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SPORTS Saturday 19 OctOber 2019
The Wonderwall: Minnesota United has steep backing behind it

By DAVE CAMPBELL Blaine, a suburb about 20
AP Sports Writer miles north of the current
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — stadium where the Loons
When Minnesota United still maintain a practice fa-
takes the field for the fran- cility.
chise's first match in the "I think it helps that we've
MLS playoffs, the Loons will come from a lower divi-
have a stadium full of fired- sion together," said Sam
up fans behind them. Solberg, the president of
If the home team wins, the Dark Clouds, one of
the scene at Allianz Field the two major fan groups
will briefly become a along with True North Elite.
19,400-person karaoke bar "There are a lot of estab-
with the patrons passion- lished relationships there,
ately belting out one of the which is huge in our ability
biggest hits by the 1990s to support the stadium and
British pop band Oasis. support the team and in
"Wonderwall" is the song. the team's ability to form a
It's also the aptly named strong fan base. I think the
section of seats for the supporters' group can be
most ardent followers of the heart and soul of a sta-
this fledgling soccer club. dium, and I think this year
They hover ever so steeply has demonstrated that."
behind the south goal at Safe standing areas like the
the open-air European- Wonderwall are becom-
style venue that has bright- In this July 13, 2019, photo, Minnesota United fans chant and hold cup scarves in anticipation of ing a popular fixture of MLS
ened a worn-down neigh- the start of the MLS team's soccer match against FC Dallas in St. Paul, Minn. Associated Press venues, with Los Angeles
borhood with LED lighting, FC, Orlando and San Jose
translucent skin, and a It's a great atmosphere ev- The Loons played their first who bought the team in also among them. The 1989
curvy, 360-degree canopy. ery game. We made it a two years as an MLS team 2012 to save the financially Hillsborough disaster in Eng-
"There's a massive connec- fortress for teams to come a few miles to the west at strapped club from folding land, when a crush of fans
tion between the club and here and get points." TCF Bank Stadium, a col- while it was in the lower- entering a stadium tram-
the fans. They expect it Minnesota United, which lege football facility more tier North American Soccer pled 96 people to death
a long, long time in a city plays the Los Angeles Gal- than double the size of Al- League, worked closely and injured more than 700
like this," goalie Vito Man- axy in a first-round game lianz Field. with the architectural firm others, prompted a ban on
none said. "When you work on Sunday night, finished The first season in the new Populous to design a robust standing at soccer games
so much, and you wait in fourth place in the West- place was a smash, with supporters' section in an at- for the top two tiers in Eng-
so many years to be that ern Conference this season an average attendance of tempt to replicate the most land.
team that opens a new sta- on the strength of a 10-1- 19,723 that was over official vibrant stadiums around There has been a recent
dium, that's what happens. 6 record at its new home. capacity. That ranked 10th the MLS and the world. push for some English
in the league, with Atlanta They listened to feedback teams to restore standing,
and Tottenham's new sta-
Bencic nears WTA Finals United (52,510) and the from the fans, too. from dium has rails just in case
developed
Seattle Sounders (40,247) What
spot as Bertens loses again the front-runners for those discussions was the it's allowed again. Because
Wonderwall, a 2,920-seat, of a ban by the Union of
crowds in their NFL stadi-
ums. According to figures pyramid-shaped area that European Football Asso-
Associated Press compiled by Soccer Sta- allows for safe standing ciations, clubs in Germany
MOSCOW (AP) — Belinda Bencic is on the verge of claim- dium Digest, league-wide and rises at a sharp 35-de- have to replace standing
ing the last spot at the season-ending WTA Finals after attendance in 2019 took a gree incline to keep the areas with fixed seats for
winning her Kremlin Cup quarterfinal on Friday. slight dip from the previous highest rows as close to the Champions League and
Bencic saved two set points in the opening-set tiebreak in year, though the down- field as possible. As with Europa League matches.
beating Kirsten Flipkens 7-6 (8), 6-1. sized home of the Loons other venues around the For instance, Borussia Dort-
The Swiss player's hope of reaching the tour finals had was one factor. They aver- game, the energy derived mund's capacity drops
earlier been given a boost when fellow contender Kiki aged 23,902 fans in 2018. from the chanting, clap- from 81,365 to 65,829 when
Bertens was beaten 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 by Kristina Mladenovic. "You can see the relation- ping, jumping, drum beat- its famous yellow wall is
If Bencic beats Mladenovic in the semifinals on Saturday ship that's developing be- ing, flag waving and scarf eliminated.
she will secure the eighth and final place ahead of Ser- tween the players and raising originates there. In this crowded Twin Cit-
ena Williams at the Oct. 27-Nov. 3 tournament in Shen- the crowd, which is al- "The attitude and enthusi- ies sports market, moving
zhen, China. ways a great sign," Minne- asm and involvement with up to MLS required for the
Bertens now needs at least one player to withdraw to sota United coach Adrian the game that the support- league, the team and the
play in the tour finals. Heath said. "They've been ers traditionally play now city some faith that Minne-
In the other semifinal, Karolina Muchova bids to reach incredible. The supporters exists throughout the stadi- sota United's small-but-loyal
her third final of the year when she plays Anastasia Pavly- have been everything we um," McGuire said. "Every- fan base would reproduce
uchenkova after both won in straight sets. expected for this stadium, body is engaged. It is not with greater exposure.
In the men's draw, third-seeded Marin Cilic ousted Jer- and I think the players have just a group of the super "The whole place is loud
emy Chardy 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (2) to set up a semifinal meeting been that as well. They've fans sitting down at one and involved, and every-
with Andrei Rublev, who swept past Nikola Milojevic 6-2, given performances here end, conducting their own body stays to the end," Mc-
6-3. that they've been excited business." Guire said. "It's an extraor-
Seventh-seeded Adrian Mannarino, last year's runner-up, about." Many of the fans that fill the dinary experience, and
upset fourth-seeded Dusan Lajovic 7-6 (3), 6-1 and will Minnesota United own- Wonderwall have backed I think a lot of that is the
face 2012 Kremlin Cup champion Andreas Seppi in the er Bill McGuire, a former the team since it played spillover from this great sup-
other semifinal.q health care executive for much smaller crowds in porters' group."q