You may know him by his photographs. You may know him from such songs as “Harvey All the Time” and “Kyle Nakazawa.” You may know him simply because he’s a really nice guy.

Now you can know him as a Founding Member Best XI.

Philly Soccer Page photographer Earl Gardner was among those honored as part of the Founding Members Best XI halftime ceremony in last night’s match against LA.

“It’s surreal,” Earl said of the experience.

“To be in the company of people like Jeremy Sharpe, Matt Ansboro, Chrissy Sakers and Corey Furlan—they do a lot of hard work, their work speaks for itself—it was awesome.”

Earl found out he had been selected around 3pm Wednesday afternoon. “I got a phone call and I was like, ‘I’ll be there!’.”

Earl said he thought his wife had nominated him for the Best XI. But when he was at the Sons of Ben tailgate before the game, others said they had nominated him too.

Earl and his fellow selectees were given on-field access during the pregame warmups. “The Union people were super nice and cool.”

Earl said of the halftime ceremony, “I was so caught up in the moment I couldn’t hear the PA.”

After the game, each of the Best XI was able to pick a gift bag that included a just-worn game jersey from one of the Union players.

Earl described how by the time he got to section 133 to pick up his bag, only two were left. “The Union person said to pick either bag, it’s totally random.”

And which jersey was in the bag that Earl picked? Jordan Harvey’s, of course.

Like Earl said of the whole experience, “You just can’t beat it.”