Forever I Love Atlanta (& Football): Atlanta’s Role in U.S. Football Culture and the Global Game

Every football fan has the same feeling at the beginning of the season. In the pit of your stomach, there’s the excitement of a new chapter in your club’s history about to be written and hopefully a renewed belief in your team. You know that if every player shows up fully, plays their position, and buys into the philosophies and tactics the manager has set out that the goals will come, the defense will be damn near impenetrable, and your team could be as successful as you hope and wish for. The whistle blows, the first match of the year begins, and the nil-nil scoreline stares you in the face as you wonder about the endless possibilities of what the season will bring.

As I sat in the stadium for Atlanta United’s opening weekend, you could feel the joyous yet tense energy in the atmosphere. There was an earnestness in the chanting and drumming of the supporters. You could feel the prayers from every religion and spiritual belief system going up to the Most High and the Football Gods, that the season is blessed with fortune and that this is the year that the alchemy of reaching pinnacles of success (or signs of substantial improvement at the very least) and winning some silverware finally comes together. 

Atlanta United has been to the mountain top before. In 2018, just one year after the inaugural season, the 5-Stripes won the MLS Cup, arguably breaking the decades long urban legend of the Atlanta Sports Curse, ushering in an era of Atlanta sports teams capturing the elusive championships the city hadn’t had in what felt like an eternity. In the years that followed, the 2021 Atlanta Braves brought home a World Series Win, the first since ‘95, and the University of Georgia Bulldogs won the Natty in back to back years in 2021 & 2022, the first college national championships since 1980. Even the Atlanta Hawks made a deep playoff run in the Eastern Conference Finals in 2021, just two wins away from an NBA Finals appearance. That 2018 MLS Cup win helped soothe some of the heartbreak of that Super Bowl that shall not be named. The team even brought the MLS Cup to Magic City to celebrate. 

Since then, even as the rest of the city has continued to be on an upward trajectory in music, tv/film, fashion, tech and so much more ( from even before the championships), Atlanta United has been on a bit of a rockier road. But after a tough season last year, the 5-Stripes did the unthinkable. After barely making the post-season, they defeated the then MLS Cup favorite, Lionel Messi-led Inter Miami team in the second round after a best of 3 series. 

As this MLS season kicked off, Apple TV+ and the MLS debuted the journey of that playoff win in an episode of the new docu-series, Onside: Watch the MLS. Atlanta United also just released the new season of the club produced documentary “Rooted In The Stripes” sharing the hopes of building off the morale of that post-season win against Inter Miami, with the hiring of a new coach in Ronny Delia (a proven MLS Cup winner), and bringing in players like Miguel “Miggy” Almirón back to the A  from Newcastle United (an instrumental player and fan-favorite in the 2018 MLS Cup winning season). Most notably the club signed the new MLS record-breaking transfer fee striker, Emmanuel Latte Lath from Middlesborough. The intent of the 5-Stripes is clear: We go again, and we go stronger than before. Together.

Atlanta has been on its own growth trajectory over the last few years, particularly in the football space. The U.S. Soccer Federation has made Atlanta its official headquarters. There are grassroots organizations, like The Beautiful Game Project, or Soccer In The Streets, who have been working with the youth in the city for over 30 years providing free soccer for kids in the Atlanta area. SITS is responsible for the pitches being built at the MARTA stations throughout the city and making the beautiful game more accessible to kids who may not have had the exposure or means (the limiting and damaging pay to play system for soccer in the U.S. is a conversation for another day) to play and get involved in football culture. 

There are Atlanta-based and grown brands and streetwear collectives such as Kitboys Club, Lucid FC, Mifland,,Déng, and vintage kit buy and swap shops like Rare and Retro that are providing entry points into football culture through fashion. Atlanta Influences Everything, a clothing brand, event production, and creative collective focused on “combining civic, corporate and cultural understanding to harness the influence of Atlanta culture to do good and connect communities”, even designed the 2022/2023 Atlanta United Adidas third kit, the 404 Kit, rooted in honoring the city’s robust and proud history in music and culture. 

