Eleven Park at Grand Park

In May 2023, Indy Eleven had an official groundbreaking ceremony on the Eleven Park site, formerly the Diamond Chain factory, with a stated goal of having the stadium open in time for the women's USL Super League team to start their inaugural season in the league in August 2025. At the time, I thought it was optimistic for them to meet that goal given that I knew from colleagues in my business that the stadium was still under design. I had no idea that nearly 900 days later, there wouldn't be a stadium and because there was no stadium, there wouldn't be a USL Super League team. Since my article in June 2023 talking about the groundbreaking, I've written 7 other articles talking either about the stadium, or more specifically, the lack of a stadium. Admittedly, one of those was poking fun at the easter egg items in the renderings for the stadium, but all the others discussed the lack of progress on the stadium that hasn't occurred after the Mayor of Indianapolis railroaded the team's plan for the Professional Sports Development Area and took it over for himself as he attempts to get a MLS team to Indy including one article last year around this exact same time discussing the Henry Street Bridge plan versus Indy's lack of plan. To date, that has been an unsuccessful task for the Mayor, but the Indianapolis Metropolitan Development Commission did recently vote to allow the City to purchase the downtown heliport, long suspected to be the preferred City location for an MLS stadium, and there have been other steps to prepare for a team that likely may never come, such as the Capital Improvement Board issuing a Request for Proposal in July related to the construction of the proposed stadium.

Since my article last year, there hasn't been a single announcement from Indy Eleven about their plan for Eleven Park, if there even is a plan for Eleven Park. In the sarcastic words of Roz, "you're stunned silence is very reassuring." 

So if there isn't a plan for the land at the Diamond Chain/Greenlawn Cemetery site, and all indications (none) would imply that that there isn't a plan for the site, but if we assume that a plan does exist for the team to continue working towards having its own stadium, then where will it be located? Arguments could be made for the Sand Street location and I have even taken a fresh look at what could be done at the Carroll Stadium site. Carroll Stadium is obviously still owned by Indiana University so that doesn't make it an ideal location if you're trying to control the scheduling, financing, and the income of the stadium. When Indy Eleven needed a place to start their life as a new club, Carroll Stadium was a good choice, and I wrote a tribute to the stadium in 2018 when the club transitioned from the NASL to the USL and from Carroll Stadium to Lucas Oil Stadium. Back then though, the 2012 IUPUI Master Plan had the grandstand of the stadium being removed:

"To create visual connectivity to the riverfront park, it is recommended that the Michael A. Carroll Stadium grand stands be removed. The track will remain and be improved as part of the active recreational portion of the park."

Indy Eleven saved the grand stand of Carroll Stadium. They made it better. The team transitioned to a much "better" stadium for a bit when they played in Lucas Oil Stadium, but then returned to the spiritual home of the team. The spiritual home of the team, though, is starting to feel like a final resting place instead of a home, and the long-time fans want to see the stadium promise come true.  

At one point, it might have been logistically possible for Ersal and the team to purchase the stadium from IU, but that no longer seems to be a potential. There was a follow-up study to the 2012 Master Plan and then a 2020 update to the Master Plan that viewed the stadium in a different light. Admittedly, the update occurred during the period when Indy was playing in Lucas Oil Stadium, so now that Indy is back in Carroll, there might be yet another update to the Master Plan in the works. However, the language from the 2020 Master Plan updated indicated (emphasis mine):

"A follow-up 2019 study identified the needs of the campus, as well as the needs of the Indianapolis amateur sports community which are lacking on campus and in the community. A flexible, multi-sport fieldhouse which could accommodate competition basketball, hockey, and gymnastics, as well as other sports was proposed south of the Herron School of Art and Design. [editor: this is currently in construction] The location reinforces the Sports District along the White River and offers great community access. 

The 2019 study also identified the need to improve Carroll Stadium with amenities, support spaces, and improved service. The study also identified the opportunity to develop an improved image and access to the stadium from the White River Trail which could flip the “front door” of the stadium towards the river and the trail. A new event plaza is proposed which can be used before events at the stadium and used as a space for the community who are using the trail."

