Photo by Paul Rudderow
Philadelphia Union
After defeating New England 2-0, the Union head into a bye week in a three way tie for first in the East and second in the league.
Fafà Picault was not a part of that win, as he was serving the first of a three game suspension after using “offensive language” in a preseason game vs. Orlando.
MLS has the Union’s official roster, complete with a breakdown of supplemental, reserve, designated player and international roster slot usage and availability.
Remember the development that was supposed to happen in Chester around the Union stadium? Matt DeGeorge went in depth to look at the officials and developers who failed Chester (and honestly the Union) by not delivering.
Charlie Davies officially announced what we all expected, that he was retiring from playing soccer professionally. His Twitter announcement alluded to a future still involved with the game, which appears to be working as an analyst. Though the trade that brought him to the Union is something of a sore subject, and his minutes with the team were extremely limited, it’s undeniable that Charlie is an amazing person who deserves nothing but success and happiness in whatever comes next.
Local
USL is still in pre-season, and Bethlehem Steel split the results on a pair of friendlies over the weekend.
Former Union player Ken Tribbett has signed with Penn FC.
Two student groups from Penn State, including Women’s Soccer, are heading to Central America to do charity work over spring break.
MLS
Columbus went on the road to upset Toronto 2-0. #SaveTheCrew
Sabermetrics is making its way in to soccer via MLS, though under a different name.
Alphonso Davies scored his first goal for Vancouver, making him the tenth youngest MLS goalscorer of all time. Unfortunately he’s so young he was disqualified from winning the Budweiser-sponsored Man of the Match.
Will Ferrell is probably the best spokesowner in MLS. Despite the corny requests that he revist a movie he made fourteen years ago.
MLS games will now be available live in China.
The New York Times is talking about MLS, unfortunately it’s a long piece discussing the leagues growing pains.
US Soccer
The USWNT drew against France in SheBelieves Cup play, making Wednesday’s meeting with England a must-win for the US to win the tournament.
Off the field, the USWNT have become a role model and resource for other female athletes seeking more equitable contracts.
What does the canceled 2018 NASL season mean for the future of lower leagues in this country?
World
Bayern is running away with the Bundesliga, again.
Even though the Premier League is just as decided as the German league, there’s still plenty to talk about.
There’s a lot going on in Mexico right now, including the president announcing his intentions to resign and a change to Liga MX’s promotion and relegation rules.
Thanks for the article on what was envisioned 10 years ago for Chester. As someone who works in the Wharf building, it is sad how little has changed.
I find the most interesting aspect of the Chester article the little tidbit that the U can buy out of the lease for 10 million if an attendance clause kicks in……
Yep, I found that to be interesting as well.
It was really hopeful, magical thinking that they could revitalize that area. Would take a lot of money that no one is willing to invest. You can’t really base a whole destination on a team that plays, what, 17 matches a year at Talen? It’s a shame it didn’t work out.
The fallacy that stadiums lead to economic gains has stolen tons of money from taxpayers.
It is just unbelievable how many folks build into this ‘vision’ unless a lot of money changed hands under the table.
WOW!!
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Read that Delco Times article:
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“If after 10 years, the Union’s attendance lags in the bottom 25 percent of MLS for two consecutive years (which it has, the Union ranked 19th out of 22 teams last year), the club can choose to relocate, paying Delco a stipend of $10 million to exit the lease.”
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If I was looking for the ability to relocate to a Philly location……
Dan obviously read the same thing I did (more quickly, however…)
Great minds think alike! They just don’t always type at the same pace 🙂
Something tells me relocating within the Philly area is not an option. There is no way Pennsylvania would put up the money for another stadium. I don’t know what the financial situation is at the Linc, but I imagine they’d be highly discouraged from moving there when the state has built Talen. So, I’m thinking that the clause would mean moving outside of Philly which doesn’t seem all that likely given the team’s investment in the academy.
Penns Landing or a downtown Philly stadium site would probably be a lot more in play now than it was 12 years ago. And a new buyer of the club might be willing to dump private funds into a new stadium in the right location. After all, that’s what’s happening in other cities now.
Or the Navy Yard! Something on public transit would be golden. If that happened, the fact I no longer live in Philly might be too much to bear.
If anyone knows more about what Fafa said to get suspended, please fill me in. It doesn’t seem that his comments were directed at a fan and typically, such a suspension would be imposed for homophobic or racist language. I’d very much like to know if it was either of those. It seems unlikely that he would be suspended just for dropping an F bomb.
Both players were suspended too. At this point it seems like MLS was trying to make a point to the entire league about language. But who knows.
I’m sure most have heard by now, but Fiorentina captain Davide Astori (31 years old) was found dead in his hotel room yesterday morning. Fiorentina were scheduled to play that afternoon and he was set to sign a new contract with the club today. He leaves behind a wife an two year old child.
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Sad day in the soccer world. Some things are larger than the game.
Not making excuses about the perils of public stadium financing, but 2007-08 financial crisis did put a cramp in real estate development everywhere.
Add in the at best, middling adequatulence of the Union in their first decade as another contributing factor in terms of it not quite being a “sexy” up & coming destination.
I know its been talked to death, but some sort of light rail connection to Center City would certainly help attract residential development.
If starting from scratch in present day – some sort of partnership with Temple and their football program on or near campus would have been a pretty good bet.
adequatulence.
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walking out of the bathroom, “I am literally bursting with adequatulence” BRILLIANT.
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well done.
LOL – The Real Deal with Bill McNeil!
Light rail is like $35M per mile. Let’s say you built a line from Talen to the end of the Orange line so you can connect. Add in the obvious stops for the Navy yard and PHL and Harrahs, you’re at about 14miles of track. That’s $500M in track alone. Ballpark triple that just to bring that online. Anyone really think $2B in infrastructure investment so some soccer fans have a better experience is happening? Or to spur residential development along an industrial corridor? As a NJ resident I’d be especially livid because we know they’d raid DRPA for cash again for a PA infrastructure project of dubious benefits.
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No, there will never be another soccer stadium in Philadelphia nor will there be some tram or light rail like Portland or that summer abroad in Hamburg you did. This. Is. It.
I don’t think the team is moving, certainly not to downtown Philly, anytime soon.
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But if you are looking for a case study in what the league thinks, just look at LA. The Galaxy are the most successful team in league history, but everyone makes fun of the fact that they are actually the “Carson Galaxy.” They are in South Central LA – just outside of Compton. LAFC are 16 miles north, right outside of downtown LA.
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Pay attention to how that city’s situation plays out and which location is favored by the league and which does better with attendance. The attendance piece may be hard to gauge if Ibra signs with LAG soon, but I think there will still be ways of studying the trend of MLS.
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Dan W’s is correct. This is what the league wants and the direction it is heading. How it affects our guys is a curious story…