Revolution fans explain what it would mean to finally win the MLS Cup

The New England Revolution have yet to win the MLS Cup despite five trips to the championship game. It’s a heartbreaking reality for any player who has donned a Revolution jersey, and for those who have cheered them on from the stands. Today, we recognize what lifting the cup—at home nonetheless—would mean to the supporters.

Chris Creighton

To me, winning the MLS Cup would be amazing for the organization and fan base. Along the way, being a day one fan of the team, we’ve hit a rollercoaster array of feelings. We’ve been blessed with some crazy talent across all-time. But, to finally put the right coach in the right seat and get the right players, in their primes, to win it all, it would be a dream come true.

I’ve sat in the stands of both Foxboro Stadium and CMGI/Gillette. I’ve been one of those people in The Fort wearing paper bags when we’re really bad. I’ve been to and/or watched the MLS Cups feeling those feelings of achievement and then pure disappointment. So, to finally see my team that I’ve put my all into for 20+ years go and do the damn thing, well, that would pure bliss. I’m pretty sure I would need a fellow Midnight Rider to pinch me at that point. Billello, Lemieux, Conlon and the rest of the organizational long-timers deserve this after putting their time into this team as well.

Gregory Gomes

Honestly it’s tough to say how much winning the cup would not only mean to me but so many others that have been following this organization for years. After the Revs won the Shield, I received so many messages from supporters and friends alike that I don’t hear from every day. I’ve followed this team since day one and had season tickets right out of high school. I’ve made so many lasting friendships and had the opportunity to support so many people in need through the Midnight Riders. Winning the cup would just be the absolute cherry on top. I want my three-year-old and three-month-old to see that.

David Sabillon

Relief: Being a fan since ‘96, I need King Kong off my back

Hopeful: With success, maybe we can get public support for a stadium

Validation: The Revs will finally join the championship tradition of Boston.

Change: The cup would mean to me, more than anything else, that change is here. Change in the mentality of ownership. Change in their view on team building. Change on spending money but also on who to spend money on. Young players that require millions on investment that may not work out, like Adam Buksa. Change in quickly re-signing players that want to stay here and not dragging out the process.

James Downing

I started playing the game in ‘97. Consequently the first match I attended was in ‘97 (a loss to the Wizards, ha). My father took an interest in the game to support me and he’s been bringing me to games ever since. We didn’t have family ties to any European clubs, so we followed the Revs as our true family club. In ‘02 I was tall enough to stand in the Fort and we relocated to the fort. The Revs winning the cup would finally be the culmination of a lifetime of support. It would be wonderful to be able to experience that win with my dad, who I can now drive to games, after so many years of support.

Caleb Pongratz

MLS Cup to me is something that holds a greater value in my life over being just a soccer fan. For the local team that I’ve grown up on to win a trophy of meaning would shatter the impressions people who spewed & left hate on the Revolution. A team I grew up wanting to play for… or work for….. winning a trophy? Nothing can beat that.

Austin Cowan

It would mean the world to me. Growing up in New England you’re raised to be a rabid sports fan. I love all of our teams and follow them all religiously, but there’s a unique bond between those of us who have followed the Revs since day one. It’s a small group — a family — that has felt pain and seen heartbreak that so much of our region is unaware of. In a region that has experienced so much success, we’ve weathered the storm of 26 years of cruel and unusual punishment. To share the moment with my father, in a stadium we simultaneously detested and flocked to with regularity, would be a storybook ending to years of pain and a hopeful beginning to years of prosperity.

John Usseglio

Winning the MLS Cup would mean everything. I love soccer and I love my home town team. Watching us lose the cup five times, and going through all the low times, especially the Friedel era, was really difficult. There were years that it seemed there was no hope. No direction, no real attempt to keep up with a rapidly improving league. The complete change in the culture since Arena took over is incredible. So is the investment in the training center, the rebrand, and the investment in players. It shows the direction the club is moving. I am so proud of this team. It would mean everything to finally win the cup.

Pete Marczak

Winning the MLS Cup would mean more to me than Red Sox breaking the curse, because we came so close to winning it several times before. A quarter of a century of hope, ups and downs, erased. It would be a meaningful moment not just for fans but for all those former players and staff. This team is special and if not now then when? Winning the Shield and breaking records are important, by they’re only important as stepping stones towards the championship. We’ll lose two important pieces in the off season, and replacing them won’t be easy. Additionally, we would finally lose the title of the Buffalo Bills of MLS.

Mike from Cambridge

What the MLS Cup would mean to me: First of all it would just mean so much joy. I was a fair weather fan since I was a kid but when when my wife and I saw our first game in person in 2013 after moving to Boston from college, we were hooked. She is from New York and is, and will forever be, a big Yankees fan. She loves Boston and loves to have a team to cheer for and obsess over. As a couple, going and watching Revs games is our favorite thing to do together. It has been a wonderful constant for our whole adult lives. A cup would feel like a end of a journey we have been on together.

