Back in 2015, Ryan Jernigan just wanted his friends to come to soccer games with him. Having recently moved back to Raleigh, he was looking for a way to capture the attention of the Triangle’s large group of European soccer-crazed adults primarily in their 20s and 30s – and get them hooked on their local club, the then-Carolina RailHawks who have since become North Carolina FC.
Thus, the Oak City Supporters were born. It’s safe to say they’ve grown in size and scope since then.
“It went from like five people who were just gathered around a Bojangles' box their first tailgate to, in general, 300-plus members,” Jernigan said.
Now an unavoidable fixture at all NCFC matches, OCS makes themselves known on gamedays with their lively tailgates and presence in the South stand, where they’ll stand, shout and chant for 90-plus minutes. Garnished with elaborate tifos and clever banners, OCS members are always ready to do whatever they can to back NCFC – and it doesn’t go unnoticed.
“Those guys – Nazmi (Albadawi), Austin da Luz, Steven Miller – have always been super supportive,” Jernigan said.
Compared to supporters groups across the country, Jernigan said one thing unique to OCS is the connection it has with the team and players. It helps when NCFC is as locally based as it is. So far this season, five players native to the Triangle have taken the field for NCFC, and the number of players on the team who played collegiately in North Carolina is seven.
“I think we're at that kind of point where you look at other supporters groups in the league that you talk to and meet, and a lot of them don't have that kind of atmosphere,” Jernigan said. “Especially when you have guys like Nazmi or Manny Perez who are local guys … they have a connection to a local area and it’s not just a team that's made up of guys who were brought in.”
That sense of community applies to the atmosphere within OCS as well, something Zac Hines can attest to.
“I've lived here the majority of my life, and I have never had a community (like this),” said Hines, who joined OCS in 2016.
In particular, Hines was impressed with the way OCS embraced NCFC captain Austin da Luz’s Playing for Pride initiative back in 2017.
“That was the turning point for me,” Hines said. “This is more than just going to the soccer game and banging on the stands for 90 minutes. They're trying to do more outside of it and trying to do more good for the community."
Doing more beyond gamedays is one of the elements of OCS that Jernigan is most proud of, he said. The group operates as part of the Dead Whale Society, which fosters OCS “offshoots” like the Cardinal Collective (NCFC U23 supporters group), the Uproar (North Carolina Courage supporters group) and the Red Eye Rowdies (Carolina Hurricanes supporters group). The name pays homage both to the fact that whale bones were previously buried on the site of WakeMed Soccer Park and the Hurricanes’ previous name when playing in Hartford, Conn.
Hines created the Cardinal Collective in 2019 as his way of supporting and growing NCFC’s youth-to-pro pipeline. He figured giving the club’s USL League Two side the love it deserved was the best way to start. This past season, Hines and his crew were at every NCFC U23 home game and made road trips to Wake FC and Tobacco Road FC as well.
“(NCFC U23 goalkeeper) George Marks reached out to us and he really appreciated the effort and time that we put into supporting them,” Hines said. “(NCFC U23 head coach) Tom Harris, I've talked to him a handful of times now, he really enjoys what we do and we'll try to expand it more next year."
Another offshoot of OCS is the Six Point Weekend podcast, which OCS member Chuck Givens co-created in 2018 as a way to discuss all that was happening with NCFC and the Courage. Givens wanted to give NCFC and Courage fans something they could “use as a source for the fan experience.”
“It really isn’t much different than the stuff we would normally talk about when we get together; we just put mics in front of us and record it,” Givens said.
Sixty-one episodes in, the 6PW is going strong. Numerous NCFC players have been interviewed, as has NCFC President and General Manager Curt Johnson and Owner Steve Malik.
The best compliment Givens has received?
“When we have players from either NCFC or the Courage come up to us and say, ‘I love what y’all are doing. Really enjoy listening,’” Givens said.
For Jernigan, the birth and growth of offshoots like the Cardinal Collective and the 6PW podcast illustrate one of his favorite parts of OCS: the way it’s brought people together around soccer.
“I look at all the other groups that have started as offshoots of this, and they all were people who met because of Oak City Supporters,” Jernigan said.
