Photo by @PNWmf
Brougham Faithful
Sounders Til I Die
For Our Boys Until the End
Eternal Blue Forever Green
On every matchday, these are the words you chant and sing, they’re the words on the flags you wave, on the banners you stand behind, and the scarf you wear around your neck and raise overhead. They’re true every day, they’re the reason we stand together as one, focusing our collective energy into support for the Boys.
This season, or at least the last 3 months of it, has been a real test of our mentality. With wins not coming, heartbreaking losses piling up, and even draws feeling like losses, our faithfulness has been put to the test. And despite the poor play and results, our support has carried on. We’ve beaten the drums until our hands bled, we’ve sung our hearts out, we’ve waved flags until our arms fell off, because we never quit on the Boys just like we expect them to never quit on us.
We'll see you at first practice in January.
This game has more on the line than just points and beating Portland. The Timbers organization continues to prove what we’ve known all along - they are trash. Back in June ECS leadership evaluated the pros and cons of going to the game at all. At the time we determined that our voices could make an impact and that we would still show up. This decision becomes harder to live with as the weeks go by. What message are we sending to our members by going?
Being a victim of abuse is isolating and terrifying. It takes courage and strength to come forward, especially against powerful people. Knowing that you were ignored and brushed off for coming forward is not only defeating but prevents more people from coming forward. This is the what the NWSL and the Timbers organization did to Sinead Farrelly and Mana Shim. The message they gave to their fans is we don’t care about what happens off the field as long as we are successful on the field. But that was just the tip of the iceberg at that trash heap of an organization. What’s followed has been story after story of domestic abuse, abuse of power, boorish behavior, and incompetence in handling any of it.
ECS reached out to the TA in an effort to make a coordinated stand to bring amplified attention to the continued failings from the Timbers front office and the TA was not interested in coordinating. A decision we can’t quite understand. We’ve heard from the Timbers FO and they’ve made it clear ‘personal attacks’ will not be tolerated. A decision that silences those who support the victims of their abuses. So what now? We cannot ignore that any of what has happened in that organization is in any way okay. That’s not who ECS is. We will go, we will be loud, and we will make it known that The Emerald City Supporters stands with women and stands with those who’s voices have been silenced for far too long.
ECS has made a stand before and we will make a stand again. Believe women. Support women.
Photos by @PNWmf
Born in Nineteen-Seventy-Four,
Sounders! Sounders!
And now we win like never before,
Sounders! Sounders!
We love our boys in famous green,
the greatest team you've ever seen
Seattle Sounders,
Born in Seventy-Four!
As part of the celebration of our CONCACAF Champions League banner drop, and to bask in a meaningful championship in front of our rivals, we took the opportunity to remind the team on the pitch - and the fans in the stands - that this is the greatest team we’ve ever seen.
Then, since the league won’t give anyone an answer on how to display such a feat on the crest, we took the opportunity - via curtain switch - to give our two-star crest a proper crown, befitting of a CCL Champion.
Along with the swap of middle curtains, the visual display featured cards to hold in the entire Brougham End, with shiny diamonds carrying on the pattern of the text curtains. Also included as part of the choreo, with many thanks to our tireless volunteers who set these out individually, were 30,000 tiny cards in the cup holders seats throughout the stadium. The cards included the lyrics to the display’s namesake song on one side, encouraging fans to sing with us during the deployment. On the other side was a QR code to visit a special website with the lyrics, when to sing the song, and a trip down memory lane of past displays for our rival derby.
If you want to help with production or deployment for our next display, sign up for the tifo volunteer list. If you’re not local, or can’t make it out, and want to donate to the tifo fund, you can do that in the ECS store.
This song card is brought to you by the Emerald City Supporters, so you can join with us after the national anthem and the Champions League banner reveal in singing “Born in 1974” (To the tune of "When Johnny Comes Marching Home")
Born in Nineteen-Seventy-Four, Sounders! Sounders!
And now we win like never before, Sounders! Sounders!
We love our boys in famous green, the greatest team you've ever seen
Seattle Sounders, Born in Seventy-Four!
Emerald City Supporters (ECS) is an independent supporter group of Seattle Sounders FC. It is our mission to provide the best support in Major League Soccer, doing so by uniting supporters in their love of the Sounders. On matchdays, you can find many of us in the Brougham End, pushing our boys onto victory through coordinated songs, flags, and large tifo displays.
Wherever you are in the stadium, here are a few ways you can get involved and help us in our mission:
- Join us in other songs!
- Become a 2022 ECS Member! Membership comes with perks like exclusive merch, access to home and away match tickets, and discounts from our partners.
- Sign up to volunteer in one of our work groups, where you can join the team that makes ECS’ support happen.
- Donate to help fund our operations!
- Follow us on twitter, Instagram, or facebook!
Since this is a match against Portland and we’ve got your attention, here’s a reminder of some of the huge displays we’ve done in this rivalry over the years! All of these are designed, produced, deployed, and funded by ECS members!
2011: Decades of Dominance
2012: Tonight We Go All In
2013: Build a Bonfire
2017: The Rightful King
2019: Ambition Doesn’t Grow on Trees
Photo by @PNWmf
The history of Pride month being in June is tied to the protests that happened at Manhattan’s Stonewall Inn in 1969. Over the years, protests and riots have turned into parades and celebrations, which is what we wanted to share in with the 100+ flags in the ECS section.
However, it is increasingly clear that the rights of the LGBTQIAP+ community that have been fought so hard for are being targeted by both lawmakers and less progressive communities, with a primary emphasis aimed at transgender people, especially our youth.
So while we wanted to celebrate the LGBTQIAP+ community and the diversity within that community, we also wanted to share the reminder that not all wins are easy - sometimes they need a little extra support.
In the flag celebration in the section, we started with the common Progress Pride flags and then added many identity flags mixed in. Included were flags representing the transgender community, aromantic community, asexual community, bisexual community, lesbian community, non-binary community, demisexual community, and pansexual community. While the widely used Pride flags are meant to be inclusive of the different identities, flying additional flags are a reminder that we aren’t all represented by one symbol or piece of fabric. We are individual and unique in every community that we enter.
You are welcome as you are in the Emerald City Supporters. We will support the boys on the pitch alongside each other and we will support our LQBTQIAP+ members and family in your fight for equality.
Photo from @SoundersFC on twitter