Organically formed and independent are defining characteristics for supporters groups for a multitude of reasons. Soccer itself has some of the most passionate and diehard fans of any sport on earth. You see this personified by the independent groups of MLS. Timbers Army, The Cauldron, Sons of Ben, Dark Clouds, the 3252 – all examples of supporters that are vastly different in their organizational models, their origins, and their interactions with supporters and teams – yet all have an organic development to them and remain independent from their respective teams. They grow out of a need and desire for fans to join together in common cause, to cheer their teams using the means allowed to them by the league and their front office – flags, smoke, chanting, tifos, etc.