May 25 – The First Ever Midnight Riders Pride Night

The Midnight Riders have long been advocates of equality on and off the soccer field, and we believe that homophobia and discrimination have no place in the game. This year, we’re holding a special event in honor of the International Day Against Homophobia. The first Midnight Riders Pride Night will be held before and during the May 25th home match against Toronto FC, and we’re excited to announce our plans for the celebration:

• Fly several new flags in the Fort featuring a design demonstrating our organization’s acceptance of the LGBT community.

• Mount a banner on the front of the supporters section that declares our support of all fans, irrespective of their orientation.

• Raise money through the sale of stickers and pins to be donated to BAGLY, a Boston-area LGBT youth advocacy organization.

• Throw rainbow streamers after goals scored and at the start of each half.

It’s important to show visible and public support of the LGBT community within the soccer community – soccer should be a place where the only thing that matters is your ability on the field or your ability to support your team. The Midnight Riders are accepting donations to help defray the cost of staging this Pride Night, and we’ll be selling stickers and pins at tailgates and away game viewings between now and the Pride Night event. 100% of the money taken in over the operating cost will directly to BAGLY. We look forward to seeing you there, and please let us know if you have any questions.

Check out the facebook event here and be sure to invite your friends.

Read the official press release here.

If you have any questions/concerns about the bus you can contact me Fran Harrington at web@midnightriders.com.

There are three bus making this trip, and three pickup locations. The pickup locations are (in order)

• The Phoenix Landing - 9:30am
• Gillette Stadium (supporters parking lot) - 10:30am
• Wallingford, CT Park and Ride - 12:30pm

Please be to your pick up location at least 15 minutes early. If you are not there when the bus is we will leave without you. If you have not indicated which pick-up location you are using or if you have decided to change your pick up location please email us back and let us know.

Alcohol IS allowed on the bus and there will be room for a limited amount of coolers on each bus. If we have too many coolers extras will be put underneath the bus.

We are aiming to get to O’Donnell’s around 4pm.

http://www.odonnellspub.com/

233 Harrison Ave, Harrison, NJ

For those meeting us in New Jersey (tickets only)

All tickets will be distributed at O’Donnell’s. We advise that those taking the Path train get off at the Harrison stop and walk to the bar.

Tickets will be distributed by Julie Kumor.

We will be leaving O’Donnell’s at approximately 5:30 to meet with security at gate C1. Drums, flags, and banners are allowed in the stadium but will be searched by security on the way in.

If you ordered a ticket/bus spot through us and did not receive an email from us with the same above information please contact us so we can make sure you are accounted for. 

UPDATE 4/18:

A few more items about the trip on Saturday:

We would just like to remind everyone that O’Donnell’s is CASH ONLY. So we advise having money with you before you get on the bus/to the bar as 200 people looking for an ATM in Harrison will not be a pretty site (not that anything in Harrison is a pretty site.)

Buses are assigned as it looks like all three will be filled to capacity. If it says you are on bus one, or bus three please get on the appropriate bus as we will be checking people off by name for each bus.

UPDATE 4/19:

If Cambridge/Boston is still under lock down tomorrow we will start the bus trip with the Gillette Stadium pick up spot.

We will be in touch if this is the case.  If you are going to Gillette and would be able to provide rides from the Boston area please let us know.

UPDATE 4/19 6:15:

MBTA ban is lifted. Road trip tomorrow is go according to original plan. #NEREVS

The first bus to New Jersey for April’s Revs/Red Bulls game sold out faster than you say, “Taurine comes from a bull’s what?”* But those of you who didn’t manage to snag a seat are in luck: we’ve got a third bus. That’s right! You can still join us for a trip full of singing, drinking (if you’re old enough, of course), and hopefully a nice tidy three points to bring home.

Grab your tickets here before they’re gone too – there won’t be another. And again – if you’re planning on meeting up with us in New Jersey, and just want a ticket, you can buy that here.

*Sure, it’s an urban legend, but it’s still pretty hilarious. Also: it was first isolated in an ox’s bile.

The Midnight Riders will be hosting a gathering at the Banshee in Dorchester to celebrate the beginning of the season and watch the Revs get the first three points of the 2013 season. Join us there, starting at 6pm, for food, drinks, formation arguments and a whole lot of yelling at TV screens. We’ll also have special guests from the Revolution, including #15 Stephen McCarthy, who has contributed a signed jersey for a raffle. Proceeds for the raffle will go to the Kirk Urso fund – you can read more about Urso, and McCarthy’s involvement, here.

Don’t forget to bring your friends. They can join right at the event, and you can renew your membership if you haven’t already. We should also have a limited number of 2013 scarves available for purchase.

See you tonight!

Contact: Sean Dane: media@supportersshield.org

Tel: (816) 510-3812

The Supporters’ Shield Foundation in partnership with the Independent Supporters Council (ISC), is proud to announce the creation of a new Supporters’ Shield trophy and the formation of the Supporters Shield Foundation. This new Supporters’ Shield replaces the previous trophy at the start of the 2013 MLS season. Supporter groups across Major League Soccer via the ISC have worked together to fund, design and deliver this stunning new shield. The new shield is built on the passions of today’s MLS supporters, and encapsulating the history and work of the early MLS supporters. The Supporters’ Shield represents the growth and accomplishments of all MLS supporters since the awards start in 1999.

Starting in San Jose, the new Supporters’ Shield will make the journey with supporters this entire year and will travel to all 19 MLS teams and their supporters. The ISC has organized the journey of the Supporters’ Shield so each supporter group that helped fund it can see what their work has accomplished. The Shield will start with the winners of the 2012 Supporters’ Shield and will be handed from supporter group to supporter group, with the next landmark stop at the MLS All-Star Game in Kansas City on July 31, 2013. It will end its journey with the winner of the 2013 Supporters’ Shield. Every Supporter who lifted it during the year will be hoping to see it again come November. The 2013 winner will be engraved on the new Supporters’ Shield next to the previous seventeen winners who are also engraved on the new trophy.

The new Supporters’ Shield is made of sterling silver and stainless steel, weighing in at just over thirty-five pounds. When the Supporters’ Shield was revealed to the ISC organizers in Kansas City, Fran Harrington, President of the Midnight Riders, declared, “It’s gorgeous. The new shield is definitely something that properly reflects the growth and maturity of the league and its supporters!” The new Supporters’ Shield will provide 25 years of future winners, with the option to add another ring for future winners beyond that. The new Supporters’ Shield was designed by Kyle Stewart and made in Toronto by Award Co.

The Supporters’ Shield is given tothe team who has the most points at the end of the season. Brett Bird, Vice President of the Vancouver Southsiders, stated, “The Supporters’ Shield takes a greater commitment to high level play to earn, and represents the best team over 34 games. Too many times an MLS Cup winner plays well for 2 weeks and takes home a trophy.” This grand trophy recognizes the accomplishments of the winning team with that grand accomplishment. Greg Mockos, Co-president of the Emerald City Supporters states, “The Supporters’ Shield is important as its crowns the champion over the course of the regular season. It represents the efforts of the team through a very long and arduous season on a path that is traveled in unison with the supporters – every match day home, and away. To win the Supporters’ Shield the team and supporters all need to have the same, unwavering commitment to the club and its crest.”

Our original trophy was founded in 1999 and heavily supported by a Kansas City Wizards supporter named Sam Pierron. This was a big step for Supporters of MLS at the time as no trophy existed to represent the winner of the table at the end of the year. Through the efforts of leaders in the supporters community the existing trophy was funded. A sculpture student at the University Of Kansas then produced the chevron-shaped trophy we know today. The original Supporters’ Shield will be on display in the Members Club at Sporting Park until the a time there is a Soccer Hall of Fame to curate the trophy.

A major impetus in getting the new Supporters’ Shield produced was Sean Dane, President of Supporters’ Shield Foundation and a leader in the Kansas City Cauldron. He urged that the Supporters’ Shield is, “an award created by the fans to recognize the single table winner. It is unique in the landscape of American sports. I think it highlights what makes the supporters culture in the league great. It also highlights the ability of Major League Soccer to work in partnership with its supporters in a way unseen in other sports. The efforts of the ISC and its members is commendable and it helps to further the growth of supporters culture in the country. That’s a win for all involved and I am proud to be associated with all them.” To add to this Chicago’s Section 8 representative to the ISC Dan Martin says, “It’s definitely special when fans of the sport can come together in a collaborative sense to express our shared passion for the game. Whenever people put aside fundamental differences to contribute to the greater good, you know the result is meaningful and worthy of note.”

The story of the original Supporters’ Shield, its original creation story, and how the new Supporters’ Shield was funded by the supporter groups of today is a monumental reality in the world of sports. The supporters carried the torch to honor the best MLS team for each year with the funds and will carry on that story for many years to come. The reality that so many supporter groups worked together to create this trophy isn’t found in many places within the world of our sport. “The collaboration on the new Supporters’ Shield shows how far the supporters culture has grown and matured through the years. How so many supporters groups from around the league came together to create a new trophy that will exist for years to come! This trophy is one of the most unique trophies handed out in all of American sports since it’s delivered by the supporters to the winning team!” exclaimed Donald Rickard, President of the San Jose Casbah.

To support the Shield, the ISC has created a great way to reimburse the supporter groups that funded the creation of the new trophy. ISC member supporter groups will have limited edition “I Support the Shield” scarves that they will be selling to fans of their teams. This is a way for all supporters and fans to participate and show their pride in the Supporters’ Shield, as well as the hope that their team hoists it at the end of the year.

The Supporters’ Shield foundation is tasked with raising awareness of the Shield’s history, protecting the commercialization of the Shield, and ensuring its movement from team to team each season. Its officers are elected annually by the ISC.

More information can be found at supportersshield.org and independentsupporterscouncil.com.

Are you ready to join us and make the Fort heard all through Foxboro?