In ways which are hard to describe, this year’s team feels really special. They are charming, genuinely seem to like each other, and can win games in a ton of different ways despite not having the stereotypical stars. A cup win would feel right for such a great group. I have been a huge Boston sports fan all 32 years of my life but this win would just feel so special.

I have tried but have never been able to get into European soccer without a rooting interest. I have many friends who follow the Premier League and all still see MLS as a retirement home and don’t believe it’s fun, quality soccer. Having a young, well-constructed team win it all would go a long way in changing that narrative.

Steven McGragan

It would be vindication of my long-term love of the team, validation for my support, relief for myself and the players for finally fulfilling the initial hopes of the club and the wishes of supporters over the years.

Todd Tinkham

MLS Cup means a lot to me and the New England Revolution. Being in New England we are amongst the most iconic sports teams in their respective sports. It’s time for the Revs to add to the championships in Title Town.

Justin C.

I grew up a Revs fan since ‘96. I’ve been a loyal fan since then, along with my brother, parents, and a few close friends. We’ve gone through so much heartbreak in the past, falling just short of the ultimate prize. An MLS Cup would reward all of those fans who stuck with the club over the years, and attract new attention to a team on the rise with a bright future. It would mean much more than a trophy. It would further unify the fan base, and allow friends/families to celebrate together, creating lifelong memories. It would attract greater media attention and increase exposure throughout the region/country/world alike. An MLS Cup finally gives the Revs a seat at the table of champions here in New England…a seat that has been vacant for 25 years. A star above the crest changes everything.

Renny Swan

#itsallaboutchampionships. New England deserves a foot in the world’s game. We have to earn it, of course. It’s not a given any year, even this one.

Abram Chamberlain

Originally, I started following the Revs in 2002. I was vaguely aware of them when they first came into existence and I was a high school sophomore (or junior, I don’t remember), but when I returned to Massachusetts and looked in the local paper at The MLS Standings I learned the team was actually good, so I paid a bit more attention.

It always confused me that the team never had much attention. My parents, including my sports-centric father, did not realize they existed or were good, so when I found out I could get tickets to the 2002 final in Foxboro, I got them. If I recall correctly, they were cheap enough that a kid not making a lot of money could buy them. A chance to see them win a final was amazing.

In my mind, winning MLS Cup (which I did not know the name of at the time) would push the team into the Boston sport’s mainstream consciousness. At that time, every Boston sports team was pretty mediocre, so I figured why can’t the Revs win a championship and grab the spotlight? It didn’t happen. I began following the team closer, more ardently. The team has come close, but never finished the job.

The same can be said by their acceptance in the Boston sport’s landscape. They get some love. Then they lose. Then they are forgotten again. In this digital-age where the Globe and WBZ don’t matter as much to people 30 and under, it still matters to me. It matters even though I am living in Alabama and haven’t even visited New England in over a decade.

So what does MLS Cup mean to me? It means acceptance by the sports media of my last link to the place I grew up. And if the Revs get to MLS Cup this year, I will be there. And if they can win? Well, let’s not go there just yet.

Joshua Davies

What would it mean for our New England Revolution to win MLS CUP? When I say everything I mean exactly that. EVERYTHING. To be a Revs fan from the beginning until now is to know every heartbreak imaginable. We have lost soo many MLS Cups in so many ways. I have been to all of them except one (thinking it was me).

It is so easy to follow a team when everything is great and the trophy shelves are full. So why do we follow this team? We follow this team because we love the game. We follow because we love being apart of this Revs family no matter the outcome of the games. There’s nothing I would trade for the years I have spent following this team. I have met some really incredible players, coaches, and staff members over the years that mean everything to me.

NETID is just not a bunch of letters but a belief that some day the soccer gods will finally bless us with a championship!!! The year so far has been very special and I thank everyone involved for making that so. No matter the outcome this year NETID will never change! Go Revs!!!

Matthew Puglise

For better or worse, realistic or disillusioned, I think most Revs fans feel more connected and involved with the team than they do other sports, to the level of personal responsibility. When you watch the Patriots, Red Sox, Celtics, or Bruins win a championship you are excited and happy because you root for those teams, but you are mostly a passenger on that journey. You may have attended a few of those games over the course of the season, maybe you even have season tickets, but you don’t think anything you did or didn’t do could have changed the outcome.

With the Revs though, it’s different. Every game—regular season or playoffs—if fans are being honest, they truly believe they can change the outcome. “If I just chant a little louder, they score a goal” or “if I keep waving this scarf over my head the other team won’t score on this free kick”. It’s kind of insane, but it also what makes every minute of every match more enjoyable. There is a sense that you really are part of something bigger than you and that you aren’t just a passive observer. You are an active participant in the team’s success.

So in a weird way, winning MLS Cup means we all won. And it sounds cheesy, but it’s so important because we feel like we did it together.

Join the conversation! What would winning MLS Cup mean to you? Let us know in the comments section below.