Taylor named Fan of the Match

Brian Taylor (drumming) is often front and center with his fellow Roadies.

In many cases the Nashville Soccer Supporters Trust Fan of the Match has been someone who found their way to Nashville Soccer Club over the past two years. This week, however, we’ll be going all the way to the beginning with the selection of longtime season ticket holder Brian Taylor, who spends most games in the heart of the NSC supporters section.

Taylor, who might be seen wearing a mask on occasion, credits high school for fueling his love of loudly supporting his teams.

“High school was kind of my first entryway into active support,” Taylor explained. “Around the same time, I was watching Landon Donovan star at the 2010 World Cup and I was addicted to playing FIFA, so that started me in soccer.”

As Brian left high school, he wanted to bring the kind of atmosphere that marks high school games to Middle Tennessee State University, so he started a student organization called the Blue Zoo.

“When I started the Blue Zoo, I wanted it to be something like Cell Block 303 from the Nashville Predators or Timbers Army,” Taylor said. “When you’re in high school, it’s all your friends on the team, and you know they enjoy it. We weren’t sure how it would be in college, but after we did it for a while, we could tell how appreciative the fans coaches and players were for it. We started to feel like we were having a role in the game outside of just watching, and it made me enjoy it that much more.”

After two years of the Blue Zoo, Taylor heard about Nashville FC and the Roadies. He doesn’t remember the exact number, but he claims to be one of the first 150 season ticket holders for the team, and his passion for the Boys in Gold has persisted ever since.

“I’m excited about crying at the first match next year,” Taylor revealed, laughing. “The level of play will be higher than it has ever been for a Nashville team, and it’s going to make me think of the years we spent at the beginning. Other than the first game, our max crowds were around 1,000 or 1,500, and then we maxed out to 20,000 last year. Watching the fan culture grow has been great, and I’m excited to see people pick up on the chants in the supporters section and watch it spread. Knowing fans in Nashville, we’re going to be ready to rock out whatever stadium we’re in.”

In between openly campaigning for a lazy river at the new MLS stadium, Taylor can be found most match days near the front of the march into the stadium and often in the first row of section 107. 

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