Stoppage Time Special: Raising A Fortress In Arkansas

Supporter culture doesn’t start with a logo. It starts with people who show up, test ideas in the real world, and build a sound that carries a team. We share a stoppage-time highlight reel on how our Arkansas community is shaping a fortress before a pro side even takes the field, dry runs at college matches, chant writing in multiple languages, and a clear plan to make visiting teams dread our end line.

We break down the nuts and bolts of atmosphere design: capos, drum patterns, flags, smoke, and march logistics, all tested live instead of kept in a doc. Drawing inspiration from Austin’s south end and global terrace traditions, from South America to Europe, we’re crafting chants that feel authentic to Northwest Arkansas. That means simple hooks, layered sections for stamina, and a repertoire that welcomes first-timers while rewarding the diehards who never stop singing.

There’s also a reminder of why this matters beyond ninety minutes. Fans once stopped a breakaway league in just seventy-two hours, proving that organized supporters shape the future of the sport. Our commitment is to listen, stay accountable, and keep the culture open-source: transparent planning in Discord, inclusive leadership, and rituals that reflect the community’s voice. If you care about stadium identity, matchday rituals, and the craft of turning noise into impact, you’ll find a blueprint here for building a home advantage from the ground up.

Enjoyed the ride? Follow and subscribe for more. Share this with a friend who loves terrace culture, and drop your chant or stadium nickname idea in the comments. Your voice can help write the songs we’ll sing together.

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_02 (00:03):
Welcome to the Stoppage Time edition of the
Pitch to Pro podcast.
This is the highlight reel ofsome of the best moments from
the show so far.
And every other week, we will bebringing you a special five to
seven minute segment featuringthe best stories, tales, and
moments of the podcast.
At the university, youmentioned, Carlos, that they
have practice literally everyTuesday for Austin FC.

(00:25):
You guys are almost doing alittle bit of a practice run at
the university and you know workthat out with Colby Hale, which
I think the coach of the LadyRacerbacks, which I think is
just so cool and smart, to kindof have a bit of a whole year
trial run on the early side ofthings, maybe two years, but
that's super cool.
So I'm stealing your thunder,but what are you guys kind of
talking about?
What are you guys doing rightnow?

(00:46):
Talk about that.

SPEAKER_00 (00:47):
Actually, that's kind of something that Colin and
I were talking about lastThursday.
I wasn't able to be there.
I had to work a junior high uhAmerican football game uh down
the street.
But I called Colin after I gotdone.
And, you know, we may not have ateam name, club name, you know,
supporter group name oranything.

(01:07):
But we figured that, you know,maybe as this season kind of
winds out, we'll try and andsneak into one, I say sneak in,
uh, you know, squeeze in anotheranother razorback game, uh, you
know, to try to do a trial runand everything that we don't per
se let Colby know and just kindof show up and and surprise and
do.
And we've got some chance thatthat I've re-uh worded that that

(01:31):
I'm hoping to get to lead andeverything.
Yeah.
Um, and we're hoping that nextyear, you know, we can get a few
more of those matches to wherewe can, you know, have a true
full dry run in regards to youknow our own instruments, our
own flags, you know, potentiallymaybe some some smokes.

(01:51):
Okay, you know, if we can getthat approved by the university,
if not, you know, a small littlemarch down the street with it.
Yep.
Um, you know, some other stuffthat that we've talked about
right now between just Colin andI is our vision for the
supporter group.
Um, you know, and for me, I'vetold Colin, you know, I'm I'm a

(02:14):
I've got something to base mineoff of of what I want because I
have Q2.
I have, you know, the supportersection in Austin, you know, and
what I want our supportersection to be.
I want teams to come in to USLArkansas stadium in the future
and and be like, we don't wantto play here.
They are nuts.

(02:34):
You know, I want to have thatthat fortress type, you know, uh
effect.
I want to be, you know, whetherit be the 12th man, the 12th
player, whatever.
You know, we want to be thatthat influence that the team's
able to pick up our energy andand just deliver, you know, and
provide, you know, for the fansmore than than what maybe some
other clubs are doing for fansthat deserve better right now.

(02:56):
Yeah.
Slide uh awesome.

SPEAKER_02 (03:01):
No, that's great.
I mean, Colin, what else are youguys kind of talking about, you
know?