While improved amenities, support spaces, and service would all be welcome additions for fans who have been using the facility the past 12 Indy Eleven seasons, this doesn't get Ersal and the team any closer to having their own stadium where they have more control over it. As I look at it though, a yet again reimagined look to the stadium could fit well in the existing space, particularly if you think about something that I mentioned a few years ago talking about my journey into watching the Scottish Professional Soccer League.

Tynecastle Park - Google Earth 3D Rendering

Tynecastle Park. 

For those that don't know, Tynecastle Park is the stadium where the Heart of Midlothian play their home games.

Let me back up one more step. Heart of Midlothian is a club that plays in the top level of the Scottish Professional League and are currently sitting at the top of the table above even Rangers or Celtic. 

Okay, back to Tynecastle Park. When I asked Nicky Law and Nick Ross about some of their favorite Scottish stadiums, they both, independently from each other, listed Tynecastle as one of their favorites. Sean McAuley spent 1992 - 1995 in St. Johnstone in the SPFL and he told me that Tynecastle was one of his favorites too ("Good history and I always played well there!!!"). Tynecastle has a capacity of approximately 20,000, with a length of 98 m (107.2 yd) and a width of 68 m (74.4 yd). Check out these couple of videos (the 2nd one is a lot of talking, so depending on your level of focus, you might want to skim through it).

Rough Sketch of Tynecastle at Carroll Stadium Location

https://youtu.be/O1-Zh-o1YKE?si=DOjgRknWLJsIUa29
https://youtu.be/bnyNuvvfPFY?si=A700kcdE_O0BaYNS

Why am I talking about Tynecastle Park so much? Because I think it would fit nicely in the space of what is available at Carroll Stadium. The boxy nature, and some of the other Scottish football stadiums for that matter, make that style of stadium a good fit in a location like Carroll Stadium, because there isn't a lot of extra building extending out where not necessary. I would love to see this kind of stadium for Indy Eleven, but then I've already said that before in my journey into the SFPL article.

Which is all leading up to my current thought for an Indy Eleven stadium. You saw the name of the article, so I'm sure you saw where this was going.

Grand Park. 

Or more specifically now, Droplight Grand Park Sports Campus, as it was announced this past week that Grand Park Sports & Entertainment had entered into a naming rights partnership with Droplight. Whatever you want to call it, I've come around to the idea that it's the right place for Indy Eleven to call home moving forward. 

Earlier this year, Grand Park released a Master Plan that included a massive expansion of the facilities. An expansion around the campus that includes parking garages, housing, offices, a park with a ferris wheel, an indoor ice arena, and most notably as it relates to this article, a 10,000-seat multi-purpose stadium. 

A 10,000-seat multi-purpose stadium that would be located at the intersection of 186th Street and Grand Park Boulevard, that would be "visible from the eastern approach along E 186th Street, [that] announces your arrival at the Grand Park District." Just north of the stadium, Ed Carpenter Racing has already agreed to build a new "76,000-square-foot state-of-the-art facility for all racing operations, engineering, and technical development." Part of that project also includes a new City-funded parking garage to replace the parking lots that are intended to go away with the Master Plan expansion plans. As a sidenote, I do wonder what that will do for the frequent RVs that are parked in the lots that families use when they are participating in events at the facility. 

My suggestion is to forego the 10,000-seat stadium, but rather build a 15,000-seat stadium to serve as Indy Eleven's new permanent home that would allow them to meet the standards to be part of the USL First Division league when it officially starts in 2028. First Division clubs in the United States are required to have 15,000 seats to qualify for First Division status. 

Many people will say, and have said when I floated this idea on X, that if Indy made that move, they would no longer go to games. I'm sorry, but this now makes the most sense to me. Whatever kind of relationship Ersal thought that he had with the previous and current Mayors of Indianapolis was flipped on its head when the current Mayor, Mayor Hogsett, took over the PSDA that was created specifically with Indy Eleven in mind. The current pissing match of egos likely means neither wants to back down, but it could be at the detriment of Indy Eleven if Ersal doesn't reconsider the path that he and the team have been taking since the days when Peter Wilt suggested a stadium before the team had ever played a single game. It has always been stated that the stadium was going to be in Indianapolis. That can be the path until it isn't.

