Earlier this month, in the days after Louisville City FC’s record crowd gathered at Slugger Field, coach James O’Connor quipped that perhaps a 10,000-seat soccer-specific stadium won’t be large enough for his club come 2020.
Saturday night’s attendance of 10,017 at Slugger had O’Connor repeating himself following a 2-1 victory over the New York Red Bulls II.
“We may need more seats in that stadium,” the coach said. “I think by the time it comes around, I think we will. So it was great — really encouraging to see so many people in the stadium and just delighted that we were able to win the game.”
Louisville’s Metro Council is expected to by the end of the year discuss LouCity’s stadium project, which consists of 40 acres in the Butchertown Neighborhood and will include developments such as hotels, retail and office space. Owners have urged fans to continue filling Slugger in the meantime to show support for the club’s future.
Through eight of 16 home games this year, LouCity’s averaging attendance of 8,715, which ranks third in all of Division II soccer in North America. Only FC Cincinnati and Sacramento Republic FC pull in larger numbers.
LouCity’s crowds have been 20 percent larger than at this point in 2016 and 45 percent bigger than in 2015, the club’s inaugural season.
“It was actually the first time for a while in the first half I couldn’t quite hear my teammates because of how loud the fans were, which is a good problem to have really,” defender Paco Craig said after Saturday’s game.
The New York game’s crowd ranked as LouCity’s third-largest in club history behind the 11,632 to gather on July 15 and the 10,062 on June 25, 2016. Previous high marks both came in games against rival FC Cincinnati.
Saturday proved LouCity’s a draw these days no matter who the boys in purple are up against — though there’s perhaps a shot at a sellout when Cincinnati returns Aug. 12 for the next home game at Slugger. Capacity is listed as just over 13,000.
“I was impressed last year, but this year even more so,” Craig said. “The fans really get behind us. They come out in their numbers and support us, and it really lifts the team a lot.”
