Major League Soccer chose Charlotte FC as one of ten teams in the league who could honor the past this season with a throwback jersey. This year’s does not disappoint.
Charlotte FC announced Wednesday the Heritage Kit honoring Charlotte’s first soccer champions, the 1980-81 Carolina Lightnin’ of the now-defunct American Soccer League. The Lightnin’ took the league by storm, literally and figuratively in its expansion season, as Head Coach Rodney Marsh led a group which included Charlotte native Tony Suarez to play an exciting brand of soccer which captivated the city.
Players like Mal Roche & Don Tobin supplemented Suarez, who came out of nowhere to shock the league, winning the Eastern Conference regular season title. Charlotteans responded in kind, selling out American Legion Memorial Stadium with more than 20,000 in attendance for the dramatic league final. After Tobin equalized the score in the 69th minute, Hugh O’Neill won the crown for the Lightnin’ with his game-winning goal in the second overtime.
Fans can purchase the kit either at the Bank Of America Stadium Team Store, or by heading to MLSStore.com.
