Downtown St. Pete and Al Lang Stadium were glowing Green and Yellow Saturday night as the Tampa Bay Rowdies took on FC Edmonton. Unfortunately, the Rowdies came up short, losing 1-0 in the 56th minute, but that didn't mean we still didn't have a ton of fun!
It all started when the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa's "We Stand For Soccer" bus rolled into the parking lot and launched a massive tailgate party surrounding the beautiful Al Lang Stadium.
There was Rowdies swag galore:
Rowdies face painting:
And plenty of frenetic fans:
Ian Doubt kept the party rockin and rollin with his mix of acoustic tunes. Ian has been playing live music, performing on stages, and entertaining professionally for over 10 years. He was recently discovered during the Hard Rock Cafe's Tampa Bay Acoustic Music Festival and is now a Hard Rock Cafe Brand Ambassador. We look forward to hearing a lot more from Ian in the days to come!
And the Lakeland Rowdies Youth Soccer League came out to join the fun!
Game Time!
The Tampa Bay Rowdies dominated the first half but finished without a goal:
Just ten minutes into the second half, Stefan Antonijevic scored a goal for FC Edmonton:
Rowdies fans jumped to their feet, "Standing for Soccer" cheering on their team for a goal:
In the end, it just wasn't enough and for the first time in the Thomas Rongen era, the Tampa Bay Rowdies lost a match at Al Lang Stadium 1-0.
Even though the Rowdies didn't take home the win, it was still a great night of soccer in Downtown St. Pete! Many thanks to the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino for hosting a fabulous Tailgate Party and to the Tampa Bay Rowdies and Coach Rongen for giving it their all.
Are you ready to Stand For Soccer? Don't miss the 2015 Coastal Cup when the Tampa Bay Rowdies take on the Fort Lauderdale Strikers this Saturday, July 25th at Al Lang Stadium!
Go Rowdies!
