of a different sort now. Supporters’ groups like Mad Hat Massive (and its Litchfield County affiliate, The Boonies), The 19th Regiment (Hartford), Elm City Casuals (New Haven) and East Side Rising (eastern Connecticut) now chant, sing and beat the drum for 90 minutes for players like midfielder Nicky Downs (Lakeville, Conn./Yale) and striker Mac Steeves (Needham, Mass./Providence).
“There’s a huge kind of passion for soccer in Connecticut, so I think a lot of people have been itching to have a team to kind of call their own,” said Downs, who attended Hotchkiss and also played for Black Rock FC. “Obviously, the fans went above and beyond last year by continuing to support us. They were there every weekend when we landed at Bradley [International Airport], waiting for us, which I don’t know how many clubs can say that about their supporters.”
Mad Hat Massive founder Myke Fuhrman added that a real revelation was seeing multiple supporters groups sprout to life.
“They have kind of their own unique identity within the ecosystem, and that is something that I definitely was not expecting,” Fuhrman said. “Originally, I thought it was just going to be one group.”
Fuhrman said each group fostered special connections with Athletic players. Fuhrman and former Hartford goalkeeper Jacob Lissek did a penalty-kick shootout for charity last year that raised $1,000 from donations for Special Olympics Connecticut.
English defender Alex Davey added when it comes to the supporters, if he can “do something to make someone’s day” by making a connection with them, he is happy to do it.
“Because then I get something back in return,” Davey said. “I get a sense that I’ve given some back to the community because they’ve given us a lot.”
This story was originally published in New England Soccer Journal. Hartford Athletic supporters can apply the code HA25 at checkout for 25% off either a year-long digital or all-access subscription. Launched in March 2013, New England Soccer Journal covers youth soccer up to the professional ranks across the entire region. Click here for more info and to subscribe.
Ryan Madden made his way to Connecticut for Hartford Athletic’s first match at revitalized Dillon Stadium last July. Madden, the United Soccer League’s Vice President of Communications and Public Relations, asked chairman Bruce Mandell and Joe Calafiore (VP, Marketing and Strategic initiatives) where would be the best spot to watch the USL Championship clash against Indy Eleven.
“They said, ‘Well you know you’re here about an hour-and-a-half early, so we’d normally send you to the press box or maybe the bar down the street, but where you should really go is to [the Supporters] tailgate,’ ” Madden said.
Mandell instructed Madden, wearing a suit during the hottest July on record in the Greater Hartford area, to head for the parking lot where Mad Hat Massive, an independent supporters group from Fairfield County, set up for pre-match festivities and tailgating led by The 19th Regiment, a Hartford-based independent supporters group.
“So I’m walking through the parking lot, and it’s dusty, and I’m walking through the cars, and all of a sudden there’s this guy in a Hartford Athletic jersey waving a flag with a green wrestling mask on,” Madden said. “‘It’s the suit!’ he yells out to me, and flags me down, brings me over to the tailgate, and they give me wings, a Jell-O shot, and it was such a wonderful experience.”
Madden eventually made his way into Dillon Stadium to watch Hartford defeat Indy Eleven, 2-1, before a sellout crowd of 5,500. The scene linked two of the USL’s most essential pillars: building an organic grassroots community and soccer-specific stadium development.
“The heart that’s beating in Hartford is Dillon,” said Mandell, who also serves as Hartford Athletic chairman. “When you’re there, and you’re tailgating before that game, and the supporters do the march, and the music’s loud, people are getting excited. I think that’s going to bring a lot of positive elements to our project, and hopefully, it will carry us through.”
Dillon Stadium has a well-chronicled history that includes soccer fans seeing Pelé and the New York Cosmos play, as well as concert-goers watching Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones strut across the stage. But those days faded away long ago and a lack of investment eventually left the stadium in a state of disrepair.
Broad cooperation paved the way for a new era. Dillon Stadium underwent nearly $14 million in renovations ahead of Athletic’s inaugural season. The work was financed by both public and private sources, including $1.2 million from the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving for a state-of-the-art FieldTurf pitch with organic infill and a shock pad. The City of Hartford owns the stadium. Hartford Athletic is the primary tenant with community use dates built into the calendar.
“Clearly, professional soccer is a driving momentum behind this; it helped make the numbers work, but we were willing to invest into a public asset to ensure public use alongside a high-profile sports tenant, which I think is just a win all the way around,” said Hartford Foundation president Jay Williams. “They’ve got a first-class facility to play their soccer, the city has an improved asset, and the community has access, so to me, this is one of those rare, three-way wins where there was more upside than down.”
Mandell said there was due diligence done on playing at other potential venues such as Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field in East Hartford and Dunkin’ Donuts Park in Hartford.
Athletic ended up playing some home matches at Rentschler Field due to delays at Dillon, but the 40,000-seat stadium is not a practical fit for the USL Championship side. Mandell added there were multiple meetings with the Hartford Yard Goats owners, but reconfiguring a Double-A baseball stadium for soccer was “putting a square peg in a round hole” from both an economic and playing perspective.
Perhaps most importantly, playing at one of those venues would make it more challenging to connect to the community beyond match days, according to Mandell. Hartford Athletic pays for all non-game day operations at Dillon, which in addition to community-use events, saw high school soccer and football return to the stadium in 2019. The University of Connecticut men’s and women’s soccer teams also played matches at Dillon due to stadium construction in Storrs.
This renovated stadium hosts crowds of a different sort now. Supporters’ groups like Mad Hat Massive (and its Litchfield County affiliate, The Boonies), The 19th Regiment (Hartford), Elm City Casuals (New Haven) and East Side Rising (eastern Connecticut) now chant, sing and beat the drum for 90 minutes for players like midfielder Nicky Downs (Lakeville, Conn./Yale) and striker Mac Steeves (Needham, Mass./Providence).
“There’s a huge kind of passion for soccer in Connecticut, so I think a lot of people have been itching to have a team to kind of call their own,” said Downs, who attended Hotchkiss and also played for Black Rock FC. “Obviously, the fans went above and beyond last year by continuing to support us. They were there every weekend when we landed at Bradley [International Airport], waiting for us, which I don’t know how many clubs can say that about their supporters.”
Mad Hat Massive founder Myke Fuhrman added that a real revelation was seeing multiple supporters groups sprout to life.
“They have kind of their own unique identity within the ecosystem, and that is something that I definitely was not expecting,” Fuhrman said. “Originally, I thought it was just going to be one group.”
Fuhrman said each group fostered special connections with Athletic players. Fuhrman and former Hartford goalkeeper Jacob Lissek did a penalty-kick shootout for charity last year that raised $1,000 from donations for Special Olympics Connecticut.
English defender Alex Davey added when it comes to the supporters, if he can “do something to make someone’s day” by making a connection with them, he is happy to do it.
“Because then I get something back in return,” Davey said. “I get a sense that I’ve given some back to the community because they’ve given us a lot.”