Fütbol Club Eatery & Tap
The smell of freshly prepared food emanates from the kitchen.
Glasses clink. People chatter and laugh happily.
The excitement in the air is contagious — it’s game day.
The TVs are turned up to full volume, blaring fast-paced sports commentary to the fans filling the booths and tables.
The walls surrounding the many TVs are filled with soccer memorabilia from local and international teams.
On the screen, the goalkeeper taps a ball over the crossbar, making a critical save in the last few minutes of the first half to preserve his team’s 1-0 lead.
A collective gasp fills the room, everyone realizing how close the other team was to scoring.
Looking closer at the restaurant guests, many are wearing their favorite soccer team’s jersey.
Although the description of this scene seems to belong to a soccer-crazed English pub, it belongs to the Fütbol Club Eatery & Tap, located right here in Overland Park, Kansas.
According to their website, the Fütbol Club is America’s first soccer-themed restaurant and bar.
In addition to being home of the official watch parties of the FC Kansas City Blues, the women’s professional team, and the Kansas City Comets, the indoor professional men’s team, they donate one percent of sales back to youth soccer clubs.
If you crave more exotic soccer games, the Fütbol Club opens at 8 a.m. on weekends for Barclay’s Premier League Games and a hearty breakfast.
Soccer fanatics will get a laugh out of the names of items on the menu, such as “Mia’s Hamm and Cheese,” “Julio Cesar’s Caesar Salad,” “The Besler Burger,” “Rooney’s Battered Fish and Chips, and for breakfast, “Neymar’s Flop Jacks.”
The Fütbol Club makes it easier to catch your favorite “fütbol” match on the big screen without having to ask the bartender to change the channel to a soccer game — therefore offending everyone else in the restaurant who was watching American football.
All in all, the Fütbol Club is a must-visit destination for all soccer fans, young and old.
Sporting Visits the White House
Flashback to December.
Courageous soccer fans braved freezing weather at Sporting Park.
Sporting KC rewarded them in that final game as their team would become the 2013 MLS Cup champions after defeating Real Salt Lake 7-6 in an unforgettable penalty-kick shootout following a 1-1 draw in regulation and overtime.
Nearly 10 months after snagging the MLS Cup Trophy, Sporting traditionally followed previous winners by visiting the White House.
Sporting KC conducted a one-hour soccer clinic for children on the South Lawn in support of President Barack Obama’s United We Serve campaign and as a way of actively showing the club’s commitment to programs for undeserved and at-risk children through The Victory Project. President Obama recognized the team for their successes in the community and on the field.
“This is an incredible honor for all of us,” Sporting KC manager Peter Vermes told the Commander in Chief. “Hopefully we can do it again, and we can show up here and see you again in a year.”
FCKC
The fire of Kansas City athletics has been building lately with all the success stories happening at the professional level.
But one team of females deserves more credit than they have received.
Our women’s professional soccer team, FC Kansas City, recently won the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).
The team had a solid season overall with a 12-7-5 record. These results gave them the final push to the 2014 NWSL Championship.
FC Kansas City forward Amy Rodriguez scored two goals on two assists from midfielder Lauren Holiday as FC Kansas City upset Seattle Reign FC with a 2-1 victory in front of 4,252 fans at Starfire Stadium in Seattle.
Holiday’s play-making efforts would earn her the honor of being named 2014 NWSL Championship MVP.
FCKC’s championship title only adds to the long list of Kansas City’s soccer legends, including Sporting KC’s Major League Soccer Cup Championship title and Missouri Comets’ 2014 Major Indoor Soccer League Champion title.