Would Peter Wilt, the man who had learned from his Chicago days that a stadium in the suburb could be problematic and engrained that lesson into Ersal, agree with me? I didn't ask him, but this isn't Peter's team any longer. This club feels like it's floundering to find its footing of who it wants to be, and maybe that means moving to Westfield and Grand Park to reestablish themselves.

Why does this make sense to me?

Because they're already there.

"The City of Westfield is pleased to announce a transformative long-term collaboration with multiple partners, including Indianapolis-based Keystone Group, Indy Sports & Entertainment, Indy Eleven, and Bullpen Ventures, solidifying a landmark public-private partnership. 

... 

Grand Park and Indy Eleven have long-established relationships, with the multipurpose sports campus serving as the Indy Eleven’s Official Training Center. Indy Sports & Entertainment intends to build a new world-class training facility at Grand Park that will become the official training home of the Indy Eleven and the new women’s professional team that will play in the Super League.

... 

The City of Westfield will retain ownership of Grand Park, with the terms of the partnership outlining Grand Park Sports & Entertainment’s commitment to the development and management of the campus for up to forty years, valued at 300 million dollars to the City of Westfield.

This collaboration symbolizes a strategic convergence between public and private entities, poised to propel Grand Park into a new era of excellence, growth, and community engagement."

The only thing that has been in Indianapolis for Indy Eleven is 1) their official HQ where the majority of the front office staff resides, 2) the men's first team playing at Carroll Stadium, 3) an empty Diamond Chain lot that will likely be too cost prohibitive to ever build what they wanted to build in Eleven Park, and 4) a Mayor who no longer cares about the potential $1B in investment that was going to go into the Eleven Park campus. The remainder of the Indy Eleven enterprise happens within Grand Park, including now having the owner's other company collaborating on the development and management of the campus. Everything that they had envisioned doing with Eleven Park is incorporated into the Grand Park Master Plan.

To me, the question isn't why should Indy move to Westfield and Grand Park, the question is why shouldn't they? Putting the stadium at Grand Park consolidates everybody into a single location from men's first team to women's team(s), to the Academy, and training facilities. If you want to go to an Indy Eleven game, regardless of who is playing, you go to one place.

Will they lose some of the fans from south side of Indianapolis? Probably. Could they pick up more fans from north of Indy? Probably.

The counties of Hamilton (where Grand Park is located) and Boone and Madison (the two adjacent counties) account for a 2020 census population of approximately 550,000 people. The similarly located counties south of Indianapolis and Marion County (Morgan, Johnson, and Shelby) account for approximately 279,000 people. Just in a sheer numbers game, catering to the northern fans makes sense. When I asked the Indy front office if they would share with me heat map numbers of season ticket holders based on zip codes, I was, not surprisingly, told they wouldn't share that information with me. They did say, however, "I can at least provide top-line feedback that we do draw very well from North of the City especially and that base is continuing to grow."

Placing a stadium in that base is only going to help.

The excavation for the Henry Street bridge project recently completed its "Archaeologist-led excavation, rather than Contractor-led excavation" and uncovered more than 1,700 grave shafts. ("Grave Shaft: A burial area consisting of a rectangular pit with vertical sides; also known as a grave, a grave shaft can contain one, multiple, or no human remains within it."). The excavation also unearthed some of the concrete supports for the Federal League Park baseball stadium from 1914 (yes, the site was also used for a baseball stadium more than a century ago), so it seems realistic that the Eleven Park site could also be littered with building supports in addition to the unknown quantity of human remains that are likely more extensive than previously suspected since the Henry Street project had almost 3 times the amount that was originally anticipated to be expected. The cost to excavate the approximately 18-acre site to find every human remain would be astronomical and beyond what Ersal and Indy Eleven are capable or willing to do. 

