The USL Championship is a soccer league in the United States which, like soccer in America, is growing. The USL is the second tier of soccer in the US behind the MLS, and is looking to become one of the most premiered and followed second-tier leagues in the world. The league includes many small market teams as well as MLS affiliate teams, which their superior can use for youth talent and development. At face value, small market cities and affiliate teams are not pretty when thinking of success across a nation, but a recent trip to El Paso, Texas showed how special a small market, second division club really is.

El Paso, a city located right on the border and neighbors with Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, have finally landed themselves a soccer club at a real competitive level. In its first year, El Paso Locomotive FC have built a brand, brought a community together, and are making a real run at the playoffs. Naturally, Mexican culture is a major part of the city, and with soccer being such major sport in Mexico, it makes sense for a city like El Paso to get that American team for people to support.

An 8th Notch member, the official supporters group of El Paso Locomotive FC, Christian “Chino” Alarcon told me, “It was about time we had a soccer team here. It’s a blessing. We knew all along what we loved and it’s very easy to jump on board.”

And evidently so. In the inaugural year the club averages anywhere between six and seven thousand people per home game, which is far above the USL average attendance. This is despite sharing a stadium that is home to the El Paso Chihuahuas, a minor league baseball team.

Lots of those fans who make the stadium vibrant on match day are the members of the 8th Notch. With the club being named Locomotive, fans took it upon themselves to come up with the name “8th Notch” because when driving a locomotive, the 8th notch is the highest of speeds. They also call themselves and the team “The Locos” which does well at integrating the Spanish language and culture. The 8th Notch are a diverse and well organized group of supporters, and are driven by their passion for soccer, their city, and the club.

Grandfather and Grandson, Rico and Tony, Show Off Their Support Before the Game at Whiskey Blonde.

Each match week the 8th Notch gather at Whiskey Blonde hours before game time, even on those midweek matches, and take a long march to the stadium before taking their seats in section 105. Smoke, banners, drums, loud voices, they bring every bit of energy into every game and support their team for a full 90 minutes week in and week out.

Bringing in all these fans to games, already having an established supporters club starts not only with passionate people, but also within the front office.

Sarah Nollner, Director of Marketing & Communications at the club told me “What’s really important for us is being able to cultivate that supporters culture. People are excited and we know that.”

A prime example of the front office bringing in people from the community to feel apart of the club is there gameday posters. The club uses local artists, kids and adults, to help design a poster that’s handed out to every fan, every home game. Each one has its own distinct design, and some having to do with what’s going on in the community as well. My favorite piece was done by a young girl named Amber Berry. Amber, in a battle with cancer, was chosen to design the poster and she did an amazing job.

They also welcomed a local artist to do paintings inside of the stadium to bring alive the Locomotive culture.

“Our culture is not only represented in the support, but in the fan base. Everyone’s accepted. They’ve all bought into ‘What does El Paso Locomotive mean to you?'” Taylor Hines, coordinator of marketing and relations said.

The culture within a USL club like El Paso took me away. It was easy to see how tight knit the community was in general and not just about the club. That being the case, it made it all the more easy for the fans to be close, be passionate, and show exactly how much they care. On a very special night, Noche de Locos, the 8th Notch put on a true display of how much they care.

The Tulsa Roughnecks were coming into El Paso to face the Locomotive on September 5th, a night which the club were wearing special jerseys in honor of Noche De Locos.

“The jersey pays homage to the colorful culture of our border city, taking design inspiration from Mexican folk art and capturing the Borderlands essence.” via eplocomotivefc.com.

The club was also handing out special edition scarves to the first 1000 fans who entered the stadium. Unfortunately the 8th Notch, after marching to the stadium from Whiskey Blonde, the line they usually have open for them was not accessible, and they were stopped by a steward and told to go to the back of the line. When they finally got to enter, there were no more scarves for the most dedicated fans to the club.

They decided to show how much it meant to them, and how hard done by the might’ve been, by staying silent the entirety of the first half.

Sitting in the press box, everyone was extremely confused. This wasn’t normal, as Southwest University Park is usually filled with energy by the 8th Notch from Section 105, and against a struggling Tulsa side, El Paso were down 1-0 going into the break.

“It was strange,” Head Coach Mark Lowry said after the game. “It was pretty quiet in the first half and definitely noticeable.”

“It was the worst 45 minutes of our lives,” said “Fernie” from 8th Notch on the Seriously Loco Soccer Pod. “I felt bad, most of us felt bad for the players. We love being there, they’re our team. So we sat there for 45 minutes. We were going to do the 90, but it was hell.”

Luckily for the team, the fans, and the blogger who went out to this game, the 8th Notch came back and so did the Locomotive.

After going down 2-0, 71 seconds changed the entire game. Two goals in rapid succession would help El Paso secure a point after a crazy turn of events. A comeback of the highest degree, and the players were in agreement, the change in support had to do with it.

Jerome Kiesewetter and Omar Salgado celebrate after the equalizing goal in the 81st minute. Credits: via Twitter @eplocomotivefc

Goalkeeper Logan Ketterer stated postgame, “‘It makes a difference it really does. I was losing my voice a little bit because I’m trying to yell over them all the time. It’s always great to hear that, we needed support.’”

And striker Jerome Kiesewetter stated, “[The support] helps us a lot and it’s also why we came back.”

So, the game ends 2-2 after everything, and the team would head out to Nevada to play Las Vegas Lights FC on a short week. They would go on to win that game 3-0, but lose the following week to Orange County SC. Still, El Paso Locomotive FC, in its first season, are in the hunt for a playoff spot, and let’s hope for them that the return of the magic Noche de Locos jerseys give them more than a draw on Saturday Night against the Colorado Springs Switchbacks.

From a casual fan to an 8th Notch supporter, from a guy you can talk sneakers with who works in the media room or the man who runs the podcast surrounding the team, there’s something real special about this togetherness in El Paso. For it being the first year in the clubs existence, they’ve managed to do right in bringing in the community, building a good atmosphere for the fans, and also putting a decent team together. The clubs success so far should be a model for teams and leagues in the United States to come.