Then there are the many bars and pubs dedicated to fandoms such as known Liverpool fan bar  Fado’s in Buckhead, The Marlay in Decatur, the soon to be open Jolene Jolene which will show exclusively women’s sports, and the recently voted number one-soccer bar in the U.S., official Arsenal and Atlanta United fan pub, Brewhouse Café in Little 5 Points, providing places for football fans to be in community and engage while watching their teams. 

And that’s not even to mention the many fan groups, Parcheros United, Footie Mob, and so many more artists who create the tifos, creatives who produce high quality photoshoots and content, media platforms, city initiatives, content and ad agencies, and other business folks who fuel the engine of this Atlanta football ecosystem.

In February, Adidas brought the Adidas Fútbol Society to the A in partnership with Atlanta United, SoccerBible, Black Arrow FC, Copa90, Top Baller, and Soccer In The Streets to celebrate the beginning of the MLS season and each team’s new Adidas kits, as well as  Atlanta’s football culture with various events throughout the weekend including a mixer, a fashion show, the Atlanta United season opener, the debut of the Kit Boys Club collab, and a 1v1 tournament hosted by Top Baller and Black Arrow. 

Despite being a lifelong fan and frequent patron of Brewhouse over the years, I’m new to the football industry here and a friend kindly passed along the invite to the mixer to celebrate what was to be the “best of Atlanta’s soccer culture” & community. When I reached out to others who have been in the space much longer than I have, ones that have done work on the ground for years in the city to grow the game, I was surprised they either didn’t know about it, were invited last minute, or were not invited at all. 

I understand events like these can sometimes be geared toward influencers for social reach or for a certain look, but who is more influential or should be celebrated more than those who have been doing the work in the city, especially those who were doing it long before football was accepted as something “cool” in the general landscape in the U.S., let alone, Atlanta? Sekou Thornell, Founder and Creative Director of Kitboys Club, and Fan Engagement, Brand Marketing, and Digital Specialist for Atlanta United said it best on a panel at the mixer in regards to what’s next for Atlanta: “[…we have a lot of culture here already, we just need a gaffer or really multiple leaders to figure out tactics on how best to make the most of opportunities coming to the city.]” Thornell may not say it himself, be he along with other key folks are looked at as the leaders for this city on helping move things along in the right and coherent direction.

My professional background up until this point has been in music. I’ll take a pause here to say that I recognize many of you don’t know me so let me introduce myself. My name is Gillian Williams (most people know me as Gill), and as aforementioned I grew up in the metro-Atlanta area (word to the Migos for branding anywhere north of OTP as the Nawf.) I’m first generation American, my family is originally from Jamaica, and I grew up loving and playing football and piano. 

I played club at Stars Soccer Club/Tophat and Norcross Soccer Association as a forward. I attended the University of Georgia for undergrad and have a degree in Mass Media Arts from UGA’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication and completed the Music Business program from the Terry College of Business. All I’ve known is rooting for Atlanta sports teams, Arsenal Football Club, and the Jamaican national teams (football, track, you name it, pot cova ready to cheer). I consider myself a rum soaked Georgia peach, or a peach flavored spice rum, if you like. 

I moved to the city after undergrad and I’ve worked in various capacities in music from day-to-day management, A&R and A&R Administration, sync, music licensing and publishing, touring, etc. spanning at creative collectives like Janelle Monáe’s Wondaland Arts Society from 2015 – 2023, to Nikki Marshall’s Red Clay Clearances, a boutique music licensing, clearance, and publishing firm, to Cynthia Charles’ The Charles Group for artist management, festival and event logistics, and touring. 

I still work in music and currently work with artists such as Jidenna, Swanky, and their new dj/artist duo, The Bashmen. Over the last two years my life changed quite a bit with becoming primary caretaker for my mother who was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer (I wrote more about that on Forty-One here), my time at Wondaland coming to an end, and heeding the call to finally pursue a career in football, because honestly, life is too short not to go for your dreams. 

I’ve always believed in and enjoyed story-telling about the intersection of football, music, art, and culture; a unique and world-expanding mix, ripe for cultural exchange and appreciation particularly for the Black American, African, Afro-Caribbean, and Afro-Latinx diaspora. All that to say, my passion for this sport particularly in this city is personal to me.

