Feature photo courtesy Philadelphia Union
For those who like information presented visually, the charts below detail the chronology and sources of both teams’ rosters.
Sakiewicz (L) and principal owner Jay Sugarman. Photo: Earl Gardner
Union Sources
“Draft” needs no explanation.
The definition of “Homegrown Player” includes products of an academy if the club has one, although it is broader than just diploma holders. (Matt Freese illustrates the breadth as he played with Academy teams as well as Episcopal Academy, but did not attend school at the Schoolhouse and then had two seasons at Harvard.)
“Trade” is also self-explanatory.
“Bethlehem” means a Bethlehem player not from the Union Academy has earned promotion to the first team.
“Signing” means brought from outside the organization without a trade. In these instances it includes loans in addition to outright ownership of the player’s contract.
“Roster Supervisor” indicates who had final say over roster decisions. Input comes from all members of the organization’s technical — and where appropriate academic — staff.
How the Union has been built
The season and method of acquisition for every current player as of Memorial Day, 2019| SEASON | '12 | '13 | '14 | '15 | '16 | '17 | '18 | '19 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster Supervisor | Nick Sakiewicz | Nick Sakiewicz /Earnie Stewart | Earnie Stewart / Ernst Tanner | |||||
| Draft | Ray Gaddis | Andre Blake | Jack Elliott | |||||
| Homegrown | Auston Trusty | Anthony Fontana Mark McKenzie Matt Real | Brenden Aaronson Matt Freese |
|||||
| Trade | Warren Creavalle | |||||||
| Bethlehem | Cory Burke Olivier Mbaizo | Michee Ngalina | ||||||
| Signing | Fabinho | Ale Bedoya Ilsinho | Haris Medunjanin Fafa Picault | Kacper Przybylko | Aurelien Collin Carlos M. Coronel Marco Fabian Jamiro Monteiro Sergio Santos Kai Wagner |
Stewart (R) and technical director Chris Albright. Photo: Paul Rudderow
Please note that while officially the Union’s roster stands at 26 as of May 28 on MLS’s website, they have only 23 players who are actually available.
- Cory Burke is in P1 Visa limbo,
- Derrick Jones is on loan to Nashville SC, and
- Olivier Mbaizo is listed as “unavailable on loan, ” which almost certainly means to Bethlehem, recallably so.
Bethlehem Sources
In the Bethlehem table here are the meanings of the sources that are different from the Union one:
“Academy Amateurs” are those players signed to so-called amateur contracts that preserve their eligibility for collegiate athletics.
“Academy Signings” are the Bethlehem equivalent of MLS homegrown signings, even though USLC does not have such a roster category.
“Reading” for Bethlehem is the equivalent of “Bethlehem” for the Union chart above.
How Bethlehem was built
The seasons and methods by which the current roster has been assembled.| Season | '16 | '17 | '18 | '19 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster Supervisor | Earnie Stewart | Earnie Stewart/Ernst Tanner | ||
| Draft | ||||
| Academy Amateur | Tomas Romero | Kris Shakes | Cole Turner Nate Harriel Jack DeVreis Patrick Bohui |
|
| Academy Signing | Selmir Miscic | Ben Ofeimu Issa Rayyan Shanyder Borgelin |
||
| Reading | Zach Zandi | |||
| Signing | James Chambers | Faris | Saed Diaz Walter Cortes Chavany Willis Jamoi Topey Steve Kingue Yomi Scintu |
The Bethlehem chart snapshots why, in a comment during preseason, Tanner cited Bethlehem as having undergone the most change within the soccer side of the overall organization.
The article was informed by a similar chart on the Union’s website under “Press Box.”
