Houston Dynamo: 2019 turmoil leads to supporters triumph
The 2019 season brought great turmoil between the Houston Dynamo and the supporters. But out of it comes a united and triumphant front.
The Houston Dynamo just claimed first place in MLS supporter group initiative by getting together the Hustle Town Supporters coalition.
All MLS teams stand behind their groups, entering them on their Web pages and publishing their Code of Conduct.
Over recent years, the Houston Dynamo have moved relations with supporter groups to a new plateau. They recently united all groups and individuals in the Hustle Town Supporters coalition.
The Houston Dynamo formalized the supporter process by setting up an online application. Interested parties can click on one of the four main groups or sign on as an independent. The unprecedented move by the club is a collaboration with the team’s two original supporters groups, El Battalón and Texian Army, plus two new ones, The Surge and Bandera Negra.
Members of El Battalón gave Houston Dynamo their signature chant. It’s sung to the tune of ‘It’s a Heartache’. They suing Forever We are Orange first in Spanish, then adapted English lyrics.
The reason for the adaptation was an early sense that Dynamo supporters groups needed unification. So Texian Army joined in, along with the rest of the supporters. The chant was born in the 2013 season. The Houston Dynamo went 14-11-9 (W-L-D) and made the MLS semi-finals.
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Those happy circumstances are a far cry from the 12-18-4 finish last season when this more comprehensive supporters unification kicked off. The Dynamo finished third from bottom in the Western Conference last season. Supporters and season ticket holders expressed their dissatisfaction with the results and overall state of the club. The expression gained momentum and resulted in the formation of Houston Dynamo Fans for Change.
The Dynamo front office responded in late August 2019 in a manner far exceeding promised player and coaching changes. The summits were publicized as Fan Feedback Events. The first summit lasted over two hours.
The concerns resulted first in dramatic changes in coaching staff and personnel transfers. The team that takes the pitch near the end of February 2020 will look and play differently to the one that struggled through 2019. But it also brought an end to the growing turmoil between the front office and the supporters. The 2019 struggles didn’t blast a fissure between Houston Dynamo and once-faithful supporters. In fact, in the end, it further cemented their relationship and strengthened the understanding that the team and its fans are on the same mission.
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The team plans to kickstart another run at the MLS Cup for 2020. Groups and independents are now united as Hustle Town Supporters. Can the rest of the fans be far behind?