FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Sarah Nicholson and her dad, Bill, have been attending New England Revolution matches together since 1999, when they watched their first game at the old Foxboro Stadium. Nearly three decades later, their tradition is still going strong – and their support for the team is more passionate than ever.
The Nicholsons became season ticket holders in 2008 and joined the Midnight Riders that same year after witnessing the energy in The Fort. After almost 20 years as Season Members, the club has become woven into the fabric of their lives. They’ve witnessed nearly every phase of the Revolution, and the team has played a part in some of their biggest life moments, as well.
“We would park in the lot with these crazy hooligan soccer people, and now we’re family members with them, basically,” Sarah explained. “It’s a really cool way for us to connect. Soccer brings us together. Not just me and my dad, you’re seeing it with the World Cup. It’s a special sport.”
When Sarah turned 21, she celebrated with her first beer at Gillette Stadium. Years later, she entered the first stages of labor while chanting in The Fort alongside fellow Riders. And when her daughter, now four, was born, Bill met his granddaughter for the first time in the hospital with a Midnight Riders scarf proudly in hand.
“For me and my dad it’s a really special connection we have. Honestly, I’m talking to him most of the game. We’re watching, but we’re also chit-chatting the whole time. I have a great relationship with my dad because of it,” she said. “Hopefully we will get my daughter going to the games regularly too, then it will be even more fun. It’s great watching her get excited. She gets her little Revolution flag that we got her and waves it around. Her first Revs game, she was just one or two months old.”
Just as Bill has done with Sarah, they’re both excited to keep building generations of New England Revolution fans. For them, as die-hard supporters, as much as they love winning, what it’s really about is the people.
“There's a lot of new Rider family. There’s a lot of Rider families with younger kids, so it’s just keeping the generations coming,” Sarah explained.
The drive in, the walk into the stadium, the moment the field opens up in front of them – it’s something they’ve shared for years, and it still brings the same spark of excitement each time they step into The Fort together. For Bill, it never gets old.
“It's a big part of my life. If I'm bringing scarves to my granddaughter in the hospital, it's a big part of my world," he said. "I still get excited walking up the ramp into the stadium. When you walk in and look over the field behind The Fort, see the atmosphere in The Fort – and when they’re winning it's even better – talking to everybody, saying hello, seeing people you may not have seen in a while, doing the chants, it’s all great.”
For the father-daughter duo, it’s a connection built around the Revolution, but centered in each other. Their shared love of the Revs is something they’ve carried through every season and every stage of life, and it’s that sentiment, more than anything happening on the field, that Sarah hopes other people get to experience, too.
“I hope that if there is anyone like us, a father and a young daughter like I was, thinking of doing something like this together, just try going to a game. What’s the worst that could happen?” she asks. “Twenty years of bliss?”
Bliss is exactly how they’d describe witnessing this season from The Fort, as the Revolution have put up a near-perfect run in Foxborough with seven wins in eight home games. And when the Revs return to play on July 22, Bill and Sarah will be there, rooting for their favorite team and continuing a tradition they hope to carry on for years to come.
