Orlando City UK celebrates our fifth birthday: 2020 round-up

/ Taylor Williams

Orlando City UK celebrates our second birthday

Time flies when you’re having fun, right? Today, we’re celebrating our fifth birthday here at Orlando City UK with our Official International Fan Club of Orlando City SC established five years ago.

Following five disappointing seasons in MLS, 2020 has refreshingly been all change. Oscar Pareja finally led Orlando City SC to the MLS Cup Playoffs with our loyal UK supporters still passionately supporting from the United Kingdom.

One Orlando City SC game

In a year like no other, Orlando City UK still managed to make it to an Orlando City SC game – the 2020 home opener against Real Salt Lake.

That’s right, not even COVID-19 could keep us down!

Luckily attending this game before worldwide travel restrictions were enforced, we always try and attend the Orlando City SC home opener every season.

Living in Canada since March 2019, the 2.5 hour flight from Toronto Pearson to Orlando International Airport (MCO) was extremely novel too!

Despite the game being 0-0, we saw enough in the team’s performance to suggest we could be in for a good season.

Fortunately, that’s exactly how it’s panned out under Oscar Pareja. Following the Colombian’s appointment, the entire Orlando City SC franchise has received a huge boost.

Between myself and my Dad, the Orlando City SC vs Real Salt Lake fixture took Orlando City UK’s attendance tally to twelve live Orlando City SC games since 2016.

As we always do, Orlando City UK shared a series of insightful Twitter videos to make Orlando City SC supporters feel closer to the matchday experience online.

Not only that but we thank each and every Orlando City SC supporter who stopped by for a photo and chat with us.

Major League Soccer live watchalong with Calen Carr and co

Back on July 14, I was thrilled to go LIVE on Major League Soccer’s official Twitter account for a watchalong of New York City FC vs Orlando City SC in the #MLSisBack Tournament.

Joining Calen Carr, The Cooligans, Miguel Gallardo and Rox Fontaine, we watched the 90+ minutes unfold as Oscar Pareja‘s Lions won 1-3 to help seal qualification to the Round-of-16.

2020 Orlando City SC away jersey (Heart & Sol) review

Each time a new Orlando City SC jersey is released, we like to provide our Twitter followers an up close and personal look at the latest design.

Before the Orlando City SC vs Real Salt Lake game, we got our hands on the 2020 Orlando City SC away jersey (Heart & Sol) and did our own unboxing video.

This year, we opted to get Ruan‘s name on the back of our road whites.

Membership growth

Orlando City UK Fan Map - 021117

Welcoming even more Orlando City UK members in 2020, our Official International Fan Club of Orlando City SC now boasts 55 loyal and passionate members spread across the UK, Europe and North America.

As you can see from our Orlando City UK Fan Map, Orlando City SC supporters are spread throughout every corner of Great Britain, underlining the Lions’ mass appeal on our shores.

Since establishing Orlando City UK in November 2015, it’s been an aim of mine to make Orlando City SC the best supported Major League Soccer franchise in Great Britain and for us, we are exactly that!

Sign up for Orlando City UK membership yourself by clicking here.

Live Blog matchday coverage

Now I’m living back in the United Kingdom, I’m desperately missing watching Major League Soccer fixtures at sensible times.

Living in Canada for 1.5 years meant watching Orlando City SC in the PM more often than the AM!

Conducting live blog matchday coverage yet again in 2020, we thoroughly enjoyed keeping Orlando City SC supporters up-to-date with the key plays from 21 of the Lions’ 27 fixtures (MLS and #MLSisBack Tournament) in real time on Twitter.

A hugely effective way to join in the greater Orlando City SC conversation online, we thank every single follower for their likes, comments and retweets throughout the 2020 campaign.

And who could forget the high of Orlando City SC‘s incredible run to the #MLSisBack Tournament Final?

Not me!

27 Stats Previews (so far!)

Orlando City UK yet again provided comprehensive Statistical Match Previews for every single one of Orlando City SC‘s 23 regular season fixtures with each each article including five researched stats.

Add in Orlando City SC‘s deep run to the #MLSisBack Tournament Final and Orlando City UK generated a whopping 135 individual stats in 2020.

And that’s not all considering Orlando City SC‘s campaign isn’t over.

Still contesting the 2020 MLS Cup Playoffs, Orlando City UK will provide comprehensive Stats Previews until our last ball is kicked.

Every Orlando City UK stat was also shared with the Orlando City SC community on Twitter as part of our gameday social media output.

Summer interview series

Everybody will remember 2020 as the year they downloaded and constantly used Zoom.

Helping everybody stay in touch during the COVID-19 pandemic, Orlando City UK used the platform to conduct several summer interviews.

Back in June, we published an exclusive interview with Orlando City SC club legend Luke Boden.

After this, we rode the wave of Orlando City SC‘s #MLSisBack Tournament success by interviewing Orlando City SC broadcaster Evan Weston and the Orlando Sentinel’s Julia Poe among other guests.

Before we transitioned to Zoom, we also interviewed Orlando City SC club legend and current broadcaster, Miguel Gallardo.

Regular news output

While statistical previews were Orlando City UK’s main offering to the Orlando City SC community online, so too were the biggest Orlando City SC headlines of the year.

As part of our crowdsourced segment “Twitter Reacts”, Orlando City UK wrote features about player acquisitions including Andrés Perea, Júnior Urso, Pedro Gallese, Matheus Aiás and Alexander Alvarado.

We also wrote this feature about Oscar Pareja’s appointment and this feature about the launch of the 2020 Orlando City SC away jersey – Heart & Sol.

Podcast appearances

Always a pleasure and never a chore to discuss all things Orlando City SC online, I joined Lionsblog not once but twice to talk about the Lions in 2020.

Episode 57: A Mailbag With Orlando City UK

Episode 92: Phase One Review – This Is For Real

500 blog posts published!

On Monday, November 2, Orlando City UK achieved the milestone of publishing our 500th blog post right here at weareorlandocityuk.com.

With our Orlando City SC vs Columbus Crew stats preview being our 500th blog post, we thank each and every one of our Twitter followers for engaging with our content every week.

Thanks for your support!

Orlando City UK is looking forward to providing in-depth coverage of Orlando City SC throughout the off-season and into 2021.

We’d like to take this moment to thank every single one of our followers for your unwavering support.

Let us know what content you enjoyed and what you’d like to see from Orlando City UK in 2021.

Comment below or tweet us at @Orlando_CityUK.

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