Midnight Riders interview #3: Evan Whitney

June 16, 11:45 PMBoston Pro Soccer ExaminerL.E. Eisenmenger

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Evan Whitney

Evan Whitney has been a supporter of the New England Revolution and member of the Midnight Riders supporters group since 1996 and served as the Riders’ Philanthropy Chair for almost nine years.

Whitney and Midnight Rider Prairie-Rose Clayton are largely responsible for the banners near the Fort (the supporters section behind the goal) and designed many of the soccer scarves for supporters of the Revolution, Boston Breakers, and the U.S. Men’s National Team. A loyal fan of the USMNT, he traveled to watch them play in Ireland (2002), France (2003), and Germany (2006). 

Whitney works in Harvard University's Office of News and Public Affairs. Soccer has been his passion since he was about five years-old.

This is Boston Pro Soccer Examiner's third in our series of interviews profiling members of the Midnight Riders. To read others, click on the links at the bottom of the story.

LE: What was your reaction when Taylor Twellman came on the field at the second half of the June 7 New York Red Bulls game and in 17 minutes the team scored four goals.

Whitney: It was a sense of relief, to be honest. The past couple years the team has just come out and played very well as a team, moved the ball well, made intelligent plays, all the little things that happen away from the ball that really makes them successful. It’s someone like Jay Heaps on defense recognizing, anticipating how the play is going to move and shifting over or it’s getting a quick ball in from outside, it’s when they find their confidence, something that’s lacking now.

We had Twellman and Ralston up top, which has been a highly effective combination, and Shalrie back in midfield where he’s a solid, consistent player. So for that 20 minutes they really resembled a team.

LE: What do you think of the team right now?

Whitney: The team needs some help, they’re in a very tough position. They’ve lost some very good players over the last few years and they haven’t adequately replaced Clint Dempsey, Michael Parkhurst, even Andy Dorman. These are players who have gone on to European clubs and done very well for themselves and made strong contributions, but the contributions they made to the Revolution haven’t been picked up as well by some of the younger players.

It’s frustrating, especially seeing Taylor Twellman come back and contribute but not knowing the status of his injury - it’s serious, they can’t bank on him forever. Some of the young players have done well, but there’s a lot of injuries. It just feels different than previous years, it feels like more of a rebuilding year and it’s tough at this point because the team really hasn’t gotten going, it seems like they’ve been waiting for Twellman to get healthy and waiting for players to get back from injury. It’s reflected in the record, they’re grinding out results, but they haven’t really blown anyone away yet.

 

LE: Except New York. So, what do you think are the three main things the Revolution need to do to get back in the picture? 

Whitney: On the field, honestly one of the things that will help is if the Kraft family is willing to open the purse strings a bit more. That’s not to say they should spend tens of millions of dollars on a player, but there are good quality players that might cost a bit more, they might not have a big name, but they can come in and contribute. They could be players who are playing in top leagues or mid-tier leagues in Europe who are looking for a competitive league, looking for something that’s a bit different. [The Revolution] need to do more than just wait for DVDs to arrive at their offices and sort through them.

Something they’re doing now that’s much welcomed is reaching out to a more adult demographic of fans by having mass showings at area pubs and bars. It makes sense because the youth soccer players who they catered to in the 90’s are college students and adults, so it’s finding a way to keep the team relevant and tap into that interest that was there from the beginning.

They can’t afford to be behind the newer clubs managing to do more -  treating themselves as a professional clubs. We should be there right beside the Bruins, the Patriots, the Red Sox and the Celtics. We need to get the Revolution mentioned in the same breath on a daily basis.

LE: Do you think they should have a separate kids section to support the adult marketing?

Whitney: [Kids] should be integrated, it should be the same as any other sports team. One of the reasons people take after a certain club or team is because you get taken by a family member, you're part of that experience, it’s highly organic, it’s the same as if a father takes his son or daughter to Fenway Park for the first time. It’s not just being amongst themselves, it’s taking in everything and seeing how it happens.

LE: But at the same time you said earlier they hadn’t directed their marketing enough at an adult audience.

Whitney: It was marketed in such a way that if you were an adult fan, it was tough to see how you were being courted. For fans who wanted to be expressive in how they showed their support, at times they weren’t really allowed to do that in the stadium. When you went to matches you’d see things that were geared toward younger fans and children whether it was spacewalks in the soccer celebration area or autographs. It's not to say there shouldn’t be a place for that. But now they’re making more accommodations for fans in the Fort, expanding that section behind the goal, doing more to steer more passionate fans to that section.

LE: What do you think about flares? What about wrapping the seating more around the bowl and capping the rear seats?

Whitney: I don’t think they’re a great idea. It works for some people but it’s not necessary. A club like Chicago can do that, maybe their front office is more tolerant, but we’ve done well this offseason – the large flags you see being waved in the Fort are something that took years and years of lobbying, up until this year the flat answer was no. It took effort from both members of the Fort and the Midnight Riders to work with the front office.

Tarping of the tops of the seating sections to wrap it around and make it look more compact? – Anything that can enhance the atmosphere that comes out of that section is something that should be explored. If it can help fans be more cohesive in terms of chanting and singing and waving flags, then that’s ultimately a good thing.

LE: How do you think the Revolution can interest the local communities of Brazilians, Portuguese, Mexicans, and Central Americans in this team?

Whitney: Show them good soccer. Show them MLS isn’t some retirement league, it’s not a rehash of the old NASL, and show them the players can actually play. Give them a reason not only to support a local club, but show them that it’s something worth their attention. It’s a savvy audience so you have to tailor your approach that way.

LE: Last question, who’s going to win tonight’s match, the US or Italy?

Whitney: I think Italy is, though I would love to say United States will. I was at the last US game in Germany and it was probably the best match I’ve ever been to, top to bottom. It would be nice to beat them, but I think Italy’s going to win, I’ll call it 2-1.

Read interview with Midnight RIder Monty Rodrigues

Read interview with Midnight Rider Chris Camille.