There's an obvious level of irony that it's a cemetery that has caused the death of a development project, but it doesn't have to be the death of the stadium. The human remains from Greenlawn have been reinterred over the years and there's no reason that the remains of Eleven Park can't be relocated somewhere else too.

To me, the logical new location is Grand Park. I would like it to look like some version of Tynecastle Park. I think that version of a stadium would work nicely at Grand Park.

My journey into the Scottish Professional Football League

Towards the end of the Scottish Premiership's 2020/2021 season, I found out that there are a lot more of the games from the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) on ESPN+ than I was aware. The games were mostly for the Premiership and the Championship levels, but the SPFL has four tiers of football, including League One and League Two levels. So I started watching a few games. Then I watched some more. All without any kind of rooting interest for a specific team. 

Around the same time, Indy Eleven signed/hired guys who have some kind of connection to Scotland or the SPFL: Nicky Law (Motherwell F.C. [2011-2013] and Rangers F.C. [2013-2016]), Cammie Smith (born in Aberdeen Scotland - played for Aberdeen F.C. [2012-17], Dundee United F.C. [2016-2021], St. Mirren F.C. [2016-19], and Ayr United F.C. [2020-21]), and assistant (now interim) coach Max Rogers (was an assistant coach at St. Mirren F.C. [2014 - 2016]). Indy Eleven already had the obvious connection to Scotland with Martin Rennie who was born in Thurso, in northern Scotland, as well as Owain Fon Williams who has played in various spots in the SPFL, including Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C. [2015-2019], Hamilton Academical F.C. [2019-2020], and Dunfermline Athletic F.C. [2020 (on loan) and again for the 2020/2021 season]). After all of those connections, we had Indy Eleven's return to Carroll Stadium immortalized in artwork by Steven Stewart of Football Stadium Prints. Who, wouldn't you know, is from Scotland.

As I've stated before, I don't have a rooting interest in any of the world leagues, including MLS, and as best I can tell going back through some of the hints in my family tree on Ancestry.com, I don't have any (maybe one) connections to Scotland. Yet, as I continued to watch games and become more interested and invested in the results, I began to consider that maybe it was the SPFL that should be my world league to support. Without any family connection that I could find to Scotland, it came down to research. I started reading through every Premiership team's wikipedia page to learn about their history and their records to see if I could rule out any or if any spoke to me. I managed to narrow it down a little, but then decided that it was crazy. Why not just ask the guys for their help?

So I did. Since I also receive the press releases for El Paso Locomotive, I reached out to them to find out if Nick Ross, who is from Inverness, Scotland and played for Inverness Caledonian Thistle (different time than Fon Williams) and Dundee, would be interested in answering some questions too. Which he obliged.

So I asked each guy some questions to find out what they liked and disliked about the league, what stadiums they enjoyed or hated, and even how the SPFL differs from American leagues. All in a hope that it would help narrow down the team that I wanted to support. Which it did, but that comes later. Due to the questions that I asked them, I also have a diversion discussion about stadiums. 

ALT: Do you have a (or more than one) SPFL team that you currently root for and why?

Nick Ross (Ross): "I always follow the Inverness scores as that’s my home town team. Growing up I liked Rangers too so I try to follow how they’re doing as well."

Nicky Law (Law): "Team I root for are obviously Rangers and Motherwell as I spent time with both, I always say the 2 years I spent at Motherwell were my favorite of my career by far; great family club, great people, had a brilliant relationship with the fans (until I left for Rangers), and mostly a fantastic manager staff and group of guys to share a dressing room with. Friends for life were made there and we were very successful.

Steven Stewart (Stewart): "I'm from Brechin, Scotland, so I'm a Brechin City fan. I couldn't support anyone else. Although we have just been relegated from the SPFL. We were given a stay of execution last year when the season was cut short because of the pandemic whilst we were bottom of the league. We were given a second bite at the cherry this season, but still ended up bottom and lost our playoff with Kelty Hearts. So, I don't actually support any SPFL Team anymore. My team is a Highland League team now! I don't think I can support any other team like I do my home club, apart from Scotland. I definitely have soft spots for other teams that I have a bit of a connection with. When I first moved to London, I lived in Fulham so went to quite a few Fulham games so I like seeing them do well. Camp Nou was the first overseas stadium I visited and that gave me a bit of a feeling for Barca. I saw Racing v River in Buenos Aires a few years back and the atmosphere in El Cilindro was so incredible that River have stayed with me. But I wouldn't say that I support them. Not in the same way that I support Brechin and Scotland. When Brechin and Scotland lose, it hurts. When they win, I'm punching the air with delight. I don't get that with anyone else."

