Justin Amatucci is Head of Video Production at CLUBELEVEN, one of our favourite football publications. That title pays Justin nowhere near enough credit, though. Not only is he largely responsible for CLUBELEVEN’s stunning visuals, he is also currently travelling North America in an old school bus documenting a side of American soccer culture not seen before, getting to the heart of a little-discussed fan community, on a soccer odyssey.
Hey Justin. How did CLUBELEVEN begin?
CLUBELEVEN began seven years ago when Gabe and Pablo Bayona–Sapag started documenting their local soccer scene in the Northeast. Since then, it’s grown into a community of storytellers exploring the evolving culture of soccer in America through print, photo, video, events, and most recently, our bus-turned-mobile soccer museum.
I think everyone has seen ‘The Bus’ on social media this year. How did it come to life?
The bus started as just a fun video concept - something to get people excited for the 2026 World Cup. But one thing led to another. Tobias, a jersey collector we had previously interviewed, reached out and helped us launch our first print magazine. A dream come true.
And looking back at the original video idea, reinvesting our entire marketing budget into our own bus felt like the only logical next step. What better way to share the magazine than by pulling up to tailgates and hanging out with fans?
Since March, we’ve been travelling across the country following the U.S. Open Cup - a tournament with over a hundred years of history, our version of the F.A. Cup - on what we call “The American Soccer Tour”. It’s been a beautiful way to connect with soccer communities off the beaten path: places like Asheville, Boone, and Louisville.
Asheville was your first stop, right?
Asheville was a special stop for me. When we arrived, the impact of the recent hurricane was still visible. A common theme in our conversations with fans was how the community had really come together, supporting one another in the months since.
There was a lot of anticipation leading up to the match. It would be the city’s first professional sporting event since the storm. The energy was incredible. Kids were running around on a hill next to the field, fans lined the sideline with their folding chairs, and the dorm rooms surrounding the field were packed with onlookers. It felt like the whole city showed up.
I caught up with one of the parents we’d interviewed on the bus. He told me, “For 90 minutes, everything just felt normal again.” It’s a story I share with everyone who comes on the bus - because what this fourth-tier team means to that city is exactly what we’re trying to capture and share with our audience.
Which places have surprised you in terms of their enthusiasm for the game?
Louisville has a very unique perspective. They aren’t in the MLS, but are one of the most dominant teams in the USL, our second tier. And the fans will let you know that. It’s very much a “everyone hates us, and we love it” kind of energy. They even have their own bus for away days, driving as far as El Paso, Texas. And speaking from experience, that’s a wild drive. It’s awesome to see the passion at every level of the game here.
What’s fan culture like in the States right now?
It’s a mix. Real Madrid can come here and sell out every summer. Yet there are many soccer-loving Americans who know nothing about their local club. We went to Naples, historically known as a retirement community. And at their third-ever game, it’s full of Argentinians who were going wild in an actual supporters section. It was completely unexpected but it just shows there is a grassroots culture developing. People are slowly more willing to turn off the TV and maybe go to a local game on a Saturday. And I think that’s how the game will grow. Through community and building brick by brick, not only through the big European teams visiting once a year.
In the U.K., certainly from a boardroom level, we view America as an opportunity to crack. Is that how it feels there?
We’re a little bit unsure. There are so many commercial and monetary opportunities, sure. But we feel it’s also important not to lose sight of the history of American soccer that’s gotten us to this point. I know many people are keen to downplay it as goofy or whatever, but I think that’s what makes it us. Yes, we don’t have the best league in the world, and we don’t have clubs that have been around for 100 years. But we have had clubs like the Dallas Burn (now FC Dallas) and the New York Cosmos, both with such unique histories that are important parts of the American soccer story as a whole. We should embrace who we are. Why not lean into what makes our culture unique instead of trying to be something we’re not?
Is MLS sleepwalking into a problem with Messi when he inevitably calls it a day? We’ve seen the league dip when the likes of Pele and Beckham left.
The NBA has a similar problem where it's looking for its next star. Obviously, they have LeBron James and like Steph Curry for years and years and now they're kind of coming to the end of their career, and they're looking around for who's next to carry the torch, and those people are hard to find. I don’t think there’s another player that’d draw the same attention as Messi. In the short term I see the positives, long-term I don't think this is sustainable and I don't think it's the best way for us to be building things. As we saw with players like Thiago Almada and Miguel Almiron, MLS can build big players from the ground up that can have a real impact on the biggest stages. I think that’s a better way of doing it, kind of like those tier-two European leagues.
Tell us the view on the ground ahead of the World Cup next year…
My biggest fear is that the World Cup comes and goes without any plan to capture that momentum to push the culture forward for the next decade. I think it’s all of our responsibility to use the exposure to spotlight the broader stories of soccer in America. Because if all the focus is on one month, what’s left when it’s over?
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