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Behind the Stripes

Alan Green

By Atlanta United FC

June 28^th, 2017

To say Atlanta United play-by-play commentator Alan Green has witnessed some special moments in soccer lore would be an understatement. As one of the BBC’s most senior on-air personalities, he’s been in the press box for countless magic moments.

“A lot of finals,” he says, looking off into the distance and into the past. “Seven World Cup finals, eight European Championship finals, every Champions League final in Europe bar one.”

He points to two matches that are still the most vivid memories in his head, comeback victories by Manchester United and Liverpool in the 1999 and 2005 Champions League finals.

“I think the most memorable was 2005 in Istanbul when Liverpool were 3-0 down at halftime to AC Milan and came back. That was just stunning, because it was just so unexpected.

When you do games like that, it’s just a privilege. And that’s what I feel about being here at Bobby Dodd.”

After wrapping up the European season, Green could have spent the summer on a beach like he’d done in the past. But one phone call from Atlanta United President Darren Eales was all it took to throw those plans out the window.

“It didn’t take a great deal to persuade me that this was something that was really attractive. I talked to Darren and it excited me, and I immediately bought into the coverage of MLS games in England. It didn’t give me every Atlanta game, but it gave me enough to make me realize very quickly I’d made the right decision.”

Green sat down with ATLUTD.com from Bobby Dodd stadium right before his second ever game in the broadcast booth, with the fans already ramping up to full volume outside. He pauses to listen to the roar, and says that support is what convinced him to come.

“One of the things that struck me was the club’s very first game, which I watched. What hit me was the atmosphere, which was not just evident in the Bobby Dodd Stadium, but it was blasting me out of the television set as I watched late at night in England. And my wife stayed up to watch the game as well, and at the end I was naturally disappointed that we lost.

I looked at my wife Brenda and I said, “This is right. This is right, and I can’t wait to get to Bobby Dodd.”

Alan spends his summers in San Diego, with the added travel of making it to all the games broadcast on FOX Sports South and FOX Sports Southeast. But he says the wall of black and red cheering on the team from the stands has only surpassed his expectations, living up to any atmosphere he’d witnessed before.

“What I’ve experienced in our home games, it’s phenomenal. It’s the noise, it’s never-ending! The support for the club, clearly Atlanta has embraced soccer, and embraced Atlanta United. I’m not missing my summer on the beach, I’m just enjoying this. It’s unbelievable.”

It’s no secret that Atlanta United has some exciting players, and a breathtaking, counter-attacking offense. Green says he’s seen plenty of bright stars in Europe, and Atlanta’s stars would fit right in at the very top.

“I would dread it, because it would be taking players from Atlanta United, but I could see them in England, or really any league in Europe. What I’m doing is I’m not telling anyone in England about them. I will not, I want to hold on to players of that ability in Atlanta.”

As for the team’s prospects, Alan is trying to keep his expectations realistic it’s hard to not see the potential this team – and this city – has moving forward. But as he looks out over yet another sold-out crowd at Bobby Dodd Stadium, he says it’s easy to see something special is happening in Atlanta.

“I’m conscious that an expansion club will find it difficult, it’s inevitable. Yet Atlanta United may reach the playoffs. You combine that potential with this crowd, and that’s a hell of a package.

There’s only one way to go and that’s upwards.”

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