Steven's response to who he supports feels very similar to mine. I root for Indy Eleven and the U.S. National Teams. I'm writing this article and reaching out to all of these guys about teams in the SPFL, but I suspect that no matter what team I choose, my connection to it will always feel ancillary at best and won't affect me the way an Indy Eleven or USWNT/USMNT result affects me. I guess we'll see that in the future.

ALT: What is your favorite and least favorite memories of your time in the SPFL?

Ross: "My favourite memory is either gaining promotion from the Championship to Premiership in my debut season or winning the Scottish cup (both at Inverness). Also at Dundee, we beat our rivals Dundee United near the end of the season which relegated them and the atmosphere at that game was special."

Law: "Favourite memories were the second place finish with Motherwell, and also playing in European qualifying rounds as a result of that achievement. We had a fantastic side. Least favourite, I don’t really have any, but I would say the cup runs we had in my time with Motherwell were my most disappointing, as those were the competitions were we underachieved. My least favourite memory is playing in bad weather, particularly snow!"

ALT: How would you describe the differences in play between the SPFL and what you have seen in the USL?

Ross: "A big difference for me is the fans. In Scotland, the fans are a lot more demanding and are not shy in letting you know if you’re playing bad! At Dundee, I lost count how many times we were booed off the pitch, even at half time, if we weren’t wining the game. Also, the speed of the game is slower here, but that’s mainly because of the weather. Games in Scotland can be pretty hectic."

Law: "I would say the USL is a slower tempo and more tactical in its approach, whereas the SPFL is high tempo, maybe not as much football played on the floor. It’s a lot of fighting for second balls etc., whereas USL is more trying to play neat football."

It's interesting to me that both guys basically provided the same response. It's also something that I observed when watching the league this Spring. There were times during games that the only way to describe them were as "frenetic." The relegation play-offs particularly had a hectic, frenetic feel to them with the stakes so high for both teams. 

I asked Nick and Nicky stadium questions before I knew that Steven was going to participate, but I'm glad that I did because they all provided me with some great insight into the Scottish stadiums. Obviously, I had already been watching games and was seeing the stadiums, but the games were being played without fans. So I was losing a major component of what can make or break a stadium's attractiveness. I had also started doing more research on them (that's what I do), so let's dig into their responses and what I found.

ALT: What is your favorite SPFL stadium to play in and why (across all levels where you may have played)? Question was adjusted slightly for Steven who has attended games, but not played, in SPFL stadiums. 

Ross: "I always enjoyed playing at the big stadiums, e.g Celtic Park (Celtic) and Ibrox (Rangers), but I’d say my favourite is Tynecastle (Hearts). They have a good crowd and the supporters are so close to the pitch so the atmosphere is always really good."

Law: "My favourite ground to play in was probably the obvious ones Ibrox and Celtic park for sheer amount of fans and noise, but special mention to Hearts, because that’s a tight stadium with the fans on top of you and they generate a great atmosphere also." 

Steven: "I really like Central Park, Cowdenbeath. It has a stock car track around the pitch. It's wild!! Don't be thinking it's anything like the amazing motorsport venues you have in the States. This is a very, very Scottish attempt at that sort of thing and it's marvelous!!"

Photo Credit - Wikipedia

I'll get to Steven's comment in a minute, but stick with me for a bit.

It amazes me that both Ross and Law separately mention Tynecastle Park, where Heart of Midlothian F.C. (or commonly known as Hearts), who play in the Premiership, have played since 1886. Tynecastle Park seats just over 20,000 fans. The stadium is an "all-seated" stadium, to comply with the Taylor Report, which is the report that resulted from the inquiry after the Hillsborough disaster. 

