Tigers & Son Heung-Min: LAFC supporters’ group welcomes an icon | OneFootball

By Charles Boehm

Nearly a month after his signing, Son Heung-Min is slated to finally make his LAFC home debut on Sunday evening as the Black & Gold welcome Western Conference leaders San Diego FC to a packed BMO Stadium (10:45 pm ET | MLS Season Pass, Apple TV+).

It will be a moment to savor for Daniel “Deech” Chung and his fellow original members of the Tigers Supporters Group – the culmination of a dream nearly a decade in the making.

But first, he’s got to handle some pressing logistical responsibilities.

“Specifically, I’m in charge of making a soju cocktail,” Chung explained to MLSsoccer.com with a grin on Wednesday. “I'm kind of still debating on the flavor; it could be strawberry or watermelon. But I'm super excited to be in charge of the adult beverage for the tailgate.

“So, if you're in the area, please stop by.”

First of its kind

Serving up a cosmopolitan twist on Korea’s favorite spirit epitomizes TSG’s roots in Koreatown, one of Los Angeles’ most diverse neighborhoods and home to the world’s largest community of Koreans outside Seoul. And that welcoming mentality has fueled the group’s steady growth since its founding in 2017, a few months before LAFC took the field for the first time.

There were just a handful of interested individuals at first; Deech and his fellow founders could have all fit into one vehicle.

“Yeah, it was like six,” he recalled.

Conceived as the first Korean supporters group in any North American major-league sport, TSG was a new idea among the kaleidoscope of the 3252, the union of various ultras clubs which would soon pack the North End of the expansion club’s home ground. Those member groups now number nine in all, many of them Latino in character, some dating all the way back to LAFC’s bygone predecessor, Chivas USA.

As Chung remembers it, 3252 leadership bent the rules to provide “the Korean cousins” with a place at their table.

“We were able to round up 15 people to be a part of that council,” he said. “We weren't even supposed to be there initially. They were like, ‘You’re supposed to be 50, not 15.’

“I don't know if there was a language barrier there or something,” he deadpanned. “But just the fact that they saw potential in us and allowed us to be in that circle, in the room with everyone else who has so much history and so much culture and experience in being a supporter, was something that I think we were very grateful for. And we learned so much from everybody.”

Planting a seed

They passed a huge milestone in the summer of 2018, when Son visited LA on a preseason tour with Tottenham Hotspur. The attacker received even more love than usual thanks to his role in South Korea’s 2-0 upset of Germany at that year’s World Cup, a result that enabled Mexico to advance out of the group stage despite their loss to Sweden, and earned Son ‘honorary Mexican’ status from the city’s many El Tri backers.

LAFC surprised TSG members with a ‘secret’ meet-and-greet with Son in Koreatown, a memorable occasion that perhaps “planted a seed,” in Chung’s words, for the superstar’s choice of Southern California for his next destination seven years later.

“You are as [much] a part of Los Angeles as any other person here,” declared TSG member Josh Lee at the time, “and we want to say you are always welcome here.”

Today TSG has 164 members, and its own cherished traditions of drumming, singing, signage, imagery and extensive community-service initiatives beyond gameday. Interest is skyrocketing in real time as Son’s arrival at LAFC fuels stratospheric growth in attention around all aspects of the club.

Thanks to LAFC’s chief brand officer Rich Orosco – an influential figure Deech hails as “the godfather of TSG” – several members were treated to a full-circle moment after Son’s first win, a 2-0 victory at New England in which he notched the game-clinching assist: A video chat with the man himself, live from the locker room at Gillette Stadium to their watch party back home.

“Nothing was given to TSG. Just like all our nine groups, every single group that's a part of our union had to work so hard to get in there and 10 times harder to stay in,” said Francisco Prieto, president of the 3252. “Seeing the excitement that they're going through right now, I'm like, man, this is amazing. I'm so happy for them … They're just such genuine, nice people in that group.

“Every group in our union brings a very specific supporter style that's a representation of Los Angeles supporter culture. And I'm just really happy to be able to call them not only my friends, but brothers and sisters.”

Celebratory debut

TSG and the 3252 plan to welcome Son to his new home with much more than just soju concoctions, though like most SGs, they go to some lengths to keep details around tifo or any other matchday displays under wraps.

“Knowing that it's his first home match, we want to make it a very celebratory, unforgettable day for him,” explained Prieto. “Obviously, get the win – that's always going to be the goal, is get the win, no matter what day of the week, who we play, what we're playing for. But also chant a little harder just to give Son that extra set of goosebumps and really make him realize – make him more proud of, ‘man, I'm playing for this amazing supporters union and this fan base of Los Angeles.’”

Son’s accomplishments and global profile are such that he draws devoted fans anywhere he goes. LAFC report that their social media interactions have doubled on some platforms, while traffic to their online content increased 594 percent and media coverage spiked 289 percent in the wake of his signing. The elevated atmosphere in his three away matches with the Black & Gold has stoked the hype that much further in the City of Angels.

“Son is just not an ordinary football player. He's an amazing human being,” noted Prieto. “The cameras, they show the faces of the people who are excited to see him play from across the country. And for us, it’s a really cool opportunity, because we get to see the impact that he's going to have in our city, and he hasn't even played a home match yet.

“We hope that a lot of these fans that come, a lot of these new supporters that are joining our union and our groups, they stay for the long haul.”

Son's moment

Naturally, Deech expects flocks of Sonny stans on Sunday, many of them experiencing an LAFC match for the first time. He'll have a hearty batch of his soju potion at the ready.

“I think especially this game, we're going to see an influx of Koreans,” he said. “They're going to spend whatever it is, three times the amount the tickets cost now, to be there to watch him in person, because you've seen them come out at away matches. That first match in Chicago, I don't think I've ever seen that many Koreans at all of the away matches combined.

“I have a feeling they're going to want to stop by TSG to kind of see who we are and meet us.”

Deech hopes some of them stick around and become ‘tiger cubs’ who can carry TSG forward – while emphasizing that the group’s fundamentally inclusive nature stretches beyond any one demographic or district.

“We started off as a Korean supporters group, which was amazing for us. But then, as Koreatown is, we're a melting pot,” Chung said. “We have so many different faces in our group, so many different cultures and so many different people from different backgrounds. So to have more Koreans be interested in this is amazing, and hopefully the Korean-American community feels the same way as we did when we first started it.

“Hopefully they ingrain in the culture. Hopefully they see what we're about, and they're passionate, just as passionate as we are.”

Son Heung-Min: Tottenham & South Korea LEGEND makes LAFC home