The steady rain began around 4:40 p.m., about an hour and a half before kickoff. If anyone at Fitzpatrick Stadium was particularly put off by it, they kept it to themselves. Rain was not going to spoil a party so many years in the making.

“It’s gotten to the point now that if it’s not raining, we’re not playing,” said Donald Thibodeau of Raymond, the co-chair of Dirigo United, the official supporters group of the Hearts of Pine. “This is a celebration.”

Fitzpatrick Stadium seats 5,500, and each of those seats was sold for Sunday’s game.

I think this is going to work.

The Hearts of Pine are Portland’s fourth professional sports team, joining The Sea Dogs, the Double-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, the Maine Celtics, the Boston Celtics’ G League team, and the Maine Mariners, the ECHL affiliate of the Boston Bruins. Last fall, the Sports Business Journal ranked Portland the top minor league sports market in the country. The Hearts of Pine only strengthen the city’s case.

Sunday night, the Portland Hearts of Pine played their first game at their permanent home, taking on Knoxville SC in a USL League One match. The teams played to a 1-1 draw. Ninety minutes before kickoff, a steady flow of fans entered the new and improved Fitzpatrick Stadium.

This was the first of 17 Hearts of Pine matches scheduled for Fitzpatrick Stadium until Oct. 25, when they’ll host AV Alta FC in the regular season finale. That’s 16 more chances for 5,500 fans to pack into the stadium and cheer on the team they’ve waited years to see play. It’s doubtful every game will be a sellout like Sunday’s opener, but it will be close. By the end of March, more than 90% of the tickets for the season had been sold.

If you hadn’t been to Fitzpatrick Stadium in a while, the playing field features a new artificial turf. Seats at midfield on either side of the stadium now have backs. Tucked between the world going by on Interstate 295 and the north side of the pitch is a beer garden. Behind the north goal, the $3 Dollar Dewey’s suites, essentially luxury boxes in pop-up tent form. Behind the south goal, a play area for children. Folding chairs lined the advertising signs along the field, filling the role of field level seating.

When a Knoxville player had the misfortune of crashing into those boards directly in front of Gov. Janet Mills, she chirped him, as any good fan should. What she said will stay between the governor and the player.

“I can’t give away my secrets,” Mills said when asked, adding he could get a chance to hear it again if he roamed into her vicinity.

Over in the right corner of the stands next to the beer garden, Dirigo Union raised a beautiful, loud, ruckus even bigger than the governor’s.

“Constant energy,” said Winthrop’s Mitchell Ketchen, the co-chair of the group along with Thibodeau. “You know, a lot of us are blue collar. We take out (the frustrations) of the work week here and bring the passion.”

Dirigo Union existed before the soccer team even had its name. According to Ketchen, as of Sunday afternoon, Dirigo Union had 465 dues-paying members. The group is a nonprofit, so the $25 membership fee for the season is reinvested into the club, paying for things like flags the members wave and drums the members play from kickoff to the end of the match. Dues also pay for the smoke bomb that Dirigo Union set off when Portland’s Masashi Wada scored late in the first half to knot the game at 1.

The Hearts of Pine played three US Open Cup games at Lewiston High School, drawing thousands of fans for each match. There is a soccer culture in Maine that is relatively new. It tagged along with many of our newest Mainers, immigrants who moved to the state over the last two decades. It has taken root, and it’s growing. The team signed Lewiston’s Khalid Hersi, the son of Somalian refugees, in January, making him the first Mainer on the roster.

A few dozen fans even stood on the Deering Avenue sidewalk, leaning against the guard rails and watching the game from just outside the stadium.

As a coach, Mike Hagerty won 14 state titles, one with the Deering High girls and 13 with the Yarmouth boys, before retiring after the 2023 season. Before that, he played at Deering in the mid-1980s, when soccer was held in much less regard in the city.

“We couldn’t use our game field for practice because the band was using it,” Hagerty said, a Hearts of Pine flag in his hand. “Nothing against the band, but we only got on our field seven times a season. Soccer was a second class citizen. That’s why I’m so excited to see this… I never wanted other sports to get less attention. I just wanted soccer to get more.”

Hagerty had one eye on the field, and one eye up the hill toward Maine Medical Center. His daughter had started contractions and was set to soon deliver his first grandchild.

“I may be leaving to run up the hill to MMC at any moment, but I wanted to see the game,” Hagerty said. “So hopefully she can hold off for a few hours.”

As Ketchen looked at the Dirigo Union members, many who had been at the Zoo (their Portland soccer bar of choice) since 9 a.m., building anticipation for the game, a member ran up and gave him a bear hug.

“We made it, dude! We made it!” he said, hugging Ketchen again.