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Charlotte FC is expecting around 50,000 at Bank of America Stadium for Saturday’s home opener against Atlanta United
Bank of America Stadium will be buzzing Saturday at 2:15 p.m. for Charlotte FC’s 2025 home opener vs. Atlanta United. (Photo by Kevin Young of The 5 and 2 Project.)
For a Charlotte FC team that kicked itself for missing a chance to host Atlanta United in the MLS playoffs last year, welcoming its rival to Bank of America Stadium for Saturday’s opener is a welcome sight.
Granted, it’s early in the schedule for a “derby” (British for local rival) matchup, kickoff was moved to 2:15 p.m. to accommodate a national FOX audience, and attendance is expected to fall short of the 60,000-plus who attended the first three home openers in club history, including a record 74,479 in 2022.
But now, star winger Wilfried Zaha is expected to make his Charlotte debut Saturday after missing the season-opener in Seattle. His return flight landed in Charlotte Thursday afternoon, after he spent nearly a week in the United Kingdom for the birth of his daughter, Zuri.
Not only will this be Zaha’s debut in a Charlotte FC uniform, it will be the first time winger Liel Abada and defender Tim Ream have played in a home opener for Charlotte. Both players were acquired last year after the season started.
“I know what the end of the season was like last year, and the playoffs,” Ream said. “I can imagine a home opener is going to be right up there, if not even better. … Obviously, it has extra meaning with who we’re playing against.”
Charlotte FC coach Dean Smith doesn’t sound quite so sold on the intensity of a rivalry with Atlanta just yet —“I keep saying these rivalries have to be organic; you can’t manufacture rivalries” — but he got a glimpse last June, when 2,000 fans traveled to Atlanta for Charlotte’s 3-2 win at Mercedes Benz Stadium.
Atlanta defeated Charlotte 1-0 in Bank of America Stadium in August in a game that felt more like “a typical home game,” Smith said. But they nearly met again in the playoffs in November, after Atlanta upset No. 1 seed Inter Miami in the best-of-three first-round series. Charlotte suffered a late penalty and lost a shootout to Orlando in their decisive third game of the first-round series or would have faced off against Atlanta in the Eastern Conference Semifinals at home.
These two franchises crossed paths during their offseason roster building, too. Atlanta signed Miguel Almirón on a $10 million transfer fee, after paying Charlotte $400,000 for his discovery rights. Charlotte had first dibs on signing him, which they attempted during last summer’s transfer window, but couldn’t agree to terms with his club Newcastle. While Almirón returned to an Atlanta club where he won an MLS Cup in 2018, Charlotte went in pursuit of Zaha.
The United was just getting started with the acquisition of Almirón. They also added striker Emmanuel Latte Lath from Middlesbrough for $22 million, which was the highest incoming transfer fee in MLS history.
“They spent $32 million on two players,” Smith said. “That’s a lot of money in this league, and they’ve got a quality squad anyway. So we have to be wary of them but not overthink what they’re about and think more about what we’re about. Because knowing my back players, as I do, they’ll relish that challenge of playing against these players.”
Apple TV announcer drops a ‘North Cackalacka’ goal call: the origin story
Through the fog of a game in Seattle winding down well past midnight Eastern, and the absurdity of Charlotte FC tying it with an own-goal in stoppage time, came Apple TV announcer Max Bretos’ words:
Charlotte FC tie it 2-2 and looks like they’re going to head back to North Cackalacka with a precious away point!
North Cackalacka?! Two questions immediately came to mind:
Did he just say what I think he said?
How did he know about that?
The phrase, which is slang, is technically “North Cackalacky,” but he was close enough. Growing up in Charlotte, I always took it as a term of endearment, something proud North Carolinians say to each other with a little hillbilly affection. But this was no T-shirt or trinket from a roadside country store. This was from a slick-sounding sportscaster in Seattle, dang, Washington.
