Letter To Fans Ahead of May 23 Match vs. Austin FC

Dear Nashville SC fans:

Nobody could have imagined that when Judah and The Lion performed our anthem “Never Give Up On You” on February 29, 2020, how prophetic those words would become for all of us.

It has been said on many occasions that being a sports fan can be a rollercoaster of ups and downs, wins and losses (and ties!). Never had that been truer than the last year for Nashville SC and our great city. Making history on opening day, tornadoes right after, first road game at the Portland Timbers, a pandemic lockdown right after, return to play in the MLS Is Back Tournament in Orlando, COVID-19 outbreak on arrival... But through all of that, all of us and all of you never gave up on Nashville SC. 

We put together an epic run into the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs making history again and made our team, our fans and our city proud, but sadly unable to have all our fans in attendance. 

More challenges for our city with the Christmas Day bombings downtown, but as always Nashville once again rose above and came together.

The 2021 year is a new dawn, vaccinations are helping bring people back to normality one step at a time and for outdoor sports in Nashville, that means the opportunity to return to sports without social distancing and optional face coverings. We have sold more season tickets in 2021 than our inaugural season and our new stadium is now literally on the horizon for 2022. So we are expecting a big crowd. 

It’s time to recreate that epic atmosphere, Nashville, the experience we all had on February 29 last year, and restart the engine on the soccer bus!  

What a way to restart, unbeaten in our first five games, matching up against this year’s exciting new expansion team Austin FC and all of the fun and excitement you would expect from such an epic return to big crowds.

Thanks for sticking with us when the going got tough!

The sun is shining, so grab your scarves, because soccer is back! May 23rd, 8 p.m. CT at Nissan Stadium.

Never Give Up On You,

Ian Ayre