Photo: Earl Gardner
The first post on the Philly Soccer Page — aptly titled “Welcome to the Philly Soccer Page” — was published on November 16, 2009.
Dan Walsh summed up the point of the page pretty succinctly in that piece: PSP is “a new site we hope will become a must-read for soccer fans in Philadelphia and the surrounding Delaware Valley.”
I don’t know if Dan could have fathomed how true that sentence would be when he wrote those words. Here we are, nearly eleven years later, and PSP is still going strong.
We published post number 10,000 last night — Nick Fishman’s match report from what might have been the dullest match in Union history. Personally, I found the report more interesting than the match.
To mark the occasion, let me share some stats, via our WordPress software…
- Unsurprisingly, the most prolific writer over the last 11 years has been Ed Farnsworth. Even though he stepped back from his role as PSP’s managing editor nearly four years ago, his total of 3,174 posts is a Cal Ripkenesque streak that will never be broken. (The next highest are Dan with 870 and Adam Cann, now with the Philadelphia Union, with 824).
- We’ve covered every Philadelphia Union match ever played, although the format of our match coverage has changed over the years. Here’s Dan’s, uh, “match report” from the first Union home game.
- Our first-ever player ratings are also entertaining with ten years of hindsight. No, Cristian Arrieta did not prove to be “the missing link.” Yes, Peter Nowak really is “one of a kind.” No, Nowak did not become “one of the most beloved sports bosses ever in this town.”
- What’s made PSP a “must-read” is more than just our writers and photographers — it’s the great community of readers we’ve built here. You all have left a baffling 120,930 comments on PSP over the years, or an average of a little more than 12 comments per post. Thank you for generating discussion, keeping us honest, and being a reliable source of angst and entertainment during dark years for the Union… of which there were too many.
Ten thousand posts is just as arbitrary a milestone as any other, so I don’t want to make too much out of it. But — in what has been a difficult year for pretty much everyone — I’ve found it helpful to think about the things that bring us together. PSP is one of them, and it has been for over a decade.
On behalf of the entire PSP staff, thank you for your continued support of this publication.
Here’s to 10,000 more.
Thank you to all of you at PSP!
Congrats!
Peter – request: can you provide a top 10 article, by popularity or comments? curious to revisit some of the good and bad (so much to choose from)
This is a great idea. I’d suggest Dan’s open letter to Jay Sugerman off the top of my head.
Man, remember when our youth consisted of Mwanga, McInterny, Okugo and Torres….
You guys are beyond fantastic. I recommend this site to all soccer fans to show them where to find great analysis and to demonstrate a positive and supportive community. Even when things are going south, the writers and commenters rarely dig to the embarrassing depths often found on the internet.
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Thank you to all involved. The creators, writers, commenters, and fans. This is truly a haven for soccer fans, and for fans of our Union.
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All of the writers here are and have been enjoyable. But a special shout-out to Ed, Adam, Dan, and Peter. (I’m sure I’m forgetting someone, so I apologize!) For the first few optimistic “we’re young, but we’re headed in the right direction!” years, I looked forward to your pieces on a daily basis. Entertaining and educational, especially as I was just starting out as a coach. While that naive optimism gave way to realistic cynicism, you guys continued to make PSP a must-visit every day. And now the new generation is reaping the benefits of a much more successful club that you guys had to suffer through! 😉
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Thanks for all the effort and for making this a great community!
I remember taking SEPTA to a game when I was in college ~8-9 years ago. Me and my buddy were loudly talking about PSP. Eli Pearlman-Storch was sitting nearby and handed us a PSP business card and said something akin to “please keep reading.” Eli’s gone but I’m still here reading and commenting.
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So thankful for this website. May it live forever.
We need to get business cards again. Got any leftovers, Eli?
Thank you to PSP for giving me a soccer home. I can not express how much this site has meant to me. God I miss Ed Farnsworth, Adam Cann, and I wish Dan was able to contribute more. Thank you so much for not deleting so many of my vitriolic and piss on everything posts. Thank you to the fellow readers for not being afraid to ask questions, pose ideas, and vent their frustrations. Even if I was on the other side calling you crazy and had a pissy attitude to go along with it. Thank you to all the “new” people who have stepped in to keep this thing we all love going. Thank you Sara, Nick, