ANGEL CITY BRIGADE
ACB – how it began
It was raining when I pulled up to Liam’s Irish pub, I could be wrong but I’m fairly certain that it was late November 2007. Some yahoo in a black leather jacket ambled out of an old VW bug and for some reason I knew he was one of the founders of the Angel City Brigade. A week or so before my first meeting with anyone from the ACB I found a link to ACB’s first message board. I had been tracking the ongoing dialogue between a few of Bigsoccer’s members who had been discussing the concept of starting a new Supporter’s Group in the North End of the stadium. I remember bringing a few of the current IE ACB’ers with me to the meeting. Star Wars Josh, Bulgarian Kevin and myself attended the shin dig in an effort to get to know the founders of ACB and figure out what we could do to help the growth of the group or whether or not we even wanted to be a part of it. Once there we greeted everyone with a stupid series of “howdy-do’s” and “how terribly interesting’s” and did our best to act like we didn’t want to get seriously drunk at 11am in an Irish bar and shoot the shit about the Galaxy.
Unfortunately, or fortunately our resolve only lasted for about five minutes…hell, maybe not even that long. We proved right then and there that we had about as much professional organization and self control as a six-year-old brat with shit on his shoes. We opted instead to get completely hammered and talk about the first thing that came into our mind. He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named (the first President of ACB) was drunkenly pointing out the pros and cons of each formation in Fifa and which one would suit our beloved Galaxy. Carlos (that yahoo in the black leather jacket) was lamenting the loss of Cienfuegos in the middle of the field in between his Kraut Rock diatribes and James kept asking me “dude, why is your name Pox? Do you have a lot of chicken pock scars or something?” All the while the empty pitchers seemed to multiply around us, flanked by pint glasses and us taking frequent trips to the patio to smoke.
“Oh yeah!” Carlos would conclude while we were all rising out of our alcohol-imbibed graves around 3pm. “We need twenty Season Ticket Holders to be recognized by the Galaxy as a supporter’s group. So you guys should join us.”
At the time of this meeting there were MAYBE seven season ticket holders who had already claimed affiliation with the ACB. The following months would see about fifteen or so active members doing they’re best to prepare for the opening of the season; banners, flags, songs, recruitment, shirts, logos, off-season bbq’s etc. We would play friendly games between the IE members and LA members to help foster the growing community from our online message board. Looking back on it now it seems SO LONG AGO. Just before the beginning of the season we had finally reached our 20 season ticket holder count. The Galaxy had officially recognized us as a Supporters Group. The first few rows of Section 121 would be ours.
About twenty of us met up in Lot 13 three or four hours before the game would begin. Rodney, ACB’s resident chef, had a feast laid out for us, each member in turn had a plethora of beer and we were all greeted with a bit of anxiety. Harry Callahan (a lifelong Boro fan and Middlesborough resident/future ACB Living Hero) made his first appearance with ACB. Viking Horns Mike began his silly (I mean mighty and invigorating) Viking hat tradition that day. I recall talking to Sergio (our elected capo) about what songs to sing and when. I remember about 20 or 25 proud members taking the first march into the Home Depot Center. I remember reigniting my hatred for San Jose (as that was our first home game of the season). I remember witnessing our first win with the ACB. I remember seeing MotorJohn’s flag that smells like shit for the first time and being proud. I remember meeting John and Vanessa for the first time and praying to the soccer gods that they liked ACB enough to return and bolster our numbers. I remember leaving Lot 13 after the game thinking that this was quite possible the greatest group of people that I had ever had the pleasure to be around.
That first season for the Galaxy was a write off at best. But that first season for ACB and myself was one I will never forget. A group of soccer fans managed to unite and build as diverse of a community as I had ever seen. Our group ranged from a Hungarian English Mormon to a van stuffed with fifteen punkers, from a lawyer to a construction worker, from students to teachers. The ACB helped its members who were in need. The group had managed to reach past its uniting bond as a soccer SG and become a family of friends.
When I was asked to write for the ACB blog I was trying to figure out what I should write about. I came to the conclusion that the only fitting way to begin this blog is to begin it with my first experience with ACB. I would have never guessed that when I met some of the founders at Liam’s that day in November that I would find myself so ingrained with the ACB, writing a soccer blog and cherishing all of the people I would meet in the following two years. I can honestly say that ACB was a life changing experience and it’s impact on my life reaches well beyond the warm confines of the Home Depot Center and Lot 13.
I look forward to bringing you ACB information, Galaxy news and events over this next off season and season and I promise I won’t write like an old man pissing his diapers remembering the good ol’ days anymore.
P.S. Isn’t this new ACB website the bee’s knees?! Be sure to give Rudy/Smartskidd a beer at our next ACB gathering as he is the fine architect of this new look website.
Sincerely,
Pox
Glorious first entry. BELLA BELLA
cool story, Pox.
tear
when does the movie come out?
Bella Bella
May the power of Thor continue to give your hand strength and the breast of the beer goddess Stella of Artois continue to provide the sweet nectar of wisdom to you.
NICE!! I remember the first game….kinda
A good story.
how can i join! i live in La area and im a big fan of galaxy dont go to that many games but i feel as HOME DEPOT CENTER is my home away from home (except for my church rockchurch.com) i want to change it this year..thinking about buying season tickets and joining acb
Welcome to the ACB register introduced your self in the forum and see you on march 27th at the home opener! LOT 13
Regardless of how ACB got started (indeed it was Buena Park In-N-Out *yuck, shoulda been Mickey D’s), every perspective from every individual is a beautiful memory that is woven into our dynamic, glowing fabric that exhibits the ACB at its finest…. absolutely loved it Pox, very warm and welcoming statement to come across, for the newbees and old timers alike!
Excellent first post. this is a great webpage. we are really growing.
Well done. I’m a huge Galaxy supporter, but my locale (Vegas) doesn’t give me much time to make it to games. I have to say that for outsiders looking into supporters groups like ACB, it can be fairly intimidating. Especially in the States, where this is a bit of a novelty to a lot of newcommers to the game. I bet this post, and hopefully more to follow, break down that intimidation wall for new supporters looking to join ACB. Very well done, keep them coming!
Paul C, next time you make it to a game come over to lot 13 and introduce yourself, the ACB pride themselves on welcoming all galaxy fans and thats no shit, infact get yourself there for the home opener against the revs and make some new friends.
haha nice clean up mod!
E.L.E!! E.L.E!!
You know it;)
aww Group Hug =)
YOU ASS IT WAS A BROWN JACKET! Chris had the worst ideas formation wise, 3-5-2 works best
hhahaa viking hat
ive seen that guy so many times at games lmao
I remember that first season, the first pre season BBQ….yes, me and the babies venturing out of Ventura County to hang out with a bunch of crazies….best decision i ever made! the crazies are now our family….i can still hear my family “Leah, do you think its safe for a single woman and her kids to go hang out with a bunch of crazy soccer fans?”….my answer today is YES its safe, so safe i sent my son off to seattle with them….so glad i met you all!