FC Tulsa to host Birmingham Legion FC on Greenwood night

FC Tulsa returns home to ONEOK Field on Saturday night to host Birmingham Legion FC in the first of two meetings between the two clubs. This is also Tulsa's 2nd match in the USL Jagermeister Cup.

Tulsa earned a point in its first Jagermeister Cup match, after falling at One Knoxville SC in penalty kicks. FC Tulsa is currently fourth in Group Three. Birmingham Legion FC opened up its run in the midseason tournament with a dominant 3-1 win over Chattanooga Red Wolves SC.

Match Day Festivites

Not only is Saturday's match a USL Jagermeister Cup Match, it's also Greenwood Night at ONEOK Field. Gates open at 6:00pm and kickoff is slated for 7:30pm. 

Greenwood Night festivities start at 5:30pm with a pre-match mini clinic for kids. The first 1000 fans entering the stadium will receive a limited edition Greenwood Night poster. 

Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols will be leading a moment of silence in recognition of the 104th anniversary of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. Tulsa native, Majeste Pearson, is bringing her powerhouse voice to ONEOK Field for a performance of the National Anthem. During halftime, the extremely talented Ladies of Elegance will be performing a showstopping dance. 

The team will also be debuting the “Through the Fire” kits.

News On 6 caught up with Caleb sewell, the club's GM and Sporting Director, to get his thoughts heading into the club's biggest themed night of the season.

Caleb Sewell

"Yeah, think soccer is kind of the connecting piece, right? The community part is probably the driving force for this game where we're asking people to come out and really reflect on sort of our culture here, more of a celebration and understanding of what this night means and what we're trying to shine a light on. And I think we've tried, at least in-house, to make that in a big way. Candice and Ben and the guys upstairs, Ryan, they're working around the clock. We've got a new kit that's coming out.

They've gone into depth to sort of symbolize the importance. We've had the players out ⁓ doing the tour down at the Greenwood. So in terms of educating the people inside the building, foreign players that are here, not only do we want to tell that message locally, ⁓ but we're also looking how we can do that nationally and abroad through our playing group as well. it's, yeah, much more than a soccer game tomorrow night. ⁓ It's definitely one that is community driven. We want the fans to come out and we want them to really

see what it's all about. We've got free clinics for players, for kids before the game. We've got national anthem singers. Our mayor is coming for a moment of silence, Mayor Nichols. So when you start to talk about the overall night, there's a lot to it and a lot of work's gone into it. And I think if you're looking to get out for a game, this is the one you want to have on your calendar."

Scott Pfeil

"That a little extra because your pitch is literally right there in the heart of Greenwood? Does that mean a little extra?"

Caleb Sewell

"100 % ⁓ I think that's that's not lost on anyone ⁓ and as a whole it's it's back into how can we really drive sort of Shine a light on the night for everyone in Tulsa to just quickly reflect and understand what the importance is for this night, right and having the stadium right there I think that's ⁓ a clear ⁓ connecting piece to this as well and it gives it a little bit more of an oomph but in general the

tragedy's not lost on anyone and if we can sort of reflect on that and celebrate this culture piece and connect to the cultures in the city, think that's huge for everybody."

Scott Pfeil

"As you mentioned, there's several community pieces involved with Tomorrow Nights. Where did the ideas for all those things come about?"

Caleb Sewell

"Candice

Brenner? No. ⁓

No, look, I think everybody's worked. I can tell you we've all been in meetings and senior leadership meetings and talking about this and ways to make it better. But the ideas are really just stepping back and understanding like how can we really connect this to be ⁓ holistic, inclusive. We have the Black Players for, MLS Black Player for Change ⁓ coming in as well to activate with us. And that's an outreach that we're trying to connect with them and let them come in and be a part of this. Having items for the youth, so free clinics, removing barriers and allowing people to participate.

⁓ being the halftime show, we're connecting to local groups in the community as well. As I mentioned before, the mayor's coming out and getting involved. I think when you step back and sort of say, what is this? It's holistic, it's driven by the community. It's not just an FC Tulsa event. We're trying to get everybody involved and that's how we wanna be as a club. want everybody to know they're included and we want them to connect with us. And I think tomorrow night we're gonna see that in abundance."

Scott Pfeil

"As for the match itself, second match in the Jäger Meister Cup, what did you learn from the first and what are you looking for going into this one?"

Caleb Sewell

"Yeah, look, think everyone's understanding the Jägermeister Cup. ⁓ I think for us, we stick to our plans. We don't care what the competition is. We just want to win our next match. think the first one, travel, was difficult for us. And we went up there. And I think it shows to people that there's no easy games in the USL, regardless of the competition. ⁓ Tomorrow night's no different. I don't think we say, it's just a cup game, and we're going to phone it in. ⁓ Not that at all. We want to keep our streak going. We want to be as competitive as we can be. ⁓

Birmingham's had a coaching change. They've gone and got some new players. ⁓ They're scratching for some results and really trying to climb their way up in the form table, if you will. ⁓ Mark's a very good coach. He's going to get them going in the right direction. So not going to be an easy game. Our guys know that. But we're hoping with the event tomorrow night and the meeting behind that, that we have that little bit of pep in our step and we can walk away victorious and everybody goes home in a happy manner. And it's a well-put-together evening.

How?"

Scott Pfeil

"Much more important is it that this match is at home as you mentioned the travel was kind of an issue opener so how How relaxing I don't want to say relaxing, but you know"

Caleb Sewell

"Yeah, if we could play every game at home, we'd love to do it. But I think in general, the boys just came off a trip down in San Antonio, and they come back, and it's two in a week, and we're doing recovery, and it's just trying to get the bodies ready. So being at home and not having to jump back on a plane again and go somewhere else, I think that's helpful for us. ⁓ But zero excuses for us. Like travel, every team's got to do it, so we're no different. ⁓

We hope that tomorrow that the bodies are ready to roll, quick turnaround, and we can get back out there and perform again."