Welcome to the newly upgraded Philly Soccer Page. As you can see, we’ve changed and added some things, revamping this as somewhat of a magazine-blog hybrid with an increased sense of community for our readers. The last four months proved to be a pretty good soft launch, and we’ve been fortunate to draw some great readers. So, we’re offering a bit more.

We plan to increase our focus on the local soccer scene now that the snow has finally melted and the domestic soccer season is starting up again.

Likewise, we’re looking for more contributors to help us do that – and not just writers, but also photographers and videographers looking for a place to showcase their work. If you’re interested, click here for details.

We’ve added a host of new features, beginning with our layout, obviously. Here’s the rundown.

NEW FEATURES

Organization of posts – How to read the PSP

Our top four featured headlines run through in an automated sideshow that you can pause by clicking on any of their thumbnail images. Below, you’ll find the most recent story in one of four general categories: Philadelphia Union, Philadelphia Independence, U.S. national teams, and local soccer (which includes the local USL teams and major local amateur leagues). Just below that, all posts are listed in chronological order, with the most recent post posted highest, regardless of topic.

Forums

We’ve added forums to increase the sense of community. If you’d like another added, just ask us. They’re an open playground for our readers, as long as everyone maintains some decorum.

Images, posters and downloads

Designer Fredo Silva will be offering soccer-related images for free download and potentially posters for purchase on our Media page.

Local soccer links

We’ve moved our local soccer links to their own pages, linked at the top bar. Notably, you’ll find a new youth soccer page to help parents find leagues for their children.

Scoreboards

We’ve added links to scoreboards of major leagues so you can use this as a central portal from which to click to soccer scores. The main scoreboard page simply includes a running ticker of scores around the world, but the individual leagues’ links will take you to those scoreboards.

Photo sharing

On the sidebar, you’ll find links to a Flickr photo stream. That will eventually be an open group for all our readers to share their photos through. (I say eventually because it’s one of several tweaks still to come.)

Video highlights

We’ll regularly link to video highlights on our sidebar, most often of the Union but also of other Philadelphia soccer events.

Calendar of upcoming events

We’ve added a feature listing upcoming local soccer events. If you have an event you want listed there, let us know. We’ll add it.

Social networking – Facebook/Twitter

Our posts will once again go to Facebook. Simply click on the Facebook button to the right and join our Facebook group, and our posts will stream to you that way. Likewise, we remain on Twitter, and you can follow us that way as well.

Sharing posts

You can now share our posts with your friends in a number of ways. Check it out at the bottom of each post.

Advertising

The Philly Soccer Page will offer limited advertising to help raise money for soccer field improvements in Philadelphia. For details, click here.

More changes

I may be forgetting some things, and I’m surely leaving out things that we plan for the future. We’re definitely open to suggestions, and if you hit any bugs, let us know! You’ll surely see us tweaking things over the next 1-2 weeks as we settle in and get used to this new site. Hopefully it’ll be smooth.

Thanks a bunch for reading. Please let us know what you think of the new site.