Three seasons in and
Detroit City Football Club is already outgrowing its home. The team, a member of the National Premier Soccer League, has enjoyed home field advantage at Cass Tech Football Stadium since 2012, but a surge in the team's popularity has driven up attendance and compelled team owners to consider moving to a bigger stadium.
Sean Mann, co-owner of the team, says that the second half of the 2014 season saw an average attendance of nearly 2,900. The high school stadium has a capacity of 3,000.
"We started out in a really grassroots, word-of-mouth kind of way," says Mann. "Now we're getting to a place where we can make some investments."
The team is considering a number of options for its new home, including a potential move to Hamtramck's Keyworth Stadium, a sports venue constructed in 1936 as a part of the Federal Works Progress Administration. Much of that stadium, however, is condemned and would require significant investment from the team. Hamtramck Public Schools, which owns Keyworth, would retain ownership of the stadium were the team to relocate there.
Mann and his team are also considering building a brand new stadium of their own. They are currently surveying a number of empty parcels of land throughout the city of Detroit. Whatever ownership decides, it will most likely be a few years before they relocate. He says that the team will play at Cass Tech for the 2015 season and probably a season or two after that.
While Detroit City FC came up short of making the playoffs this season, interest in the team has only grown. Mann says that it was an A+ season off the field, with the team experiencing tremendous growth, having to turn people away at a number of games.
"Our goal was always to create an organization that was sustainable and last season was a big step in that direction," says Mann.
Source: Sean Mann, co-owner of Detroit City Football Club
Writer: MJ Galbraith
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