Who We Are | Board Members | History
Who We Are:
In forming the Midnight Riders, we aim to represent the interests of supporters of the New England Revolution soccer team. The Midnight Riders intend to maintain the social aspects of the organization, while actively pursuing new members and furthering its goals, as outlined in the mission statement below. The Midnight Riders shall welcome members regardless of racial, ethnic, economical, or religious backgrounds, and will not condone racist or antisocial behavior of any sort.
As an independent supporters association, we strive to maintain a working relationship with the Club. By maintaining an open line of communication so fan concerns can be addressed, the Midnight Riders are able to take up legitimate complaints and concerns with the club in an attempt to improve the overall experience of attending games and supporting the team.
The Midnight Riders are a non-profit organization, and are in no way affiliated with the New England Revolution.
Who We're Not:
We have no official affiliation with the New England Revolution, nor do we necessarily exist to endorse or support the policies of the club.
The Midnight Riders are not a fan or booster club in the traditional American sense. Our main mission is to form a network of supporters such that we can meet, watch, travel to, and discuss Revolution games, and have a collective voice for supporters' interests with Revolution management. Opportunities to meet Revolution players, obtain autographs and take pictures are provided by Revolution management, and are not part of the Midnight Riders' mission.
While we are first and foremost a social organization, we do not provide a forum where fans have ready access to players, autograph sessions, clinics, or other team-sponsored events.
Executive Board Members
Monty Rodrigues Dan Clark Ed Mulrenan Julie Kumor Amy Ross Peter Kearns Krista Taylor |
President and Revolution Liaison Treasurer Membership Secretary Assistant Membership Secretary Recording Secretary Philanthropy Chair Merchandise Coordinator |
Board Members-at-Large
Jim Andruchow
Joe Butler
Kenny Hall
Fran Harrington
Michael Lawlor
Jim Powers
Garrett Quinn
Mike Smith
Sarah Smith
Karen Tompert
Kim Wilkinson
Web Committee
Joe Butler
Fran Harrington
Zach Saffrin
History
[This recount was originally a response to a question on the revolution-l Topica list about the role of the internet on the formation of the Midnight Riders and other US Soccer supporters. It is published here with Dave Litterer's permission.]
The formation of the USA soccer internet community happened pretty much spontaneously, primarily due to the almost complete lack of soccer coverage in conventional media. News-starved fans would find each other on the rec.sport.soccer newsgroup and trade any scrap of news they could find.
The increasing message volume eventually led Chris Allen to take his private email list of soccer contacts and turn that into an actual listserv, na-soccer, hosted by the since departed hoplite.org. That was near the end of 1993. That eventually grew to over 1,000 subscribers and was an essential forum for people to share soccer news and discuss soccer issues.
I first discovered rec.sport.soccer and na-soccer just before World Cup 1994, and already by then people were speculating and digging up info on MLS as it was slowly forming. It was such a godsend to suddenly be able to hear up to date news -- many of the early pioneers on the list developed lists, nascent web pages, etc. Mark Wheeler's US Soccer Pages were the first central directory linking together other soccer and us-soccer related pages, and acted as the major central switchboard for the internet soccer community for some time until the official commercial pages really took off. Mark also developed the first page to store info on MLS (both exist still as part of the Sam's Army page), Chris Allen set up the A-league page, Eric Vormelker set up a USISL page, Oliver Tse did his regular "soccer on US TV" page, Kevin Raymond Mitzel did the NPSL page, Scott Tamashiro did the CISL page, Don Crafts did the Seattle Sounders, and I (Dave Litterer) contributed to the History section of Mark Wheeler's website, eventually taking that over as the American Soccer History Archives (http://www.sover.net/~spectrum). And it grew from there. But those are some of the early pioneers through the end of 1994.
The next major development was the founding of Sam's Army on the internet. That had its genesis at a World Cup game in 1994 when Marc Spacone, who was attending with John Wright, accidentally introduced himself to Mark Wheeler by spilling his entire soda on him. They soon got to talking soccer and agreed that it was deplorable that the US national team had to face hometown crowds consisting mostly of people rooting for the other team because of many soccer fan's identification with the nation of their forbears, and felt that what we needed was a supporters' group that would yell and sing and beat drums and stir up the audience the way they did in Europe and elsewhere. They continued this conversation onto na-soccer with a lot of people joining in, and the charter and idea for Sam's Army was developed right there on the email list. Then arrangements and announcements and the first Sam's Army tailgate was set for the opening game of the USA Cup in June of 1995. That game happened to be at Foxboro Stadium, so many of the attendees at the first Sam's Army tailgate were of New England origin. But many were also from elsewhere all across the country. Those that I can remember off the top of my head (there were about 35 of us) included Mark Whereler, Chris Allen, Marc Spacone, Chris Spacone, John Wright, Guy Keeley, Oliver Tse, Eric Spurlock, Sandy Canetti, James "Big Dog" Welch, several New York fans from The Firm (Kevin McAllister & many of whom later founded Empire Soccer Club). All in all, about 30 people altogether.
