"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair; we had everything before us, we had nothing before us ..." Charles Dickens, “A Tale of Two Cities.”

The 2016 Carolina RailHawks were a tale of two teams. Off the field, the club realized some of the unbridled optimism generated by new owner Steve Malik when he purchased the RailHawks 12 months ago. The results were less fertile on the pitch, where inconsistency in almost all facets of play led to the team’s lowest league finish since 2008.

Hints are already coming that the four-month offseason may produce more noteworthy news surrounding the RailHawks and soccer in the Triangle. But before putting the 2016 season to bed, it’s instructive to examine the best and worst of this year.

Bravo to the crowd

It’s notable when the biggest attendance event isn’t another visit by a Major League Soccer team for the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. As if making up for lost time, the RailHawks rewarded supporters with two high-profile friendlies this year, including their first match against a member of the English Premier League.

The RailHawks set a single-match attendance record of 9,032 in March when it hosted Liga MX side Toluca FC, then bested that mark four months later when 10,125 fans squeezed into WakeMed Soccer Park to watch Carolina host West Ham United. That same night, the RailHawks introduced Omar Bravo, the Mexican soccer star and inarguably the club’s most famous player in its 10-year history.

While the RailHawks fell short of Malik’s ultra-bullish preseason attendance expectations, the final regular season match average of 5,058 represents a 12 percent increase from 2015, the highest year-to-year increase in the NASL (although only three NASL clubs showed attendance jumps from last year). Paced by Bravo’s arrival, Carolina saw three consecutive home crowds exceeding 6,000 for the first time in club history. Turnstiles slowed late in the season as the club coped such perennial problems as weather and midweek scheduling. But a league match attendance record of 8,046 on Oct. 22 against Minnesota United pushed the final average over 5,000 for the first time since Carolina’s 2007 debut season.

A Kick in the Grass

Remember when the RailHawks won their first four games to open this year? Not only didn’t Carolina win another match during the NASL’s 10-game spring season, but it somehow took a grand total of two points out of three home games against the Fort Lauderdale Strikers, Miami FC and Jacksonville Armada, each mired at the bottom of the league table when the RailHawks hosted them during the spring campaign.

Indeed, after that fast four-match start, the RailHawks won only seven of their remaining 28 regular season games. They squandered multiple chances late in the season to eek into the NASL playoffs, particularly two late-game collapses against eventual playoff team Rayo OKC. Carolina has not qualified for postseason play since 2012.

The on-field news wasn’t all bad. Nazmi Albadawi earned a league-record 10 assists in his first year as team captain. Matt Fondy led the team in scoring with eight goals, all of them coming after arriving on transfer in June. Brian Sylvestre’s 76.1 percent saves-to-shots faced ratio was the second-highest among all NASL goalkeepers.

Still, the team statistics become more revealing when converted into trend lines over the past six seasons.

The RailHawks’ minus-12 goal differential this year is the lowest in club history.

Carolina scored an average of 1.13 goals per game this year, the fewest since 2008.

The RailHawks allowed the most goals (48) in the NASL this year, an average of 1.5 goals per game. That average is actually less than three of the four preceding seasons, but it’s also higher than any year from 2007-2011.

The most stark and shockingly symmetrical statistic over the past five years illustrates Carolina’s chronic home versus road dichotomy. Beginning in 2012, the RailHawks’ regular season record at home is 41-17-13 (W-D-L). Their road record over that same span is 14-17-41.

According to club officials, Colin Clarke, the team’s manager since 2012, remains under a multi-year contract and appears set to return for a sixth season.

However, there are other changes percolating in the RailHawks’ front office. Among the issues bandied about over recent weeks are Malik’s ongoing effort to garner an NWSL expansion team, the ongoing upheaval surrounding the NASL, and the flurry of trademark filings by Malik that raise the specter of a club rebranding. Sources indicate Carolina doesn’t plan to extend season ticket renewals until December, an unusually late date that portends looming developments.

If wisdom prevails, the RailHawks can avoid a winter of despair and set the stage for another spring of hope.