A pleasant North Carolina day in December 2019 began with Commissioner Don Garber appearing in Charlotte to officially award the city an MLS franchise. Also at the event was David Tepper, the billionaire owner of the newly minted Charlotte FC and the NFL’s Carolina Panthers. The day ended with Tepper surrounded by crazed Charlotte FC fans – literally day one fans – at a brewery where it wasn’t easy to identify who among the crowd was the man cutting the $325m expansion fee check.
Charlotte FC were little more than a theoretical concept on that day. Eight months ago, the team had no coach. Three months ago, they had only a handful of players. Five weeks ago, the coaching staff and players met together for the first time.
