Local Interview: Terminus Legion founder Matt Stigall

Terminus Legion founder Matt Stigall wants to prove soccer skeptics wrong

'I see ... absolute total passion and chaos for 90-plus minutes'

BALL BOY: Matt Stigall and soccer fans have spent four years building grassroots fan base in Atlanta.

As CL went to press, city and sports officials were expected to announce that Atlanta's first Major League Soccer team would start playing in the proposed Atlanta Falcons stadium come 2017. Arthur Blank has pushed for years to bring a team here. Fans have also worked to show soccer bigwigs there's support in metro Atlanta. Matt Stigall, a local soccer fan, Georgia Tech alum, and marketing analyst has helped lead that grassroots effort for the past four years. What began as ATL Wants MLS morphed in January into Terminus Legion, a fast-growing 250-member fan club. Stigall recently spoke with CL about the group's efforts.

HOW IT BEGAN

In 2011, I went to the MLS exhibition game — I think it was Columbus Crew, New England Revolution, and Houston Dynamo. I wondered who was doing the petition to bring an MLS team to Atlanta. There wasn't anyone. I figured that I'll start it myself. The whole goal has been bringing together the most passionate fans. After three years of that, meeting people, doing social media, I met the core group of fans.

WHAT IT INVOLVES

It's been four years of a labor of love. I found the most passionate fans. We came up with the name, structure. We're going through the process of becoming a nonprofit organization. We have a board and a steering committee. We are built right now to grow. This isn't going away. In order for us to have that success, we need to have that structure. It will pay for merchandise, tailgates.

WHAT HE SAYS TO HATERS

There are a lot of data points that say the team will fail. But there are also data points that say it'll succeed. The truth is we don't know yet. Whether it's going to be hundreds or thousands of us in the stands, we're going to put in the work so the support on the first game is passionate. We have three years to build it. It's frustrating to see negativity, but all we can do is prove them wrong. Go to the nightly leagues at Silverbacks Park. Go watch the kids' leagues. Join the American Outlaws at Brewhouse during a U.S. soccer game or Liverpool and Tottenham fans at their respective bars. Bars fill during any soccer event. There are a lot of soccer fans here. There has not been until this point an entity to bring them all together. That's why Terminus Legion exists.

WHAT HE SEES ON OPENING DAY

I see flags. I see two-pole banners, everyone on their feet jumping around, original chants, and absolute total passion and chaos for 90-plus minutes. We're almost to the point where even if you aren't quite a soccer fan yet, you look and you see thousands of us going crazy and you're hooked immediately. That's what I envision.