This is another in a series of features that will publish on the Atlanta United topics page on ajc.com. The series is dedicated to some of the first fans of soccer in Atlanta, those whose allegiances to the sport started with the Chiefs, the city’s first pro team, which was founded in 1967 and played off and on until 1981. If you have a suggestion, email droberson@ajc.com.
Here is the first on Shawn Kowalewski.
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Will Hinton can’t remember how many Chiefs games he attended between 1979-81, but he knows the number of times he appeared in the game program: twice in a fan Q&A feature that featured his picture.
He doesn’t know where they are now – either in his parent’s attic or his basement – but he knows that the Chiefs and soccer have stayed in his heart.
“The Chiefs were my big love,” he said. “Growing up in the South, football was a big thing. My grandfather was a professor at Tech. We had season tickets. I went somewhat regularly to the Braves, Hawks and Falcons.
“But the Chiefs were what I really cared about.”
Now, he may be more involved in soccer as a 44-year-old as a player, coach and director on a club’s board than he was as a kid when he first started playing as a 6-year-old. He anticipates loving Atlanta United as much as he did the Chiefs.
“I watch MLS, but have never picked a team to follow because I knew we would have one here,” he said.
When the Founder’s Club was announced two years, he said he was one of the first people to sign up. He now has five season tickets for the 2017 inaugural season at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
“I think Atlanta is underrated as a soccer town,” he said. “Ask people outside of Atlanta, they would have said, ‘I don’t know if that’s much of a soccer town.’ But if you lived here you would know how big of a soccer team it is.
“All of those teams over the years have built the interest in soccer in this community.”
Hinton appreciates the way that Atlanta United is building its club and hopes that the team doesn’t sign an aging European star.
“I want them to bring in the best players for what they can get in this league,” he said.
He predicts that the club will succeed on the pitch as well as in the community.
“I think the attendance numbers will be higher than those outside of Atlanta expect.”
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