Vice City Evertonians

Jordan Sanchez, USA

Jordan Sanchez is the Founder of Vice City Evertonians in Miami, Florida, USA. He’s been supporting Everton since 2014.

I knew I had to start following soccer (or fùtbol as we say in Miami) after the 2014 World Cup. During that summer a love for soccer was sparked in a lot of us as Tim Howard broke the World Cup saves record.

Lots of my friends suggested clubs to follow, especially those with American ties, including Everton (with Tim Howard), Fulham (with Clint Dempsey), and Liverpool, Manchester United, and Tottenham (because of American ownership).

Clubs from other leagues such as Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and AC Milan were already huge in Miami. I narrowed my search to Premier League clubs, as I knew I could catch most games, and I’ve always liked clubs with history.

I kept a close eye on the 2014-2015 Premier League season and started off following Liverpool! I watched YouTube videos to learn their history and noticed they had quite the rivalry with another club in the same city. They wore blue instead of red.

I learned all about the Merseyside Derby and how it was the most famous rivalry in the entire sport. I learned all about the big moments, the big names, and mostly how Liverpool dominated the matchup in recent memory. Either way, I couldn’t wait to watch my first Merseyside Derby.

What a Derby it was! In the 91st minute, Everton captain Phil Jagielka rockets the equalizer at Anfield. I have never seen a group of away fans go so insane! I started digging for Everton videos on YouTube and I was hooked.

Fast forward a year to the beginning of the 2015-2016 Premier League season. My wife (then girlfriend) and I plan an amazing trip to Paris and then Amsterdam in October 2015.

While in Paris, I decided to buy a plane ticket to Liverpool from Amsterdam to go watch an Everton match. I told my wife, and she reminded me that we had tickets to see a big DJ with some friends the night before the match.

After a late night, we caught a 4am flight from Amsterdam to Liverpool. Upon arriving in Liverpool, we decided to take a quick nap in our hotel. Except when we woke up, we got some terrible news. Howard Kendall, an Everton legend, had passed away. I had no idea how big that was.

We decided to take part in the pre-game festivities, except there was this really pronounced lull in the crowd. It almost felt like a funeral, but with thousands of people.

I had never experienced anything like it. The intensity of a match day was still there, but the energy was different. It was sombre. It felt that everyone was there to pay respects to a lost loved one, like a family.

That was the day I truly fell in love with Everton. Everton touched me deep inside that day, and like Alan Ball said: “Once Everton touches you, you will never be the same again”.

The Vice City Evertonians are based in the city of Miami, but we have members from Miami-Dade County, Broward County, and Palm Beach County.

Because we officially started at the end of 2019, we did not really find a set home before the pandemic came. However, when we could meet up, it would tend to be at The Auld Dubliner in Downtown Miami. We’ve hosted many scousers who have passed through Miami. It is always good to have some direct insight from the heart of the club.

As we are relatively new and almost immediately had to deal with Covid, currently we have about 20 members. Most are active on social media, which is our primary way of communicating with supporters (and we somehow have 2,000 followers on Twitter).

Our members are from all different backgrounds. We have members who have moved to south Florida from states like New York and Ohio, and we have members who are born in Spain, Argentina, and Colombia.

Miami is a very multicultural city, so we often link up with fans who are from Mexico, Brazil, Costa Rica, and Puerto Rico.

As for me, I am of Cuban descent. My wife, who is also an Evertonian because of me, is from Central America. I have also converted my closest cousin to become an Evertonian.

At the start of this season, Everton came to play in Florida as part of the Florida Cup. It really was a dream come true. While it’s nothing like Goodison Park, it is still very rare for us to see the lads. Watching them in person was a real treat.

I tried to show the excitement of the North American Evertonians. It was our first time meeting up in person and it was like we had known each other for so long. I wanted to demonstrate the camaraderie and passion we have for the club, even though we are thousands of miles away.

And now I have a core memory of me meeting Tim Howard, one of my all-time favorite sports heroes.

I guess I was born an Evertonian, I just did not realise it until 17 October 2015, five days before my 28th birthday.