The promise of Orlando City was on display that opening day in March 2015 when 62,500 fans clad in purple packed into the Citrus Bowl to welcome MLS’s newest team. The scene showed the potential of a market that had thrown itself completely behind its new team. Orlando City was primed to be a success story, a small-market team outdoing all expectations and out-dueling teams from bigger cities around the country.



But that narrative has withered over the past four seasons. The on-field results have not matched the off-field potential, undone by the hasty decisions of the club’s leadership. The franchise’s instability has stymied attempts to sustain a club culture that was once so strong that it was a key aspect that helped propel the Orlando City to MLS.



Evidence of that culture still exists in the stands at Orlando City games, where the supporters engage with the same passion they have always exhibited, but as the club cycles through its third coach...