Hello, and welcome to American Tifo, a newsletter for, and about, North American soccer supporters. Thank you for being here. If you haven’t already, subscribe! If you’re a member of a supporters group, please consider sharing this with the rest of your SG and encouraging them to subscribe as well.
So, it’s been a while. Work, life, (gestures wildly at the general state of the world), THIS. But we’re back.
When American Tifo launched in September of 2020, North American supporter culture was in a wildly different place.
Clubs and fans were still grappling with how to maintain community during a pandemic. The scandals that would rock the NWSL to its foundation had not yet been uncovered. New clubs and groups were being formed with hope and optimism. It felt like a blank canvas.
Fast forward almost two and a half years, and so many things about that landscape are different. Clubs and SGs have risen and fallen. Relations among SGs, and between groups and front offices, have evolved, sometimes for the better, many times for the worse. There have been amazing, incredible stories that have come from American and Canadian supporters groups, and tragic, heartbreaking ones.
After all that, I still believe that the supporter culture in the United States and Canada has the potential to be one of the most beautiful things about our game.
So, against a very different, much more complicated backdrop, we’re jumping back in. Just like the state of supporter culture itself, American Tifo will evolve, but will stay true to its original purpose, telling and sharing the stories that are most important to North American supporters.
Things will kick back off in earnest next week.
Thanks for hanging in there with us.