In Houston, Texas, every sport OTHER than soccer is king. Houston residents have had the privilege of watching some of the greatest athletes in several major American sports: Nolan Ryan, Warren Moon, Craig Biggio, Jeff Bagwell, J.J. Watt, Deshaun Watson, Hakeem Olajuwon, James Harden and countless others. If you asked an everyday Houstonian who the most famous Houston soccer player is or was, most would respond, “we have a soccer team?” or, “soccer is for communists!” When it comes to explaining The beautiful game to most folks in Texas, the offsides rule is typically a great place to both start and finish - that is usually where the conversation ends. With a population of roughly 7 million people, you will find Houston soccer supporters scattered amongst the 10,000+ square miles of low-lying bayou country the same way you would find four leaf clovers dispersed throughout a rolling pasture: by sheer luck. Houston soccer fans are few and far between, misunderstood by the masses and typically looked down upon by rural good ol’ boys, who find themselves looking for blue collar work in the concrete jungle that is Houston – they say we soccer fans watch the other football.

Now that you have a quasi-understanding of what it’s like to be a soccer supporter in Houston, let me introduce you to our club - our one and only club, the Houston Dynamo. I arrived late to the sport by way of my son, who happens to be a very talented footballer. As a former high school American football and baseball coach, I had limited knowledge of and exposure to The Beautiful Game. So I did what most people would do - I began to watch the Premiere League on the weekends and told myself I would attend a game for my local club. Having spent weekends watching crowds of 20,000 - 90,000 people stand and chant for 90 minutes on TV - win, lose or draw - I foolishly convinced myself that the experience at my first Dynamo game would be similar. Holy s@#%, was I wrong. I arrived at BBVA in 2018 to watch my first professional American soccer game and expected to see a stadium full of supporters. Instead, the stadium was half full, at best. In fact, aside from the supporter’s section behind the goal on the northern side of the pitch, the crowd was eerily quiet and subdued. This atmosphere (or lack thereof) would continue against every domestic opponent up to present day. BBVA Stadium was capable of a sellout, but only when a top Liga MX squad, the USMNT or the USWNT came to town. In the eyes of Houston, the Dynamo are irrelevant.

“I never knew that, for the first 7 years of existence, the Houston Dynamo were arguably the most successful franchise in MLS - this was a fun fact that I would discover after talking with supporters, becoming active on social media and starting a podcast that covered the club “

I grew up a fan of New York teams - and no, not the good ones. My father would tote me along to watch the Mets, Jets, Knicks and Rangers when they came to Philadelphia. Though I didn’t realize it at the time, I had not only missed the best years of these franchises, but I was also staring down the abyss of abject failure and disappointment. Fast forward thirty years, to what were my formative years of supporting domestic soccer, and I had done it again - I had decided to support a franchise that should be a force, but was destined for underachievement instead. After deciding that Tottenham would be my European club, I dove headfirst into supporting the Houston Dynamo. After all, I lived in Houston and the stadium was 30 minutes from my home; it made sense to support my local club rather than the clubs in New York I might have supported had I never left the Garden State for college.

I did zero research on the Houston club I had decided would get my heart, sweat and support. I never knew that, for the first 7 years of existence, the Houston Dynamo were arguably the most successful franchise in MLS - this was a fun fact that I would discover after talking with supporters, becoming active on social media and starting a podcast that covered the club. So what happened, you ask? Why is the current Dynamo club so different from the club it started as? First, there was a change in ownership. The sale of the club began a steady decline in every important statistical category that supporters truly care about. The club revenue, attendance, wins and payroll all declined year after year. Fair weather fans left, choosing to stay home while vowing to come back when the club starts to, “spend some money”. But not me - that is not in my DNA and that is not how the real supporters of this club are built. The real supporters of this club, or any club, support the players on the field and the crest on the kit, not the ownership.

“There are times when we palm our foreheads watching our latest Honduran or USL signing make an obvious error that leads to a goal in the final 15-20 minutes of a match, especially when it results in Houston dropping points and falling further down the table.”

Sure, we supporters complain to one another but, if you insult our club, we band together and come right back at you. We yearn for a big name signing when the transfer window opens, even though what we are given is akin to a poor child’s Christmas; the players we get are often unproven, past their prime, on clearance, free or discarded by the rest of the league. Supporting the Houston Dynamo is the equivalent of living in the land of misfit toys from the old Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer movie. There are times when we palm our foreheads watching our latest Honduran or USL signing make an obvious error that leads to a goal in the final 15-20 minutes of a match, especially when it results in Houston dropping points and falling further down the table. We scream at the television when our team is on the road, praying for a point we know will be ever-elusive, yet we continue to watch. Loving a disappointing franchise is like falling in love with a terrible person who has a kind sibling. We know we would have a MUCH more enjoyable time with something better, but cannot bring ourselves to leave what we have – mostly because when the times are good, they are great. However, when they are terrible, you kick yourself over and over for falling in love with a team that has so little support from the front office, media and the city.

And yet, we love our team no matter what. These misfits are our misfits, and we hope that, at some point in time, things will get better. Maybe.

Finnister is the host of the Houston Dyna Pod podcast