Julian Gressel marveled at Atlanta United supporters’ newest chant

Atlanta United’s supporter culture is an ever-evolving mechanism. In the club’s inaugural match against the Red Bulls there were 55,000 strong in attendance. The atmosphere was great, very loud and boisterous. However, in the club’s second home match against Chicago, with 10,000 less there because of construction issues, the atmosphere was electric. Supporters got on the same page to produce chants that filled the stadium so much that one Atlanta United player was truly awestruck by the occasion.

Speaking with the AJC’s Doug Roberson (make sure to read his full post here), Atlanta United’s No. 8 SuperDraft pick Julian Gressel revealed that coming out of halftime and hearing all of Bobby Dodd Stadium doing the “Atlanta” — “United” callback chant was something to behold.

“On the field, I remember in the second half, you are on the field and you hear the main supporter’s section going ‘Atlanta’ and the rest of the stadium go ‘United.’ I was on the field and I had to take a deep breath for a second and regroup to focus on the game again. It was breath-taking. It was unreal.”

This just goes to show you that your support in the stadium does matter. The players notice it and it motivates them. As cliche as it may sound, the supporters are truly the 12th man out there. Keep being awesome and the team will follow suit.