17 episodes
What The FC What The FC
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Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, hosts Will Martin and Matt McCutchen are here to take a deep dive into the area’s most fascinating soccer cultural stories. With Charlotte FC kicking off in 2022, many soccer fans in the Carolinas (including diehard Arsenal fan Matt!) now have a reason to turn their attention back to MLS and local soccer – and the great stories to be found there.
Join us for these unique stories and to learn more about a league that is thrillingly unpredictable, often causing us to ask: What the FC?!
Completely new to MLS? Check out Ep. 001-005, our MLS 101 miniseries! While both Will and Matt are avid fans of the game, Matt always focused mostly on European soccer… that is, until Charlotte FC came around. In MLS 101, Will gives an overview of the league that is perfect for new MLS fans and Matt asks a lot of questions along the lines of “What the FC?!”.
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Ep. 014 - MLS Conference Realignment
After a longer than usual break, we’re back! On this episode, we discuss two things: the pros & cons of continued MLS expansion and how scheduling & conferences may change as the league inevitably grows.
We kick off with the expansion discussion before moving on over to our conference realignment proposal (MLS league office, take notes). Whether you agree or disagree with our proposal, we would love to hear your thoughts on Twitter @WhatTheFCPod where the visual spreadsheet will be posted.
Please subscribe, share with your friends, and follow us on our social media channels below. Thanks for listening!
Twitter - @WhatTheFCpod
Instagram - @WhatTheFCpodcast
Facebook - What The FC Podcast
Email - whatthefcpodcast@gmail.com -
Ep. 013 - MLS Spending Tiers
We’re back with another money episode! This time, we sort every MLS club into tiers based on spending power.
With Charlotte FC’s transfer business gaining steam, we wanted to figure out where the club will land in the hierarchy of MLS spending. Everyone seems to think that owner David Tepper is going to be throwing huge money around… but is that really the case?
Please subscribe, share with your friends, and follow us on our social media channels below. Thanks for listening!
Twitter - @WhatTheFCpod
Instagram - @WhatTheFCpodcast
Facebook - What The FC Podcast
Email - whatthefcpodcast@gmail.com -
Quick Podcast Update!
Hey everyone, we just wanted to give you a quick update on some minor changes to the podcast. Through the end of February, we will be shifting over to a bi-weekly publishing schedule. Listen to this episode to hear the reasoning behind the temporary change.
As always, thank you for listening. You can follow us and interact with us at our social media channels:
Twitter - @WhatTheFCpod
Instagram - @WhatTheFCpodcast
Facebook - What The FC Podcast
Email - whatthefcpodcast@gmail.com -
Ep. 012 - Pay to Play
Ever since the USMNT failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, the conversation around one thing has intensified: pay-to-play. Many believe (and we do too) that the pay-to-play structure of youth soccer in the USA locks out countless talented players and, ultimately, holds back our national team and Major League Soccer.
However, everyone knows what the problem is. No one seems to know how to actually fix it. So, Matt and Will set out to research how countries around the world reduce costs for players at all levels of the youth soccer world (spoiler alert: training compensation and solidarity payments are not the answer).
Stick around to hear what Matt and Will think that our soccer governing bodies can and should do to eliminate pay-to-play in the US. More importantly, what can we as individual fans of the game do to make the game we love more accessible?
Please subscribe, share with your friends, and follow us on our social media channels below. Thanks for listening!
Twitter - @WhatTheFCpod
Instagram - @WhatTheFCpodcast
Facebook - What The FC Podcast
Email - whatthefcpodcast@gmail.com -
Ep. 011 - The Story Behind Branding
This summer, Charlotte FC announced their branding - the name, the colors, the crest (and that awesome secondary logo). Then, most recently, the Houston Dynamo rebranded to Houston Dynamo FC, radically changing their crest. All of this got us thinking: what is the story behind a club’s brand?
In this episode, Will and Matt first dive into what a club front office’s process is for creating a brand. Matt takes us through a Marketing 101 session so that we can better understand what these clubs are doing behind the scenes.
Then, Will and Matt discuss why we are seeing the downfall of the “American” brand and the rise of the “worldwide” brand. Are names like the Seattle Sounders and Portland Timbers doomed??
Please subscribe, share with your friends, and follow us on our social media channels below. Thanks for listening!
Twitter - @WhatTheFCpod
Instagram - @WhatTheFCpodcast
Facebook - What The FC Podcast
Email - whatthefcpodcast@gmail.com -
Ep. 010 - Expansion Draft
Welcome to the Inaugural What The FC Expansion Draft! After seeing U.S. Women’s National Team players Tobin Heath and Christen Press get picked up in the recent NWSL Expansion Draft, the guys felt inspired to do their own. So, cue the spreadsheet building and strategy planning!
Will and Matt acted as separate MLS expansion teams, each drafting a starting XI from the players on the existing franchises. The only rule: once a player was picked, no more players from that franchise could be drafted.
If you’re interested in learning more about the biggest names in the league at each position (and in hearing Will and Matt argue over who drafted the better team), this is the episode for you!
Think you could have done better? Drop a mention to us at our social media channels below, and please subscribe, share with your friends, and follow us.
Twitter - @WhatTheFCpod
Instagram - @WhatTheFCpodcast
Facebook - What The FC Podcast
Email - whatthefcpodcast@gmail.com