Atlanta United has been one of the top stories of the MLS season so far. As the season starts to wind down, Atlanta United is in 3^rd place in the Eastern Conference, a position that assures them a spot in the upcoming playoffs, and they could still finish higher yet. The team has also has one of the most impressive attacks in the league, with their 63 goals thus far only being eclipsed by Toronto FC. The team has some of the hottest form going into the playoffs, with recent trouncing’s of New England and Los Angeles by scores of 7-0 and 4-0. Their success has not just been on the field however; Atlanta United has had a historic level of fan support. In the first match in the newly constructed Mercedes-Benz Stadium they drew a MLS record breaking 70,000 supporters to a match with Orlando. They have also had an average attendance of over 40,000 throughout the season, higher than any team in the league bar Seattle,in addition to many top flight teams in some of the world’s most renowned leagues in Europe. This is highly impressive for a team in its debut season. But what has brought about this unprecedented amount of success?

One thing the team did that would lead to its future success was establishing a wide supporter base before the team even played a game. The team name, badge, and colors were all decided by supporter’s months before a single player was signed to the team. The club also brought in supporters by recruiting players who had their roots in Atlanta, two examples being goalkeeper Alec Kann and defender Mark Bloom. In addition to this the club recruited young, local talent. They did this by starting recruiting in the region over a year before the senior team began play. Several open tryout sessions in Georgia unearthed a number of young talents who have gone to play for the clubs academy, and a few have even made appearances for the senior team. The most impressive being 17 year old Andrew Carleton, who hails from Cobb County. These moves, along with an extensive advertising campaign, helped create an image of Atlanta United as a club that those who live in the city could truly relate to, encouraging the impressive supporter turnout we’ve seen thus far.

Atlanta United also bucked the trend when it came to recruiting their star players. Most teams in the league tend to look to Europe for their star players, typically signing high profile players who are past their prime and looking for one last paycheck before they retire. An example of this is Orlando City, a team that is struggling towards the bottom of the Eastern Conference in MLS. They went all in on signings like that of Kaka, a great player now far past his prime. Atlanta United went an alternate route, by giving opportunities to relatively unknown young talent that they saw as having potential to become great. The decision has paid off handsomely, with players like Josef Martinez, Miguel Almiron, and Yamil Asad being some of the best performers in all of MLS this season.