On the eve of Sporting Kansas City’s highly anticipated and long-awaited home opener against Orlando City SC on Friday night, forward Khiry Shelton joined 610 Sports Radio host Carrington Harrison to discuss Sporting’s upcoming opportunity to play in front of its largest crowd since the start of 2020.
A sold-out, reduced-capacity crowd of approximately 6,500 supporters will be in attendance Friday as Sporting looks to improve to 2-0-0 after beating the New York Red Bulls on the road last weekend.
Shelton, who boasts a remarkable 25-8-8 regular season record as a starter for Sporting, said the entire team is relishing the chance to compete in front of the Children’s Mercy Park faithful once more.
“I miss being in the stadium in front of our crowd—the best fans in MLS,” Shelton said. “We feed off the fans. Our club is the fans and we love them tremendously. Last year was a bit different with less of them, but it’s all about adapting. We’re more than thrilled to get all of them back into the stadium this year.”
Shelton also shared his thoughts on the landmark trial in Minnesota earlier this week and the support he has received over the last several months from Manager Peter Vermes and the Sporting technical staff. A member of Major League Soccer’s Black Players for Change coaltion, the 27-year-old forward has played a leading role in Sporting’s unequivocal condemnation of violence, discrimination and hate.
“It’s been emotional but I’m very appreciative of their support and their understanding of everything that’s been going on in the world,” Shelton said. “I have so much love for the organization as a whole. It means the world.”
He continued: “We have (daily) conversations. Every day we’ll touch on certain areas as a team and just chat about it. We keep the conversations going and try to get everyone to see eye to eye with what’s been going on.”
Shelton and Sporting will meet Orlando at 6:30 p.m. CT with live coverage on FS1, FOX Deportes, the FOX Sports app, Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM.