Back in 2015, Ryan Jernigan just wanted his friends to come to soccer games with him. Having recently moved back to Raleigh, he was looking for a way to capture the attention of the Triangle’s large group of European soccer-crazed adults primarily in their 20s and 30s – and get them hooked on their local club, the then-Carolina RailHawks who have since become North Carolina FC.
Thus, the Oak City Supporters were born. It’s safe to say they’ve grown in size and scope since then.
“It went from like five people who were just gathered around a Bojangles’ box their first tailgate to, in general, 300-plus members,” Jernigan said.
Now an unavoidable fixture at all NCFC matches, OCS makes themselves known on gamedays with their lively tailgates and presence in the South stand, where they’ll stand, shout and chant for 90-plus minutes. Garnished with elaborate tifos and clever banners, OCS members are always ready to do whatever they can to back NCFC – and it doesn’t go unnoticed.
“Those guys – Nazmi (Albadawi), Austin da Luz, Steven Miller – have always been super supportive,” Jernigan said.
Compared to supporters groups across the country, Jernigan said one thing unique to OCS is the connection it has with the team and players. It helps when NCFC is as locally based as it is. So far this season, five players native to the Triangle have taken the field for NCFC, and the number of players on the team who played collegiately in North Carolina is seven.
“I think we’re at that kind of point where you look at other supporters groups in the league that you talk to and meet, and a lot of them don’t have that kind of atmosphere,” Jernigan said. “Especially when you have guys like Nazmi or Manny Perez who are local guys … they have a connection to a local area and it’s not just a team that’s made up of guys who were brought in.”
That sense of community applies to the atmosphere within OCS as well, something Zac Hines can attest to.
“I’ve lived here the majority of my life, and I have never had a community (like this),” said Hines, who joined OCS in 2016.
In particular, Hines was impressed with the way OCS embraced NCFC captain Austin da Luz’s Playing for Pride initiative back in 2017.
“That was the turning point for me,” Hines said. “This is more than just going to the soccer game and banging on the stands for 90 minutes. They’re trying to do more outside of it and trying to do more good for the community.”
Doing more beyond gamedays is one of the elements of OCS that Jernigan is most proud of, he said. The group operates as part of the Dead Whale Society, which fosters OCS “offshoots” like the Cardinal Collective (NCFC U23 supporters group), the Uproar (North Carolina Courage supporters group) and the Red Eye Rowdies (Carolina Hurricanes supporters group). The name pays homage both to the fact that whale bones were previously buried on the site of WakeMed Soccer Park and the Hurricanes’ previous name when playing in Hartford, Conn.
Hines created the Cardinal Collective in 2019 as his way of supporting and growing NCFC’s youth-to-pro pipeline. He figured giving the club’s USL League Two side the love it deserved was the best way to start. This past season, Hines and his crew were at every NCFC U23 home game and made road trips to Wake FC and Tobacco Road FC as well.
“(NCFC U23 goalkeeper) George Marks reached out to us and he really appreciated the effort and time that we put into supporting them,” Hines said. “(NCFC U23 head coach) Tom Harris, I’ve talked to him a handful of times now, he really enjoys what we do and we’ll try to expand it more next year.”
Another offshoot of OCS is the Six Point Weekend podcast, which OCS member Chuck Givens co-created in 2018 as a way to discuss all that was happening with NCFC and the Courage. Givens wanted to give NCFC and Courage fans something they could “use as a source for the fan experience.”
“It really isn’t much different than the stuff we would normally talk about when we get together; we just put mics in front of us and record it,” Givens said.
Sixty-one episodes in, the 6PW is going strong. Numerous NCFC players have been interviewed, as has NCFC President and General Manager Curt Johnson and Owner Steve Malik.
The best compliment Givens has received?
“When we have players from either NCFC or the Courage come up to us and say, ‘I love what y’all are doing. Really enjoy listening,’” Givens said.
For Jernigan, the birth and growth of offshoots like the Cardinal Collective and the 6PW podcast illustrate one of his favorite parts of OCS: the way it’s brought people together around soccer.
“I look at all the other groups that have started as offshoots of this, and they all were people who met because of Oak City Supporters,” Jernigan said.
