Soccer is unique in the way the sport's fans support their favorite clubs. Around the world and even here in the U.S., the most ardent fans of clubs are often part of supporter groups, the fans who stand at one end of the pitch beating drums and chanting, often for all 90 minutes of a match.
So when those faithful fans go silent, a statement is being made.
That is what happened on Wednesday night, Aug. 19, at Phoenix Rising FC's match against Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC.
Members of Los Bandidos, the largest of the Rising's long-established supporter groups, went silent for an entire half as a message of dissatisfaction with club leadership.
They displayed a sign that read "Dulle out McCarthy out," in reference to Rising FC sporting director
Brandon McCarthy and longtime president and general manager Bobby Dulle. And they issued a statement about an incident that took place at a previous home game, along with a message about the state of the club.
Los Bandidos took aim at the team's front office and what they called the inaction of ownership. They expressed dissatisfaction with the atmosphere at the team's stadium on 38th Street and Washington in Phoenix, and said that "everything is falling apart."
Statement from Los Bandidos: pic.twitter.com/5PFxeLxqM8
— Los Bandidos (@BandidosPHX) August 20, 2026
Fans through various social media platforms expressed their displeasure recently about the direction of the club, which is fewer than three years removed from winning the USL championship. Rising FC made the league playoffs in each of the past two seasons, but average attendance fell below 5,000 fans per game in 2025.
Attendance had been above 6,000 per game in every year since 2017, when the club rebranded as Phoenix Rising FC and built the first of several temporary stadiums around Phoenix.
Tim Riester, co-owner and alternate governor for the club, spoke to The Arizona Republic on Thursday, Aug. 20.
Riester said he is grateful for the fan support and heard Los Bandidos "loud and clear" when they decided not to make noise, but that fans may not know everything going on behind the scenes with the club. Rising FC was 6-7-7 entering Saturday, Aug. 22, and three points out of the eighth and final Western Conference playoff spot with two months of games left in the regular season.
"Respect they have the right to do that," Riester said. "The hard thing is, when you're owning a professional sports franchise, sometimes there are things that we are doing that we just can't talk about yet, and it may be because we're under an NDA (non-disclosure agreement) or because we can't share something until it's done. Similar to with player movements."
Riester said ownership has been working "extremely hard" on the future of the club.
"I've never felt better about the future of Phoenix Rising than I do today, because of everything that I know is happening," he said. "But I just can't tell the fans all that detail yet."
He thanked the fans for continuing to come out to matches and show support every week despite the heat and conditions.
The Republic reached out to Los Bandidos for further comment but did not receive a response. Dulle and McCarthy were not made available for comment.
The work being done includes trying to get the team into a more permanent stadium. The east Phoenix site offers no relief from summer heat, nor air-conditioned permanent restroom facilities, a well-paved main parking lot and other shortcomings.
Riester said the club has three more seasons at that location.
"We're actually making a lot of momentum toward it," he said.
Riester expressed support for Dulle and McCarthy and asked fans to remember that the club has made the playoffs eight times in nine seasons as Phoenix Rising FC, with three championship final appearances and one league title. Dulle has been in the club's front office since 2016, and McCarthy, who works on a volunteer basis and has an ownership stake in the club, joined the front office in 2023.
Riester said he feels strongly that a Rising FC player would never kick a ball intentionally at fans, as Los Bandidos claimed in its statement.
"I don't think that would happen. If it did, the player would never play for us again," he said. "I will take them on the day they are most angry with us, over any other fans in the country, anytime."
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Rising FC fans make strong statement, co-owner responds | Exclusive
