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.
Right before halftime, I ran into friend and former Roughnecks player Brady Ballew, who was set to be honored during the break as part of the “Homecoming Night” promotion. We chatted about the recent on-field success of the team, and how they could benefit from a purpose-built stadium. “I’d love something for about three to four thousand people, with rows of seats going all the way around, so people can sit right next to the field,” Ballew said, both of us knowing that the millions of dollars it would take to make such a place a reality are unlikely to be spent. Regardless, we agreed that there should be way more people at the game now, considering how good the quality of the soccer is.
One of the best things about going to an FC Tulsa game is that it's legitimately affordable for a family. I was there with four people in total: myself, my wife, my teenage son, and the little guy I mentioned earlier. We got four lawn tickets, a parking pass, a large popcorn, some Skittles, and a pretzel. It was around $100 total. That’s a good value for a pro sports outing. I’m a basketball guy primarily, and the ticket prices for our now World Champion Oklahoma City Thunder are nowhere near that cheap, even if you sit in the nosebleeds.
Here, there are no nosebleeds. For my $16 lawn ticket, I could get right behind the west-end goal. We were so close, in fact, that when we first arrived, the visiting Lexington SC players were warming up with shots, and we spent 15 minutes dodging errant soccer balls as they whizzed into the stands or bounced off the posts. It made the whole thing fun, which is really the point, right?
The game itself was no afterthought, though. It was an end-to-end dominant 3-0 win for the Scissortails. After Lexington goalkeeper Logan Ketterer was given a red card in the 37th minute, Tulsa’s Jamie Webster nailed a free kick from outside of the box to give Tulsa the early advantage. After halftime, a goal from Giordano Colli kept the momentum up before another strike from Jamie Webster sealed the deal. On defense, FC Tulsa goalkeeper Tyler Deric and 6’5” defensive back Lamar Batista did more than enough to limit Lexington’s chances.
After the win, it was announced that FC Tulsa would be hosting its first-ever USL playoff game in November at ONEOK Field. FC Tulsa has not hosted a playoff match since the magical run of the 1983 Tulsa Roughnecks, who defeated Washington D.C’s Team America at home before winning the Soccer Bowl ‘83 and capturing the North American Soccer League championship. The NASL was the top-flight of American Pro Soccer at that time, and Tulsa’s win was the first time a professional sports team from Oklahoma had ever won a national title. All that’s to say, it’s a big deal for FC Tulsa to make it this far, and we should support our guys on their way to glory.
As the game ended, fireworks popped and flames shot skyward yet again, and the excitement from the fans was palpable. I thought to myself, “What would this be like if it was a sellout crowd?” I hope I find out in a few weeks.
Upcoming home matches:
Home vs. FC San Antonio on Saturday October 11th at 7:00pm at ONEOK Field
Home vs. Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC at 7:00pm at ONEOK Field
The USL Championship Playoff Match is November 1st 7:00pm at ONEOK Field - Opponent TBD
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article previously misstated that Tulsa has not hosted a playoff game since 1983. Tulsa Athletic has hosted playoff games in Tulsa multiple times; this was the first playoff game hosted by FC Tulsa since 1983. The Pickup regrets the error.