This first tailgate was on the other side of the stadium in the lot just west of the media parking area. I remember us being stunned when the security personnel wouldn't let us kick soccer balls, even though they didn't mind the open fires, the keg and cases of beer. So we played cat and mouse with the ball throughout. Practiced chants as we marched into the Stadium. Our seating was right in the front, northeast corner of the field, first three rows, where the players come walking in. We did up big cheers as the players walked in; they acknowledged us. As Al Rothenberg walked in with Steve Sampson, we all chanted "we want a league! we want a league!" He grinned at us and shook his fist in a gesture of solidarity. The game was against Nigeria. Some Nigerian fans on the other side of the stadium had an absolutely giant drum which boomed through the stadium. Our kettle drum was about 14" across, but we had a pair of great banners draped across the sideline wall, and the 30 of us made a good racket.
First big problem: people behind us griped anytime we stood up to cheer. Ushers made us sit down. Eventually, they wouldn't let us yell, cheer or even sing. They didn't mind other people making noise. I guess the fact that we were organized freaked them out.
Finally, shortly after halftime, several of us, noticing the empty endzone sections, decided to try and make a run for those seats, where we could stand without bothering anyone. As luck had it, the section was open and unguarded, so about half of the Army streamed over there and settled in right at the front of section 2 (now The Fort). We were able to make quite a ruckus, and soon, other fans were streaming over to join in. Eventually we had over 200 fans there yelling and stomping and cheering and chanting. It made quite an impression on both the audience and the team. In fact, after the US pulled out the 3-2 victory (with the final goal scored right in front of the goalpost), several team players and coach Sampson came and thanked the crowd, saying that we had a profound impact on their morale.
Sam's Army also had major contingents at Rutgers Stadium and RFK Stadium to complete the USA Cup sweep. Both of those games had larger Sam's Army contingents, and by this time most members had met in person for the first time after conversing as friends online for months. So there you have the story of the birth of Sam's Army in June 1995. The Team's semifinal performance at Copa America was the icing on the cake.
Later that summer (1995), as na-soccer talk returned to news of MLS organizational developments, many people on the list began to discuss the possibility of having local groups of Sammers start up clubs devoted to the MLS team in their area. Also considered was establishing Sam's Army chapters in each MLS city as satellite organizations. After some discussion, it was eventually agreed that people preferred the MLS supporter clubs to be independent organization rather than chapters of Sam's Army.
At this time, eight cities were confirmed for franchises, but there were no nicknames, logos, or uniforms yet. (They were known as "MLS New England", "Empire Soccer Club", "Los Angeles S. C"., etc.). By this time, about 75 players had been signed by the league, although allocations and the draft wouldn't come until later. The fans on na-soccer were already busy building up their rivalries, some good natured, some passionate. We didn't waste time, some of us didn't even know yet whether we'd get a franchise! I still remember Dustin Christman (Dallas) and Jeff Ray (Chicago) going at it in a mini-flame war ("Yah, well, we're going to whip your butt if we get a team!!"). In August the final three cities were announced (Dustin could celebrate!), and about that time Mike Brininstool at hoplite.org set up mailing lists for each of the mls cities. Many of the na-soccer fans from this area then subscribed to mls-newengland (the precursor to the current revolution-l) by the end of the summer, and then discussions began in earnest about starting a supporters club. Several fans were developing nascent web pages for their mls team (Fred Kfoury did the first New England page), and other suppporters' clubs were organized through the fall.
Many early details were hashed out on mls-newengland, including the supporters' section ("The Fort?", "The Bunker?"), the name ("Revolution Independiente supporters club", "Midnight Riders", and others), and logo (shield with rider and soccer ball, the lighthouse design, etc.). The first organizational meeting was December of 1995, about 15 people attended, and they voted in the name, and the location/name of the supporters section. It was already clear we needed a supporters section, and a no-brainer that it should be at the end zone after the success of the USA-Nigeria game, and that we'd need to reach an arrangement with the team to ensure that we could tailgate and stand unmolested. I attended the second one in January where we voted on the logo, and arranged to meet with the team and stadium personnel. People I remember from these organizing days included Chris Allen, Guy Keeley, Bob Moynihan, Andy Busa, Tom Hill, Eric Spurlock, Dan Mallon-Craft, Jon Johansen, Rand Svensen.
In mid February we had our third meeting, which was also the first "Meet the coach" day. By this time, the draft had happened and the team had about 20 players practicing. Coach Stapleton had hardly been here three weeks, but spoke for some time with us (about 30 Riders attended) at the clubhouse overlooking Section 2. Looking out over the snow covered field, it was amazing to realize we were six weeks away from our first Division 1 soccer game in New England since 1980! After meeting the coach and players we took care of more business, designing the T-shirt, arranging to have banners made, planning events, launching the "Man of the Year" poll, designating a tailgate area in Lot 2, and electing officers. By then, Guy, Tom, Eric and Red Foley were launching another segment of the supporters' infrastructure! An irreverent supporter's magazine that would give a truly Independent view of the Revs news. Taking the "Revolution" theme and borrowing from the Beatles song of the same name, the title was chosen: "Pictures of Chairman Mao," and the rest is history.