An answer to question No. 1 came on Instagram from Zaha, who was at home in the U.K. for the birth of his daughter. The new star player, who was up at dawn watching the game, commended the come-from-behind result by reposting a graphic of the score and adding: “Big up north Kakalaka” with two laughing-until-crying emojis.
So, then, what about question No. 2? Max Bretos kindly indulged a call. He gave just the explanation you hope for:
I think with an MLS broadcast, it’s important to have those American sensibilities. Like when you tune into an English Premier League game where they’ll tell you this is important because you’re in the Midlands, or you’re in Lancashire, [it’s important] to have those American parts, too. It was nothing planned, just plugging into being American and your experiences to connect to those fans.
Nice to hear, isn’t it, especially now that Apple TV rotates announcers, not allowing much of a connection with any particular fanbase? When you get to know Bretos, you find out he does have connections to N.C. and the South. He grew up in Florida and went to Florida State. His brother is an environmentalist who lives in Durham. His brother and mother are building a cabin in Old Fort, near Asheville. He used to travel around the South with his FSU rugby team and developed an appreciation for NASCAR and professional wrestling.
What’s funny about how “North Cackalacka” came into his mind? Bretos said he remembered it from an early 1990s Hip Hop song called “Scenario” by A Tribe Called Quest. The lyrics go: “East Coast stompin’, ripping and rompin’, New York, North Cak-a-laka and Compton.”
“It’s a perfect example of just stuff sticking to the surface of my brain,” Bretos said, laughing.
He will be in Charlotte for the San Jose game March 22 and Toronto game July 26. Somebody take him some barbecue and a Bojangles sweet tea.
Here’s the video and audio:
Notable
Defender Jaylin Lindsey, whose option was not picked up by Charlotte FC this winter, has signed with New Mexico United of the USL Championship. The Charlotte native had been with Charlotte FC since its founding in 2022.
Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales will be “coronated” in the pre-game ceremony honoring local celebrities and community leaders before Saturday’s opener against Atlanta.
Charlotte FC coach Dean Smith and general manager Zoran Krneta will speak at a “Strategy Reveal” lunch for the World Affairs Council of Charlotte on Wednesday at the Hilton Charlotte Uptown, and both will meet 24 guests at a private dinner later that night. Register here.
Scott Fowler of the Charlotte Observer had a great nugget in a story he wrote this week about Charlotte FC goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina this week. He described how Kahlina first realized he had the skills to become a goalkeeper: “At age 8, in Croatia, his sick father was temporarily laid up in bed,” Fowler wrote. “To pass the time, he and his son played an indoor game with a Nerf-type ball — the father would try to throw the ball past Kristijan and through an open doorway.”
Up Next: Charlotte FC (0-0-1) vs Atlanta United (1-0-0)
When/Where: 2:15 p.m. Saturday, Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte
How to watch: FOX and MLS Season Pass on Apple TV. Find information about how to subscribe for the season here.
How to listen: MIX 107.9 FM.
Notable:
Atlanta United won its opener 3-2 against Montreal on the strength of two goals from new $22 million striker Emmanuel Latte Lath and a game-winner from Edwin Mosquera, which won MLS goal of the week. The attendance at Mercedes Benz was 65,520.
Ronny Deila was hired as Atlanta’s new head coach in December. The Norwegian returns to MLS where he won the 2021 MLS Cup with New York City FC.
The series is tied between these two teams at 3-3.
Dean Smith was not happy with data that showed Seattle outran Charlotte FC by five kilometers in last Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Lumen Field. Midfielder Brandt Bronico, one of the Charlotte’s strongest runners, might make a case to return to the starting lineup.
Midfielder Eryk Williamson missed Monday’s practice with an illness but is ready for selection on Saturday.
Carroll Walton is a longtime baseball writer with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution now in her fourth season covering Charlotte FC. She would love to hear from you. E-mail her with questions, suggestions, story ideas and comments!
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