If you don’t have your ticket yet, we’ve got you covered. For $10, Riders can join their fellow supporters in the Fort on March 23rd to watch the Revs take on Sporting Kansas City at 4:00. And even better – we can get you to the tailgate. The Midnight Riders will be running a bus straight from Phoenix Landing in Cambridge to Foxboro for just $20 a head. Do the math: thirty dollars will get you from Cambridge to the Fort.

Do you have friends who aren’t Riders? Bring them along! It’s just five bucks extra for non-members to join us on the bus to Gillette. It’s the perfect opportunity to bring friends to the game and introduce them to the team, and to the unique supporters’ culture of the Midnight Riders. Have some drinks, eat some food, and cheer for the boys in blue.

Get your ticket and sign up for the bus today, because this thing is going to fill up fast. The bus will leave Phoenix Landing at 1:00 – make sure you’re on it!

From the Pub to the tailgate to the Fort. We got ya covered.

It’s time to kick off the 2013 season and the Midnight Riders want the atmosphere at Gillette to be rocking.

Buy your spot here

18 Years Strong!

Wow, has it really been 18 years already? It seems like only yesterday we were cheering on our new boys in blue at their very first match! So much has changed and we’re excited for our 18th year to be the best so far! With that in mind, we’ve got all manner of goings-on in the works as we head into the Revs 2013 season, so let’s get into it!

Quick note: Please let us know right away if you are having any trouble accessing the message boards. These will be critical to our planning and discussion of the below items as well as other preparations for this season, so you definitely want to make sure you’re part of the process and connected to all the latest info.

ANNUAL SCARF CONTEST

Seriously, who cares what we’re doing this season if we don’t look awesomer than everyone else in the stadium? Fortunately, we have so many awesome scarf ideas this year that we need YOUR vote to pick one! If you’re a 2012 member, we need your help to vote for this year’s scarf. The first round elimination voting is already open and only open until Mon Jan 14th, so head to the Merchandise message board to cast your vote today!

THE “BETTER LATE THAN NEVER” HOLIDAY PARTY

Join us Friday Jan 18th upstairs at the Banshee as we enjoy a few pints, reflect on the past year, and look forward to the 2013 season. There will be some light food provided and a video recap of the 2012 season.

2013 MEMBERSHIPS

Memberships for 2013 are now available in the shop! Renew for yourself and get your friends to join us this year! Particularly for renewing members, the sooner the better to ensure we have you all set up in time to vote at the 2013 General Meeting in February and to make sure you have access to the message boards as we start planning everything for the upcoming seasons

Please note that in the past, the details and differences between Individual and Family memberships weren’t completely clear, so we’ve taken extra effort to clarify the options and benefits of each. We’ll also be discussing these details at the General Meeting and we’ll be voting on a clarification measure with regards to Family Memberships at the general meeting, so we encourage you to review the Membership details.

2013 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

As we do each year, we’ll be gathering at Doyle’s in Jamaica Plain on February 17th to review the 2012 season, discuss initiatives for next season and to elect officers and leadership for 2013. Your voting status is based on your membership, so while you can sign up at the meeting, if you sign up in advance we’ll have your ballot ready and you can pick up your membership materials (parking passes, member cards, info, scarf pre-orders, etc) at the meeting so you’ll be sure to have them before the first game.

This meeting is also what makes us so strong as a group, because every one of our members has a voice and a vote and how we grow each year depends entirely on who our members are, so we will continue to be the only true group representative of all our supporters every year. If you haven’t joined us for an annual meeting before, you don’t want to miss this, so mark your calendars and we’ll see you then!

NOMINATIONS FOR 2013 OFFICERS

In order to be elected to an Executive or At-Large Board position, you need to be nominated by another member. Nominations for officers and leadership for the 2013 season are now open. Who is the best man or woman for each job? You tell us! Nominate your candidates today so we make sure to have our very best leaders this season. Any member in good standing can be nominated for an At-Large Board position, but only members who have served on the At-Large Board for at least one season are eligible to be nominated for Executive Board positions. More information on the positions and their roles and responsibilities and details on the nomination process can be found here.

Please note: We will be voting at the General Meeting to revise the position of Assistant Membership Secretary to a new Social Media Chair position as part of our effort to keep our group modern and current. The details page has the full info on the new role, but these two roles will be one changing role, so nominations for these two positions are one and the same. If the motion passes at the meeting, the person elected will be the Social Media Chair, otherwise of the motion does not pass the same elected person would hold the already established Assistant Membership Secretary position. We’ll have more details on this coming out prior to the meeting and will discuss further at the meeting prior to vote.

INDEPENDENT SUPPORTERS COUNCIL (ISC)

On Jan 24th the Midnight Riders will be sending President Fran Harrington as their representative to the Independent Supporters Council (ISC) meeting in Kansas City. The ISC meets in order to identify and promote the needs of soccer supporters. As the organization is comprised primarily of supporters from Major League Soccer markets; that is the main focus of the discussions. Supporters groups from all levels of professional soccer such as the NASL and USL Pro are welcomed and encouraged to join the ISC. If you have any questions rf topics you would like to see covered please head to the thread on the message board here.