Smoke, flares, fan riots. It’s the norm in the footballing (fine, soccer) world, so what are the Rowdies so afraid of? I mean, it is in their name, right?
Stadium security identified Dave Alexander as a threat at the June 1 Tampa Bay Rowdies US Open Cup match; St. Pete Police, at the request of stadium security, immediately removed him from Al Lang Stadium. Stadium security works independently from the Rowdies.
“It didn’t really hit me until the next morning,” Alexander said. “I had been drinking and woke up the next morning and just went ‘aww fuck. No more games ever.’ I was devastated.”
Alexander — a key figure in Ralph's Mob, an independent Rowdies supporter's group — had a reputation as the one who got too rowdy for the Rowdies.
On the night of June 1, he received the first ever lifetime ban from Al Lang Stadium.
Alexander explains that after posting pictures on social media of several smoke bombs, someone called the front office of the Tampa Bay Rowdies to complain.
“I’ve always brought smoke in and I’m always pretty conscious when to use it, you know, tifos, goals, stuff like that,” he said over the phone. “But they were on me the second I got to St. Pete.”
The team prohibits any sort of smoke or incendiary device inside the stadium, but Alexander says he’s never received any punishment or warning for doing so. Maybe they just didn’t know it was him?
“This is our section. There’s 6,000 other seats where they can sit. If you sit in our section, there is going to be a bit of (organized) chaos.” I work 70 hours a week. When Saturdays come, it’s like a release valve.”
According to Mob vice president, Stephen Cundiff, smoke is a part of supporter culture.
"The big thing is regarding smoke and flares is that it's a literal and visual representation of the burning desire the supporter has for his club. That is exactly why smoke and incendiaries mean so much to supporters," Cundiff said. "People who are not part of the supporter culture don't get that connection."
Alexander says he received a phone call earlier that day from a fellow member of Ralph’s Mob warning him he face scrutiny from police and security during the match.
“The second I walked up to security, three police officers knew me by name and pulled me to the side and asked if I had any incendiaries or smoke bombs.”
Police searched him and found nothing. They banned him anyway.
“I was in shock,” he said.
Alexander, a Detroit native and father of three, moved to Tampa Bay and began cheering for the Rowdies three years ago. Normally, he supports Scotland’s Celtic FC. He gets much of his supporter culture and knowledge from watching the European sporting events where smoke, flares and total chaos are the norm.
"It makes for an amazing atmosphere,” Alexander said. “I have never brought anyone to a game that didn’t not want to go back. They want to go back every week. It’s part of the experience. I want people to enjoy the supporting culture, to feel the energy."
Despite the “lifetime” ban, Ralph’s Mob stood together and had the ban lifted. They used the hashtag #StandWithDave on Facebook posts in the days following the match.
“That was an amazing thing. I was in contact with [the Mob], but it wasn’t looking good,” he said.
Security apologized to Alexander before lifting his lifetime ban after only three days. Alexander returned to the stands Saturday night, where he watched the Rowdies take a 2-1 win over Ottawa.
“The people who don’t like [the smoke bombs] are people who don’t sit with us. They want to buy t-shirts, but they don’t want to sing for 90 minutes. People don’t understand, this is a supporter’s section,” Alexander said. “This is our section. There’s 6,000 other seats where they can sit. If you sit in our section, there is going to be a bit of (organized) chaos.”
Alexander's ban started a dialogue with the team and the city that could allow the use of some cold-burning smoke bombs in the future.
Cundiff pointed out the Rowdies regularly posts photos of the Mob holding smoke bombs and even has a promo video on their YouTube channel of the Mob — with smoke bombs.
"How can you ban someone for this if you're advertising it?" Cundiff asked.
Colin O'Hara, Intrepid Sports Reporter, writes about sports for Creative Loafing and is the only CL writer ever banned from a certain Croatian stadium, which makes him sort of a bad-ass. Follow him as he Tweets smart-ass sports shit.
This article appears in Jun 2-8, 2016.