Photo: Paul Rudderow
Philadelphia Union and Crystal Palace have announced the teams will meet in a friendly at Talen Energy Stadium at 7 pm on Wednesday, July 13.
The Union press release announcing the game says, “The match will be classified as a Bonus Game for Union Season Ticket Members.”
Philadelphia Union Chief Business Officer Tim McDermott said in a statement, “This is the seventh consecutive year we’ve hosted an English Premier League team and we’re thrilled to welcome back such an historic club like Crystal Palace. It’s an incredible opportunity for our team, and our fans, to host a club that is currently competing for an English championship. We wish them the best of luck this weekend and look forward to welcoming them to Philadelphia.”
Palace manager Alan Pardew said in a press release, “It’s a trip that I think will be good for the club. As we prepare for our upcoming Premier League season, we had a number of teams that want to play us and we’ve taken this opportunity to go to North America to spread the word of the type of football we play.
https://twitter.com/CPFC/status/733234526969696256
“Our fan base continues to grow in North America and this is a perfect opportunity to reach out to those as well as introduce ourselves to many more new fans in the United States and Canada.
The London team, which finished 15th in the 2015-16 Premier League season and faces Manchester United in the FA Cup final on Saturday, will also play FC Cincinnati on July 16, followed by Vancouver Whitecaps on July 19.
Philadelphia Union previously hosted Palace in a summer friendly on July 25, 2014, losing 1-0 after an Ethan White own goal in the 20th minute (PSP’s recap, postgame video, analysis, and photo essay).
I approve of all fantasy based team names.
The Crystal Palace was a real place, though. It was an exhibition hall covered in plate glass windows for the Great Exhibition of 1851. The neighborhood, then stadium and team took their name from the building.
SWEET!! 😀
Not sure if I’ll go to this one or not. Stupid-ass 7pm start times …
…hopefully traffic will not be as bad for a summer time start at 7pm.
Granted I’m being selfish because I work weird hours, but even an extra half hour would be helpful – that goes for all of the weeknight matches
How nice of Josh Harris…
Trust the process.
I like this choice of opponent. First, Palace has true, passionate fans – you can feel the energy when you see their games. Second, their group of travelling fans at the last friendly — you know, real fans; not some dude from DelCo who decided they were “his team” (sorry ManU and Chelsea fans) — were a pretty good group. Third, last time they played, Palace took this game pretty seriously and brought and played all of their players (remember seeing Gaddis squaring off against Bolasie and saying to myself “Who is that monster of a man with ridiculous ball skills”).
Meh, I’m not a fan of these friendlies.