SPEAKER_01 (03:05):
So uh, I mean, we're coming up with a lot of chant
ideas.
Okay.
Um, and I think, you know, oneof the special things about this
area is how diverse it is.
Yeah.
Um, I mean, there's people fromliterally all over the world,
different backgrounds, differentcities that they've come from.
Um, and so, you know, we wantthat to be reflected in our
group.
So, you know, have chants thatare in not only English but

(03:25):
Spanish.
Maybe, you know, takeinspiration from South American
chants, European, CentralAmerican, you know, the chance
that we have in North Americathat are original, besides, you
know, just go Sounders or goAustin FC or whatever.
Right.
Um, so you know, the chants arepopping off.
Um in our we have a Discordserver.
Okay.
And so that's where we're kindof talking with that.

(03:47):
And then, you know, we're justkind of looking ahead, talking
about, you know, what do we wantthe stadium to be called?
Not like the the corporateversion of the name, but in
Austin they had McCall.
And so that's what they call thethe fans still call the stadium,
even though it's called Q2.

SPEAKER_02 (04:01):
Right.

SPEAKER_01 (04:01):
Um, so talking about that, what we'd want our name to
be, um, which we've kind ofdecided we might want to push
that off until y'all have aname.
Okay.
Um, so we're just kind of havinga bunch of ideas going around
and just good discussion,really.
So Okay.

SPEAKER_02 (04:15):
That's awesome.
Uh, what are you mentioned somechants?
What are some of your favoritechants?
It doesn't have to be ones thatyou've discussed.
You don't have to give anythingaway, but just some of your
favorite ones, whether it beAustin FC, I know the American
Outlaws have some great chance.
I mean, I believe that we willwin.
I know it's kind of overplayednow, but back in like the 2010,

(04:40):
2014 World Cup when that reallykind of started, I think it was
Brazil.
Um, when that really started topop off, that was just something
that went nuts.
Like I was in Minneapolis at thetime and actually led a bar of
almost 2,000 people likeoutside, you know, crowded
around the bar.
Um, and that was super cool.
That's my kapo moment.

SPEAKER_00 (05:01):
Uh well, you know, if I'm ever gonna be stepping
away, I may call you to comecome step in the stand for it.
I put my bullhorn down.
So um favorite chant?

SPEAKER_02 (05:13):
That's a hard one.
I'll just put you on the spot.

SPEAKER_00 (05:17):
Austin FC wise, I would have to say my favorite
one is one that we call uh ClubCuervo.

SPEAKER_02 (05:23):
Okay.

SPEAKER_00 (05:24):
Um just because it's one of those that we go nuts.
We've got a few in the worksright now that haven't uh
surfaced yet that that mayovertake that.
Um I'd have to say other thanthat, there's one that um San
Lorenzo does that's just abanger every time I hear it.
Okay.
Um I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 (05:44):
Other than that, I've got a I'd have to dig into
Do you want to do you want togive me a little flavor?

SPEAKER_00 (05:52):
I don't know if I don't know if I could do that.
I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 (05:54):
A lot.
A little flavor?
No?
Okay.
Uh I think you know, one of myonly other like really fun, not
it it wasn't fun, but uh let metake that back.
Something that really proved howpowerful that connection is, I

(06:14):
think, for me, betweensupporters and for the world,
honestly, was when and and thisis going, this can be its own
podcast episode, and we won'tget into it, but Google, the
UEFA Super League.
Yeah, and what some of the topEuropean uh uh club teams tried

(06:38):
to do a couple years ago.
And I want to say all our clubsare guilty to being in the all

of yes, all three at this table: Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester (06:44):
undefined
United, Barcelona, Real Madrid,Juventus, some of the most
storied clubs in the world andlargest brands in the world in
all of sports, not just soccer.
We're trying to break away anddo something, you know, uh
different, money generator, allthose things.

(07:05):
Um, and the fans erupted allover the world and led these
marches, and within 72 hours, itwas dead.
Because clubs were like, oh mylord, we are gonna lose half of
our fan base, if not more.

(07:26):
And we will never hear the endof this.
Holy cow! And a lot of it islike, okay, how can you be that
out of touch if you, you know,don't understand your fan base?
So we will try not to be thatout of touch, and we will hold
hope that you guys hold usaccountable for that, right?
Um, but within within 72 hours,they had spent years, you know

(07:46):
that they did, yeah, planningthis thing behind the scenes,
behind the scenes, guaranteed,72 hours like that gone.
Thank you for joining us forthis stoppage time special of
the Pitch to Pro podcast.
If you've enjoyed theconversation, you can click
watch the full episode here.
Be sure to tune in next Thursdayfor a new episode of the Pitch
to Pro podcast, the officialpodcast of Ozark United FT.

(08:09):
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