Honor Thy History is a recurring series throughout the 2024 MLS regular season on OrlandoCitySC.com, highlighting some of the names and faces that have helped build Orlando City's history, from USL Pro to present day.
The man. The myth. The Orlando City legend: Miguel Gallardo.
A lot has changed throughout Orlando City's 13-year existence. The team has changed leagues, they've gotten their own stadium, and players and coaches have come and gone. One of the few constants since the very beginning, though, has been the team's first-ever goalkeeper and the first one to ever wear the captain's armband for the Lions.
Most people these days know Gallardo from his appearances on Apple TV or on the Orlando Soccer Insider, but over a decade ago, he was suiting up for the Lions in USL Pro. And his connection to Orlando began before the team even existed.
Back in 2010, the goalkeeper was the starter for the Austin Aztex out in Texas, just outside of where he grew up. The Aztex were playing in USSF Division Two that season and were having a standout year in the standings.
"It was a really, really cool league," Gallardo told OrlandoCitySC.com. "We were playing against the Vancouver Whitecaps, Montreal Impact — teams now in Major League Soccer."
It was a successful season for the Aztex on the field, but off it, the team couldn't find a foothold in the Austin market. With that 2010 season ending with a loss in the playoffs, the news came down the chain that the team would be leaving Texas and moving halfway across the country to Orlando, Florida.
"We didn’t know who they were going to take. We didn’t know who they were going to invite," Gallardo said. "But Kay (Rawlins) and Adrian (Heath) sold us on this idea that they were going to take the team to Orlando, and the goal was to not just compete, but to eventually become a Major League Soccer franchise."
While the opportunity was unique for Miguel to continue his soccer dream, the risk was also high.
"It was a big decision for me because in Austin I had a business and my family there," he said. "It was not an easy decision for me, but soccer was always attracted to me, and I felt like I could do better than the way I did in the academy when I was starting out playing in Mexico. Eight of the guys were going to be moving with the team, so I felt like there was a little family there, so after a lot of thought, I decided to come, and it was really special right from the get-go."
Orlando City SC was officially unveiled on Oct. 25, 2010, with 2011 being set as their first official season in USL Pro. While there were a lot of questions surrounding how successful the team would be, the first-ever preseason game in February of 2011 against the Philadelphia Union opened some eyes on the team's potential.
"I remember it was our first game at the Citrus Bowl, and it was a good crowd. The supporters' groups were already there," Gallardo said.
Playing against Faryd Mondragón, the Colombian goalkeeper that Gallardo looked up to growing up, the Lions won the game 1-0 thanks to a Lewis Neal free kick.
"I think it was a sign of what was to come," he said. "The experience, in general, was pretty euphoric, honestly. Just really cool."
The year just kept getting better for Gallardo and the Lions. They continued that success they started their inaugural season, winning games and sitting atop the USL Pro table as they went into the summer months. Orlando had scheduled a few games against teams from England, playing English Premier League sides Bolton Wanderers and Newcastle United. For a brand new team in their inaugural season, it was almost unheard of for a second-division team to host an EPL side, let alone compete against them. But not only did they compete, they won against The Magpies.
It was one of the highest-attended games of the season to that point, with a lot of fans seeing the Lions for the very first time. One of those people just happened to be Gallardo's sister, who had never seen him play as a professional.
"My sister happened to be in town that summer, and she had never seen me play as a pro. She lived in Mexico. I lived in Texas. She never really got a chance to see me. My whole family was at the stadium, and it was like 10,000 people at the Citrus Bowl," Gallardo said. "I walked out as a captain with (Fabricio) Coloccini, who was part of the Argentinian national team. And I mean, it was surreal.
"There was a corner kick that I came out for, and I jumped probably higher than I ever jumped in my life, and I took that thing and felt so good, so confident because I did it over all these Premier League guys who were massive. That save gave me a lot of confidence for the rest of the game."
To top it all off, Orlando City won the game 1-0 thanks to a late goal from Kevin Molino, making the experience even sweeter.
"After the game, my sister came up to me, telling me 'Wow, Miguelito, I didn't know you knew how to play!'"
The special year continued for Orlando City as the Lions blitzed through the playoffs en route to the USL Pro Championship, which they were able to host. The game itself, however, was bittersweet for Gallardo, who was shown a red card early in the second half. The team ended up winning the game in penalties after Sean Kelley, who had come in goal for Gallardo, made two stops in the shootout.
"I'm so grateful for Sean," Gallardo said, "because the dude didn't get but a couple of games during the season, and he comes in just being big-time and making a couple of penalty kick saves. I mean, the dude's like 6-foot-4, so he used that to his advantage, and it was great, man."
The dramatic shootout was a perfect way to cap off an incredible inaugural season for the Lions, capturing the hearts of the City and making those MLS aspirations a little bit more tangible than originally thought.
One of the most iconic photos from that 2011 championship game is one of Gallardo standing front and center, lifting the trophy with a white shirt on. It was a shirt that he wore under his goalkeeper kit throughout the season, dedicated to his late mother, who passed away in 2002.