The Revolution's first game was at New York, and so the Riders' first tailgate experience was as guests of the Empire Soccer Club at their shindig in Meadowlands parking lot. Since all of us in the supporters clubs (there were 9 clubs by this time), had originally gotten involved with Sam's Army, there was a truly collegial atmosphere surrounding these get-togethers, and the tradition was started that visiting supporters clubs were always welcome at the tailgates, and happily this tradition has continued to this day. The dynamic is somewhat different now, as many supporters joined the club directly, rather than through Sam's Army, and sometimes have to be reminded of the intended collegial spirit.
It was always established we would NOT be involved with hooliganism or racism, and would only emulate the POSITIVE aspects of the European supporters clubs. This feeling of good will towards the other clubs has continued to this day, and owes its strength largely to the nature of many members as participants in the internet US soccer community which in itself is a unifying force. We really depended on each other in the early days as there was no one else supporting the game. The Sons of Liberty were there early on with their Alexi Lalas masks (although they didn't have a name yet).
Finally, we had our home opener, and it was unforgettable, and had a wonderful tailgate. Finally, all the work had paid off, we had enthusiastic chants and Division 1 pro soccer. Almost hard to get used to but I'll never forget that game! The crowds grew as word of the Riders spread. and we had a couple hundred members at the end of the season. The Riders hosted Sam's Army for the tailgate of the National Team when they visited Foxboro (USA cup vs. Ireland this year), and these were fun times. If it was a double header, we'd put on our red Sam's Army shift and then at intermission, switch to our white Midnight Riders shift!
The first MLS CUP was held at Foxboro, so we organized "the mother of all tailgates" and invited all the other supporters clubs. The night before, the end of the year bash was two-part: At a sports bar in the North End, we presented the Man of the Year award to Beto Naveda, and about 40 of us chatted and relived the season. At least five supporters clubs were represented, Richard Groff, commissioner of the A-League was there, along with Mark Wheeler, Mark Spacone and other Sammers. Then we walked down the street to a VERY nice Italian restaurant. They gave us their private function room for the night and we proceeded to have a VERY nice gourmet Italian meal. I remember sitting at a table with Fred Kfoury (Midnight Riders), Sandy Canetti (Empire Soccer Club), Dustin Christman (The Inferno), Erin Jones (The Bat Clan), and guys from the Screaming Eagles and the River Ratz, all at one table, and we were having a great time discussing things. I can imagine what a British reporter covering fan violence would have thought of this spectacle ("so that's how they do it in America...")
Boy, what a year! And all through it, and to this day, was the internet underlying everything, it's really what held the entire supporters movement together in the early years. By 1997, the leagues and most of the teams had established official web pages, and most media outlets had established soccer news sections, so the internetizens could focus more on discussion rather than passing along news items. For the Riders, a lot of new people joined in 1997 and early 1998, tailgates grew, and World Cup qualifying excitement brought big crowds (USA-Mexico: 57,000+ largest crowd ever in New England, the Sam's Army section numbered nearly a THOUSAND). Nearly 200 people attended the Man of the Year bash, which also was attended by the entire team.
Perhaps the biggest crisis to hit the internet community was when the na-soccer list disappeared suddenly. Mike Brininstool's server computer, an old IBM 486 held together with baling wire and scotch tape (more or less) crashed and he had NO backup of the mailing list. All of a sudden, we were 800+ blinded souls groping around to find each other. How do you reconstruct a mailing list of over 800 people, to recreate a virtual forum which was still practically the backbone of the entire internet community? (of course there were a lot of web pages and lists, but na-soccer kind of tied them all together).
Several of us contacted each other (Big Dog, Sandy, Chris Allen, Mark Wheeler and myself among others), trying to figure out what happened, contacted Mike Brininstool, etc. Then we all scrolled through our saved na-soccer messages and culled out all the email names we could find, poold them together, and I combined them into a combined list. We sent a message to everybody on that list including the list itself and a brief update on what happened. We asked people to post any other names they knew of people who had been on the list. We scrolled through web pages, personal correspondence, anywhere we recognized a name. Slowly, in stages, we built the list up to about 350 people by the time Big Dog found a colleague who would host a new list. That one turned out to be unstable, and eventually we landed at Teleport, which worked fine for a couple years, before moving to soccerspot. It's up to about 450 people now, but never did reach its former size.
Now, when hoplite.org went down, it took down half of the other mls supporters lists with it and they all had to scramble to rebuild and find new homes, but it wasn't easy. Now we're all much more careful about keeping backups of mailing lists!
Since then, the internet has continued to be an integral part of the American soccer fan's experience, and even though the fan run websites and forums are no longer as critical for exchanging current news, they remain an important independent source of information, commentary and discussion, and that has continued to this day.
David Litterer
January, 2001