It's been a long, arduous road, but in the club's sixth season, Forward Madison FC has its first chance to lift silverware.

And while the game might be being staged more than 900 miles away in Windsor, Colo. as the Flamingos face Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC in the inaugural USL Jägermeister Cup Final this Saturday, for a certain set of fans, they wouldn't miss it for the world.

"You know, this is our chance at a title," said longtime Madison supporter Mitch Meerman. "This doesn't come along every day, and it's such a huge opportunity for us as fans and for the club to be able to witness this and compete for it."

Since the club's inception as one of USL League One's founding members, FMFC has developed a devout following. The Flamingos have sat in the top two in average attendance five times during the past six seasons, with the only omission being during the shortened 2020 campaign.

"I came from more of a baseball, hockey, football [background] - those were the sports I watched growing up," he said. "The reason that I ended up with Forward Madison FC was twofold. First, I like supporting local sports, so when there was news that, 'Hey, there's a professional soccer team coming to town. It's the first professional team and currently, the only professional team in Madison,' [...] that was a very cool thing to me. The other reason was that this team was put together by Big Top Entertainment, which is the same group that runs the Madison Mallards, which I already had a season ticket pack for in 2018.

"I liked what they did there, and I figured, 'You know what. If what they do at the soccer games is going to be to the level of what I see with the baseball stuff, then that it's going to be a good investment for me.' So, a couple of weeks before the season started, I just jumped in and I was like 'I'm getting a season ticket.'

"I'd never been to a professional soccer game before our home opener in 2019, and it is kind of crazy how it just kind of snowballed. I think that not even a month after my first game, maybe even just a couple of weeks, was my first road game, which was our U.S. Open Cup match against Milwaukee Bavarians."

It's the culture Madison has built that has made the club recognizable throughout the American soccer landscape. With the ease the fans, players and staff have had in building and maintaining community, it makes Saturday's USL Jägermeister Cup Final all the more meaningful.

"It just means more," said Ely-Ledesma. "I [am] not as close with a lot of the players, a lot of the club, but still there have been times I've seen them around town. It's just like 'Oh, hey, you know, go get them on Saturday,' so it just means a lot more being like 'This is my home, this is where I've lived my entire life.' Then, you know, there are teams that I followed for a decade or more, but it just hits different."

"I think this level of soccer and this division of soccer makes it a little bit different to where you get to know the players a little bit closer," added fellow Flamingos supporter Grant Pieters. "You know, you get a little bit, so that makes it a little bit more personal, where it's more of your friends out there trying to do something rather than, you know, just some guy wearing a jersey.

"I think our fanbase is super-involved, so that's great for us. They know the league and know the teams. They're not afraid to jump on a plane and come out and watch the team, so that's cool. I think our fanbase is tremendous. In terms of the league, that's what you want to see, and what we want to be doing at this level is growing the fanbase."

With Meerman, Pieters, and Ely-Ledesma set to be among a group of 30-plus Flamingos fans that make the trip to 4Rivers Construction Stadium for the Final, all that's left now is for the team to bring home the trophy.

"You know, this is an opportunity for Madison to show on the big stage what we can bring to the table and it's a fantastic opportunity for us," said Meerman. "This sort of stuff means everything. This is my 112th total FMFC match, and you don't get to that number without dedicating a lot of time, money and effort to all of the stuff that goes into supporting a club like that. It means so much to us, you know, to all of us on the call. The fact that we're even here on this call, it should be enough to say how much it means to us, but you know, there are dozens, hundreds, of Forward Madison FC fans, thousands like this.

"This is our moment and it's time for us to take it."