"That's one of my favorite pictures, me raising the trophy with my mom’s picture and me screaming at the top of my lungs, because it just meant so much to me."
From that point on, Gallardo would cement himself as a Lions legend, playing in 96 games and allowing only 93 goals over his four seasons with the club. With USL and MLS stats combined, he has still captained the club the second most times in team history (80) and has the second most wins (62) and clean sheets (37), not to mention his USL Pro Goalkeeper of the Year honor as well as being named First Team All-League multiple times. He also won three regular-season trophies and two USL Pro Championships in his tenure, while becoming an advocate for the Lions within the Hispanic community and also working with the Children’s Home Society of Florida, which helped push for reform of child abuse in families throughout the state.
In 2014, the year the Lions finished out their final year in USL, Gallardo was hopeful he would be with the team that jumped to MLS, but ultimately, he wasn't picked.
"I was never upset" he said. "I was just grateful for the time that I spent here as a player, but I will admit it was bittersweet for me."
After leaving Orlando City as a player, he would play two more seasons with the Jacksonville Armada before retiring from playing in 2017. That year, as Orlando City entered their third MLS season and were getting ready to open their brand new soccer stadium, the Lions were in need of a new broadcaster for their TV productions. In stepped the Lions' Director of Broadcasting at the time, Marcos Peres, who gave Gallardo a call and offered him an opportunity to rejoin the team to be an on-camera personality for the team and city that meant so much to him.
"I owe him a ton," Gallardo said of Peres. "He saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself. He had reached out to me and said, 'I noticed that you haven't posted anything about about going to play somewhere else. Where are you going to play?' I told him I haven't said anything publicly, but I was gonna retire. I'm having a baby, and I want to be there for my baby and my wife, and I can't travel with them, because I have a full family, so my wife couldn't travel with me. He told me that when he had interviewed me when I was a player, he used to always think that I could do a good job on TV. He told me he had this sideline analyst role and asked if I'd like to come in and talk about it. I had never really ever thought about being on TV, but I decided to give it a shot."
His first live hit came on March 18, 2017, on the second game of the season after opening Orlando City Stadium (now Inter&Co Stadium). It was serendipitous in a way, getting his broadcasting debut in a building that he played a massive role in getting built. Gallardo got on camera during pre-game, talking about Orlando City captain Kaká coming back from injury.
"I was so freaking scared and nervous," he said. "I was talking about Kaká while Kaká and the boys were warming up behind me. It was unreal."
After a few weeks of sitting on the sidelines and translating postgame interviews with Spanish-speaking players, Peres called up Gallardo again, elevating him to the pre-game show on TV27. It was only a matter before his personality was able to shine through, impressing fans and those in the front office. As 2018 rolled around, he joined the broadcast booth alongside Paul Shaw and Jeff Radcliffe to give analysis during the games. In 2019, he became the permanent voice of Orlando City broadcasts, pairing up with Evan Weston, who took over the TV role after spending the two seasons before as the radio voice. The partnership between Gallardo and Weston became a fan-favorite, with viewers engaging with the natural camaraderie the two had on air.
"To this day, I think this is not a real job," he said. "It's too much fun. When I was playing soccer, I didn't know that I wanted to be a pro player. I just knew I wanted to be the best I could be. It's the same attitude that I took towards broadcasting. I knew that I knew nothing about broadcasting, but I wanted to work hard and to be the best that I could be."
Since 2023, Gallardo has been elevated to MLS broadcasts on Apple TV, where he has done commentary in both English and Spanish, as well as being a part of the studio shows in both languages. He's been involved in the MLS All-Star broadcasts, the MLS Cup Final, and almost everything in between.
With how busy of a schedule that he's had over the past few years, it's sometimes hard for Gallardo to have a grasp on just how much he's accomplished in such a short amount of time. To go from retiring from soccer in 2017 to being on the call for MLS games featuring the best of MLS, is a tremendous feat. It's something that he doesn't take for granted and tries to keep reminding himself.
"Sometimes you just gotta slow down and recognize what’s happening around you," Gallardo said. "I remember one of my buddies called me out of the blue before one of my games, and then he told me, 'don't forget to smell the roses.' I had never heard that before, but he just told me don't forget to stop and enjoy what you're doing, because what you're doing is really cool and really special. That just was a little reminder that sometimes you just got to be grateful, enjoy what you're doing and do the best that you can."
At the end of the day, Miggy continues to be a massive part of the Orlando community, and despite weekly flights up to New York, still calls The City Beautiful his home. He's continuing to raise his family here, coach soccer here with South Orlando Soccer Club, and be a part of the various activities that he can find the time to do. Even as busy as he is, he's still just as humble as the day he set out to become a professional soccer player all those years ago.
"It's honestly so surreal, and I'm very grateful for everything. I owe all of what I've been able to do to Marcos and Orlando City for giving me the opportunity to start my career in broadcasting. I still work with Orlando City when it comes to doing the Orlando City Insider, the show that I really enjoy because it keeps me connected to the club that I love.
"I must have been Mother Teresa in another life, you know," he said, "because this life I'm living, it's just too good."
