A low roar and a shot of fire sprang from up from below, making my 4-year old instinctively cling to my arm. Moments later, fireworks flashed and popped. From our perch on ONEOK Field’s lawn, the soundtrack of 2010s rap brought back memories of summer nights spent at the old Driller Stadium at 15th and Yale. But it wasn’t America’s Pastime that brought us to the ballpark on this night. It was another sport with a long history in Tulsa: pro soccer.
FC Tulsa (formerly The Tulsa Roughnecks) currently sit atop the Western Conference standings in the United Soccer League (USL), America’s second-tier division. The Roughnecks were acquired by brothers J.W., Ryan, and Kyle Craft in 2019 and rebranded as FC Tulsa in 2020, with their black, gold, and “patina” green colorway making an attractive addition to the city's sports scene. Their fans call them the Scissortails.
While a minor-league baseball stadium is certainly no Cae Ras (of “Welcome to Wrexham” fame), the haphazard setup didn't seem to dampen spirits on a lovely October evening in Tulsa. With temperatures in the 70s, and Festival Americas happening just down the street at Guthrie Green, a small-ish but excited audience filled the stands and lawns. And the experience definitely stood in stark contrast to the last soccer game I attended, a peewee affair in a converted drainage pit in east Tulsa. That was when my now 16-year-old son was honing his skills with a Metro Soccer Club team full of eight- and nine-year-olds. The professionals on the FC Tulsa squad—fast, powerful, and precise—are the players those kids wished to one day become.