When Detroit City FC kicks off against Philadelphia Fury this Saturday, August 31, the club will mark a milestone at Keyworth Stadium: the 300,000th fan will walk through the gates since the club moved to the 83-year-old stadium in Hamtramck in 2016 as part of its community investment campaign.
Detroit City FC made historic Keyworth Stadium its home in 2016, after its successful community investment campaign to raise funds necessary to rehab the stadium owned by Hamtramck Public Schools. The unprecedented community-based campaign – the largest of its kind in Michigan history – spanned 109 days and saw more than 500 verified Michigan investors pledge over $740,000. The club has been successfully paying back the investors in the campaign and is set to make the final payments in 2020, two years ahead of schedule.
Since 2016, an additional $750,000 has been invested in Keyworth Stadium, including a grant from the Ralph Wilson Foundation for a new turf field earlier this year.
To commemorate the occasion, the 300,000th fan will be surprised by the club mascot, Friendly the Bear, upon entering the stadium, showered with confetti, and will receive complimentary access for them and up to 15 of their friends to their own on-field suite for the match.
“The move to Keyworth has been a tremendous success for our club, the community, and our supporters who invested in the campaign,” said DCFC co-owner Sean Mann. “It’s been a true public-private partnership with a public asset brought back to life and hopefully set up to be enjoyed by the Hamtramck community for generations to come. We’re always up for a celebration. Frankly, we would have celebrated the quarter-millionth fan but we’ve been having so much fun this season, we lost track.”
Since 2016, Detroit City FC has received international attention for its matchday atmosphere at Keyworth Stadium, hosting seven international clubs, including Germany’s FC St. Pauli and Liga MX’s Club Necaxa, as well the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) playoffs in 2017 and 2019.
DCFC is also set to host its biggest opponent to date, Mexico’s Club Atlas, on Saturday, September 7 for an international friendly presented by DTE Energy at 7:30 PM.
DCFC recently announced its move to the National Independent Soccer Association (NISA), the third division of American professional soccer. Detroit is set to begin play in NISA in early 2020. Until then, DCFC will host four 2019 NPSL Members Cup matches at Keyworth this fall.
Saturday’s friendly match against future NISA opponent Philadelphia Fury kicks off at 7:30 PM ET. Gates open at 5:30 PM ET.
Tickets for Saturday are still available at tickets.https://www.detcityfc.com. Tickets are $12 online ahead of time and $15 at the gate on matchday.