In 2023 I met with Atlanta Influences Everything Co-founders Bem Joiner and Tory Edwards  (2/3 of the collective) after the Atlanta United 404 Kit was launched and told them I wanted to get more involved with helping build the football culture in the city. We talked about the upcoming 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup and how Atlanta, as the Black Mecca of the South and arguably the U.S., has a unique opportunity to grow the game even more here and create authentic cultural experiences for those coming to town for the matches. 

This also provides opportunity for ATLiens who already enjoy soccer and/or are newer fans and want to learn more to get more involved in this world spanning culture. The next year on Juneteenth 2024, I was offered the opportunity to speak about Atlanta and Black culture within soccer on a special edition Shirtless Plantain Show and Forty-One Mag crossover podcast episode called “The South Has Something To Say”. What I’ve found over the last couple years, especially over the past few months as I’ve joined the now officially Atlanta-based Forty-One team as Head of Music Partnerships and as a creative producer for Forty-One Studio, is that the eco-system is already here and continuing to grow everyday (see a few paragraphs above). 

From what I’ve been told by others in the space and also observed myself is that it appears grassroots organizations, brands, collectives, etc seem to be on islands working in silos, occasionally working together for events, but the true ecosystem and intersection of these entities plus fashion, music, Atlanta homegrown goods business and the like, etc. has yet to come together and be established as a united front in a real way.

Again, I’m new to the space, so I will also caveat that I could be wrong. We’ve already seen the creative community come together in dope ways, look no further than the new Powerade campaign done by For Soccer that Atlanta creative production team The Network and a lot of other familiar faces can be seen as part of both behind and in front of the camera. I’d be remiss if I didn’t note that over the weekend the Adidas Fútbol Society events did include art installations from local artist, PaperFrank, grillz by Scotty ATL, DJ sets from Champagne Trap and Cleoptrvppv, tifos from Verations and a few other folks in the local fabric. And yet, I’m told (and personally feel like) there’s still *something* lacking communally at large in all of this. 

And as the FIFA Men’s Club World Cup happens this year, and World Cup approaches next year, my hope is that as larger corporate brands come to the city to activate for these events, people who have been on the ground and are actually from here have the opportunities to be involved in creating, curating, and benefitting from the activations and experiences that happen in our city, not just in name, but in tangible action and sustainable growth and support. Or hell, local folks take the lead on what to do and larger corporate brands plug in where it makes sense. 

The biggest blessing for these different islands in the city would be to work in concert together, if not join together as one larger entity, still individual and shining in their own ways but filling out the color palette of what the city is and what it can paint.

You can always feel at a live music show, an art exhibit, in sports, in anything, really, if the heart of the culture or entity is present and rooted in the performance/work or not. In the music industry, there’s a saying that “Atlanta takes care of Atlanta”. Atlanta artists have been known to often hop on each other’s songs (no matter how new or up and coming the artists are), producers and musicians from all career stages will work together, and behind the scenes you’ll see a lot of Atlanta execs and creatives in the business start their journeys together to work and build which creates an ecosystem for everyone to eat, shine, and grow. 

That’s largely why Atlanta has had such a dominant run in hip-hop and arguably the sonics shaping mainstream pop and other genres over the last 15+ years. My hope is that this mentality and ethos translates to the football culture here too. I recently highlighted a few women doing their thing in the footy space for International Women’s Day and made sure to include a few Atlanta women that do great work (shout out to Forty-One’s Co-Founders Rich Gordon and EL Johnson for always supporting and understanding the importance of things like that – and the clean graphic design of the list). I know that’s just one small way I can show up and serve the community in the story-telling of the landscape of  it all and play my part. I can’t wait to do a lot more. 

It’s nil-nil and the match on how to best put on for the city and the people has already started here. And like that first goal of the Atlanta United season and his 5-stripes career that Latte Lath scored on opening weekend, I hope we can all feel that unmistakable sense of relief and excitement of things officially kicking off. Tension lifted a bit, shoulders rolled back, spirits high, focused and ready for the next action. The 5-stripes ultimately won the first match 3 – 2 against CF Montréal with a Latte Lath brace and 85th minute beautiful dagger from Mosquera. It wasn’t a perfect match, but the team came together and won.  

For these next event packed couple years and beyond, let’s take care of Atlanta, together. It may not be a perfect ecosystem, but this city is ours and we have the opportunity to do something incredibly special that sets the tone of what’s possible for years to come. F.I.L.A.