I have to say that having watched this YouTube video highlighting Tynecastle, and doing my research on so many of the other stadiums around the SPFL, I really wish that Indy would consider going with this style stadium design. For me, it's just a classic look that the new American stadiums don't do. The supporters are on top of the action, nearly all of the seats have some level of protection directly above them, and the sound from them should just bounce directly out onto the field, giving you the environment that Nick and Nicky appreciated.

I like the Scottish stadiums that I've looked at so far. There's a similar look to many of them, but they just have a look that appeals to me. In comparison to the sports cathedrals that we build in America, they have a very utilitarian feel to them, particularly knowing that they are stadiums associated with the top tier of Scottish football. This is not intended to denigrate the Scottish stadiums, they're just a different style than we build here. Some Indy supporters have dubbed Carroll Stadium, "American Soccer's Greatest Dive Bar," and I think a Scottish style stadium would be a way to lean into that part of Indy's history. As I said, there's a utilitarian appearance to the stadiums that fits nicely into the idea that I mentioned in my "Indy Eleven and its place in the American Lower Division Soccer Landscape" article about Indy "punching their weight." I like the idea of building a stadium that reflects Indy. Maybe many in Indy strive to consider Indy a "high class" city, but are we, really? Don't get me wrong, we have some really nice things, but deep down we're a tenderloin, root beer (or beer), and a day at the track kind of people. Let's be honest, a utilitarian stadium fits us well. Field, seats, a little protection from the Indiana weather, a place to be safe from the more extreme Indiana weather, and corn dogs and nachos in the concession stand. All that fits nicely into a Scottish style stadium. Yet I know architects and I know the architects that typically get hired to design American stadiums (e.g. Populous) and they would look at one of the Scottish stadiums and cringe. Either way, I suspect an architect is either already under contract to design the next iteration of Eleven Park and it won't be anywhere close to this style. So just to humor myself and educate you a bit more on Scottish stadiums, here are a couple more examples for you to to peruse.

Pittodrie Stadium - Aberdeen FC (Google Earth image)

Fir Park - Motherwell FC (Google Earth image)

Photo Credit - Central Fife Times

For those of you who couldn't read a word I just said about Tynecastle or Dive Bars or Populous, because you were stuck on the fact that Steven mentioned that Central Park for Cowdenbeath has "a stock car track around the pitch," I have you covered. Cowdenbeath F.C. plays in the Scottish League Two, with Central Park (link to YouTube video of drone footage of stadium) having a seating capacity of just over 4,300. 

I, erroneously, assumed that Steven meant there was a track on the outside of the stadium, similar to the railroad tracks that run immediately adjacent to Pittsburgh's Highmark Stadium. Man was I wrong. It's one thing for Indy Eleven fans to complain about a running track between the field and the stands, but this is on another level. Also, I think we may have found Peter Wilt, Andrew Retz, and Peter Evans' "spirit stadium." Soccer and small track racing in one location. All those folks who have said over the years that the stadium should be built inside the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, you were thinking too big. Lucas Oil Raceway on the west side of Indianapolis would work nicely and they have experience with large crowds too since they host the NHRA U.S. Nationals every Labor Day weekend.

 I digress...

ALT: Which stadium has been your favorite to draw? (Note: In Steven's response, for the stadium name, I have linked a photo or video where I could find a good one and for the team name, I have a link to his artwork for the stadium.)

Steven: "Ooh. I strangely like the ones that have more of the surrounding area contained within them. Cappielow Stadium (Greenock Morton FC) showing the huge shipbuilding crane in the background; Christchurch Meadow (Belper Town FC) showing the Nail Factory; Grange Lane (North Ferriby) has the Church, Allotments, and Humber Bridge. I like these as they capture the local area and a bit of the community that the grounds are in. I am far more drawn to old traditional grounds as opposed to the newer out of town stadiums. I like grounds with a bit of history about them. I love that about The Mike and the athletics history that has happened there."

