“ EVERY DAY I COUNT MY BLESSINGS
THAT I GET TO BE PRESIDENT OF THE
COOPERS. IT’S BEEN EXTREMELY
FULFILLING FOR ME. … I’M VERY HAPPY
TO BE DOING WHAT I’M DOING, AND I’M
HAPPY THAT WHAT I’M DOING BRINGS
ENJOYMENT TO OTHERS.”
–Tom Farmer,
Louisville City Coopers President
just getting acquainted with creating the colorful
and exciting atmosphere that they have become
known for, but Farmer knew he immediately
wanted to be a part of the most vocal corner of
the Louisville City game days.
At first Farmer was just another face in the
crowd. Tthen starting by contributing to the
organization through different odd jobs within
the Coopers organization (like producing the
Supporters Group’s own weekly podcast, Barrel
Proof ), he came to meet people he would come
to know and consider his close friends. On one
fateful night last season Tom quickly went from
still relatively anonymous to famous (or perhaps
infamous) among the Coopers’ loyal.
It was April 27, 2016, the “Rain Game,” as it has
come to be known for the few Lou City faithful
who stuck out the whole contest.
It was a Wednesday night, and the crowd was
sparse for a mid-table opponent in the Pittsburgh
Riverhounds, and a foreboding forecast loomed.
There were several weather delays, taking over 90
minutes in total. The match probably shouldn’t
have gone ahead, and after the first stoppage
late in the first half, the field was in poor shape.
Most fans, Cooper leadership included, felt
the game would be suspended. As Farmer, Ken
Luther, then president of the Coopers, and an
“unnamed accomplice” went to stow some
Coopers game-day supplies in the designated
center-field shed, they noticed a ball had been left
on the field and the goal in front of the Coopers
section was sitting agape.
After what some might describe as an
“unfortunate” series of passes, Farmer, having
slipped and fell, got the ball to Luther in front
of the goal, who consequently poked it into the
waiting net. The security assigned to the game
took exception to this, and escorted the sitting
Coopers president (Luther) and Farmer off of
the premises. The pair of them also went on to
receive a letter from the club itself stating in no
uncertain terms that should either of them set foot
on the field again, they could be banned for life.
After an amicable meeting with then-Louisville
City president Amanda Duffy, the air was cleared,
but that didn’t stop Farmer from getting the
entire Louisville City FC squad to sign his “Yellow
Card,” as he referred to it, and hanging it proudly
in his home.
It was on that night that Tom Farmer became
“Tom Foolery,” a name bestowed upon him by
Ken Luther.
Tom Foolery himself described the events
that transpired that night as also having set into
motion his path to becoming president, but more
immediately, he became a member-at-large on
the Coopers board of directors for the second
half of 2016.
33