Metal bleachers reflecting a waning golden summer haze, fans packed in, and more peering on from an overlooking hill, before the floodlights flicker on past sunset. It’s a scene all too familiar to high school football across the United States.
Yet, it’s different in Burlington, Vermont. For there, it’s soccer, a sport having its moment in the second-least populated state.
Competing in the USL League 2, the American fourth division, Vermont Green FC has captured the imagination of the city’s residents. It may be a far cry from the metropolis-focused nature of next year’s North American-hosted FIFA World Cup, but it’s a key to the latest chapter of the American soccer story.
As crowds grow for Lionel Messi and other superstars across MLS in the top division, the game has hit a special moment in Vermont, a state known for its stunning natural beauty and outdoorsy eye, and now soccer at the 2,700-person capacity, Virtue Field.
In 2024, soccer showed what it can mean to Burlington. Supporters packed in as usual while trying to stay warm and watched the University of Vermont Catamounts make a run to their first NCAA title. Those scenes were nearly replicated in their semifinal win last weekend as well.
Yet, it pales in comparison against what could come on Saturday night, as the Green, who feature many of the same UVM players, take on Seattle-based Ballard FC in the USL League 2 Final, as the latest chapter in the rise of the United States’ new soccer capital.
