Fervency follows Ronaldinho to future home of Greenville Triumph

Anyone wondering why a South Carolina soccer club would make an international sports legend part of its ownership team had only to be there Wednesday to understand.

Greenville Triumph SC has been promising a stadium that will add vibrancy to the community.

If vibrancy means a thousand wildly enthusiastic, chanting, tambourine-wielding soccer fans wearing jerseys of every color and hoping for a glance of Ronaldo de Assis Moreira — Ronaldinho — then the Greenville Triumph already delivered.

Ground-breaking ceremonies are frequent and quiet in the Upstate, typically attended by a dozen or so, maybe more if the boss makes employees go. Wednesday’s groundbreaking for a pro soccer stadium at Bridgeway Station was … more.

Cell phones by the hundreds were held high to capture photos of the Brazilian footballer’s arrival, and when Ronaldinho departed, fans took turns sitting in the chair he occupied for 15 minutes of ceremony. Soccer balls and jerseys proffered by the hopeful were left unsigned but children, young women and old men seemed nevertheless grateful to have captured a glance.

Considering the international flavor of the bilingual event, the globe-spanning career of Ronaldinho and the multinational makeup of the Triumph club (also in attendance), it hardly matters that the ceremony was about a Greenville team in a part of Mauldin with a Simpsonville address. Multi-national, multi-community was the order of the day.

Caught up in the enthusiasm of the moment, Joe Erwin, chairman and owner of Greenville Triumph SC and Greenville Liberty SC, tossed aside his prepared speech and shot from the hip:  “We’re building out a dynamic organization and so what you’re going to see coming up out of the ground here following today’s groundbreaking is something that is similarly dynamic, something that will grow over time,” he said. “It’s a pivot from what we announced just months ago. But it will grow and grow and grow just as Triumph and Liberty have grown and it will become such an anchor in this community.”

Erwin said the stadium, as the first and permanent home to Greenville Triumph SC, will change Mauldin in a good way. The mayor agreed.

“It’s a game-changing moment for the city of Mauldin, for Greenville Pro Soccer and Bridgeway Station and the entire Upstate region because what we’re celebrating today is more than just a construction project,” Mayor Terry Merritt said to an audience whose Mauldin fans were nearly as boisterous as its soccer fans. “It’s the creation of a community asset where we will host sports matches, concerts, festivals and community events, one that will create lasting memories for residents and visitors from near and far, and put Mauldin on the map.”

The stadium is expected to be ready for play in 2026. A collaboration among Greenville Pro Soccer, the state of South Carolina, the city of Mauldin, and Hughes Investments, the stadium will serve as a hub for professional and youth sports while hosting field sports such as lacrosse, rugby and football. It also will be a venue for concerts, festivals and various community events, the developers said.

“When we set out to create Bridgeway we weren’t just planning a collection of buildings; we were designing a destination and that brings people together in a real way,” said Rivers Hughes of Hughes Investments, developer of Bridgeway Station. “This project isn’t about flashy designs or campaign slogans. It’s about making a space for our community to gather and share genuine experiences centered around sports and events that we all love.”

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“We’re not just building another stadium,” Hughes said. “We’re establishing a hub that will drive community pride for local growth. This facility is meant to be more than a spot just to watch soccer. It’s designed to be the core of the community and Bridgeway Station. It’s meant to be a place that reflects not just who we are in the Upstate, but where we’re going.”

Ronaldinho did not speak during the ceremony but said in a statement: “This stadium will be a place of dreams, where young boys and girls can come to watch their heroes and compete on the field. I am proud to be part of this project, and I promise to support this club and the community, helping to make those dreams a reality.”

The Greenville Triumph Soccer Club, with a home office on Main Street Greenville, is a men’s professional soccer club that is playing its seventh season in USL League One, the third division of American professional soccer. The club is a three-time finalist and the 2020 USL League One Champion. The Greenville Liberty, a women’s pre-professional team, played its inaugural season in the USL W League in 2022.

More information on the project and upcoming events, and information about season tickets and sponsorship opportunities, can be found at GreenvilleTriumph.com/newstadium and GreenvilleLiberty.com.