Oddities | Rita Raccoon reports

Richmond’s Soccer Club Put ‘Dumpster Juice’ on the Matchday Menu

The Richmond Kickers gave Saturday’s home match an opossum-themed welcome, complete with a trucker hat, a pint-printing station and two menu items that sound like they came with their own scouting report.

Richmond’s Virginia opossum got the full matchday treatment on Oct. 17, when the Richmond Kickers paired their home game against Corpus Christi FC with a celebration called National Opossum Day. The club’s schedule gave the marsupial a spot in the promotions lineup alongside a very specific concession menu.

Fans could pick up an opossum-patch trucker hat at the City Stadium team store. At the Guinness malt-based printer, they could have a favorite Kickers’ opossum patch printed on a pint. The menu from Funnel Cake Recess featured “The Trash Can Special” and “Dumpster Juice,” names that sound as if someone let the neighborhood wildlife write the chalkboard.

The club’s promotion fits Richmond’s long-running affection for the Virginia opossum. In June, the Kickers unveiled an “RVA Wildlife” kit inspired by the animal, with a design that includes four opossum jocktag options. Saturday’s menu brought that local mascot energy from the jersey rack to the concourse.

Rita Raccoon’s notebook has one practical takeaway for future mascots: a clever name can make a menu item the most-discussed substitute on the bench.

Sources: Richmond Kickers’ National Opossum Day match announcement; club schedule and matchday promotion details; Richmond Kickers’ RVA Wildlife kit announcement.