There are only a few rules in Scouse’s House.

Kids get to stand up front so they can get the best view of the pitch. Bring your voices and flags to support the team.

Most importantly of all, anybody and everybody is welcome.

“It doesn't matter about politics. It doesn't matter about where you’re from. It doesn’t matter what color you are. It doesn’t matter what religion you are,” Mike “Scouse” Bromilow told USLChampionship.com this week. “We’re there to support the team. From day one, anybody is welcome.”

Located in the west terrace of Lynn Family Stadium, Scouse’s House has become an institution for Louisville City FC. It’s main mission? To help newcomers to the game understand its nuances and offer a space where fans can see the passion of the club and its supporters while being enveloped in the noise created around the venue.

As much as the Louisville Coopers have carried the flag – literally – for LouCity’s supporters’ culture, Scouse’s House has been close behind. That atmosphere will be on display this Saturday when Louisville City FC hosts Indy Eleven at 4 p.m. ET on the CBS Television Network, a first in USL history.

Bromilow and friend Kenny Alward came up with the idea during the club’s inaugural 2015 season. The following year, in collaboration with the club, the group initially set up behind the opposite goal from the Coopers at former home Slugger Field. The location – intended to make sure that LouCity’s players were always shooting toward their own supporters – was underneath an overhang in right field, but the seeds of the group’s culture quickly grew. Flags of the nationalities of the players hung from the section, and the social element of the space made it a popular spot to watch a game with Scouse and his mates.

The opening of Lynn Family Stadium in 2020 saw that tradition continue, moving Scouse’s House into the Waterfront End, opposite of the Coopers, who bring the noise and the smoke in the safe-standing section at the Estopinal End of the 15,304-capacity venue. For Bromilow and Alward, the new location has given the group the best seat in the house and retained the sociability from the group’s early days.

“We wanted to be in a standing section, to kind of encourage it to be a party atmosphere,” said Alward. “People can roam around and move and talk to watch the game. But sometimes you’re just chatting with your friends that you haven't seen in three weeks, or whatever the case may be.

“My wife and I talk about some of our best friends that we have today coming from being at soccer and Scouse’s House.”

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As a native of Liverpool, England, it’s fair to say soccer is in Bromilow’s blood. A fervent supporter of Liverpool FC, he supported the team home and away when growing up.

“When I grew up, I went to Anfield, I stood on the Kop for years and years and years,” he said. “I’ve been to Goodison Park, I’ve been to St. James’ Park, I’ve been to Villa Park. I’ve been all over England watching my team play.

“I remember standing on the Kop and watching [current commentator] Gary Bailey and Manchester United as we beat them. … It’s memories like that [which last].”

“We know once we get them in the stadium, then they just feel the energy and the fire,” added Alward. “The kids being part of it, it really empowers them to be OK with not knowing everything.”

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The atmosphere in Scouse’s House has been built independently, but it has come with assistance from the club. Both Bromilow and Alward have praise for LouCity’s staff for the amenability with which they’ve addressed concerns and embraced ideas the group has brought forward, which has seen both sides grow exponentially.

“They never wavered,” said Bromilow. “Every time we have a suggestion or an issue, we will go to Louisville City leadership, and they welcome ideas with open arms. They want to make us happy to make us want to come back, and we have a really good relationship with the leadership at Louisville City and Racing Louisville. Their willingness to help us out in any way, shape, or form, it is a big plus for us.”

LouCity has averaged five-figure attendances in each of the past three seasons since Lynn Family Stadium’s opening during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. Alongside the club’s on-field success the gameday experience at one of the best soccer-specific venues in the country is a big reason why. 

“We went up there for the Eastern Conference Final,” said Alward, “and driving up there that day we probably either passed or got passed by 100 vehicles, all with City flags flying off the side of the cars and trucks. I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh,’ because you just don't know who's going to travel that day.”

With the game as accessible as it has ever been – both in local clubs and watching games domestically and overseas – it’s changed the game for fans. Alward recalls recently seeing a young fan around town wearing an Erling Haaland customized Manchester City jersey, while there are different bars around the city that now cater to different segments of local fans ready to turn out each weekend to watch their Premier League clubs.

That’s reflected in the makeup of Scouse’s House, which draws fans from a wide variety of different soccer cultures.

“We have people from all over the world,” said Bromilow. “We have people from South America, people from Africa, we’ve got people from New Zealand, we’ve got [Australians], people from Europe. We all support our teams – whether it's Liverpool, or Man United, or Barcelona – and it doesn’t matter which team you support. One of the cultures that we try and instill in everybody, it doesn't matter which team you support, but you support them whether they win, lose or draw.”

Pulling all those elements together behind Louisville City FC and Racing Louisville FC, Scouse’s House is adding to that and in the process creating fans for life.

“We’ve all been there one time, going to our first game, and we want people to not be afraid to ask questions,” added Bromilow. “We know we can pass on what we have learned from what most of us have experienced. We have guys who are lifelong Manchester United fans. They’ve been to Old Trafford, and they know what the atmosphere is like.

“To just bring a little bit of that energy into Lynn Family Stadium and Scouse’s House, it keeps people coming back.”