ALT: For somebody who is just getting into watching the league, what should I know and what team should I consider supporting and why?

Steven: "This is a tough one. I'd probably say to see if you can find any family connection at all with a Scottish town. If no family connection, just find any connection at all and then find the closest club. Don't worry about the club size, don't worry about their success, don't worry about the team colours or name. Just find a connection and then that'll help to create an initial bond. If you do end up with a team in the lower leagues you are in for a treat. The leagues are so competitive and things can change so quickly. Promotion and relegation means there is usually always something up for grabs for your chosen team."

Law: "If you speak to Cammy, he will push you to Aberdeen, that’s his hometown and favorite team. I would suggest Motherwell. As I say, family club with good values, an underdog that likes to over achieve."

Going into these questions with these guys, I had a couple of teams that I was finding myself drawn to and interested in watching their games; Aberdeen and Kilmarnock. I didn't mention it to them, but my second level of teams of interest included Motherwell. When I asked Steven about if there was any reason I shouldn't support Aberdeen or Kilmarnock, this was his response:

Steven: "Other than continuous crushing disappointment? haha. But that's Scottish football for you! Absolutely no reason at all not to support any of them. Kilmarnock have just been relegated from the top flight so they will be hoping to bounce back so you should have a pretty exciting first year supporting them. [Editor's note: I was aware of this as I watched the relegation play-off with great disappointment that the team I was considering supporting was outplayed by Dundee and was going to be dropped from the Premiership.] Aberdeen have just appointed a new coach, Stephen Glass, he has most recently been working with Atlanta, and there is now talk of Aberdeen building a new stadium in town rather than moving out of town. So that could be quite exciting. [I was also aware of the Stephen Glass hiring - see my Martin Rennie departure article - and Aberdeen's connection to Atlanta United was one of the reasons that were causing me to lean away from supporting them.]

So who did I decide to support? 

I had done the wikipedia research on all the teams and learned about their history. As I said, Aberdeen was interesting and I think Pittodrie Sadium looks great, but their connection to Atlanta United turns me off. Kilmarnock's history is cool in that the wikipedia entry indicates that they are "the oldest professional club in Scotland." They are also located in East Ayrshire, and my Ancestry.com review indicated that one of my distant relatives might (stress might) be from the general area. So following Steven's advice, I might have a connection there. 

Listening to Nicky Law, I went back and researched Motherwell again. My connection to them being Nicky. "Just find a connection and then that'll help to create an initial bond." As I re-read the wikipedia entry, I got to this... "On 28 October 2016, Motherwell became a fan-owned club when supporters club Well Society's £1 deal with Les Hutchison was concluded.[46]"

Motherwell F.C. is fan-owned. I'm in. That's my team to support in the Premiership. I think I'm still going to pay attention to Kilmarnock (my wife and kids love that it reminds them of Ragnarock), because as Steven said, this could be an interesting year for them as they try to bounce back up to the Premiership from the Championship, but Motherwell will be the team that I follow and consider my world team. Like Steven said about his support of Brechin, I suspect I'm still going to have a bit of a disconnect in my support of Motherwell by doing it across the pond and they are never going to supplant my support of Indy Eleven, but I went about finding a team by doing it the only way that I know how. I sat down, did research, and ask questions of people I think I can trust to give me honest answers.

So Motherwell F.C. it is. 

Now that I have decided what team I want to support, I need to figure out the money conversion rate and what shipping is going to cost to get a scarf or jersey. Guessing it won't be cheap.

The lesson that I learned through this process is that soccer/football is still beckoning me and my decision to support a Scottish team probably isn't much different than many people's entry into how they decided to support an EPL or Bundesliga team. It also reiterated for me that despite the toxicity that Soccer Twitter can be, there are really nice people in the soccer/football world who just love talking about the sport with other supporters. I don't know Nick, Nicky, or Steven personally, but they all took time out of their days to answer some questions.  

Thank you Nick, Nicky, and Steven for your time. You're all good people and I appreciate you taking the time to answer a random guy's questions. Thank you Nicky for leading me in a good direction for my team to support.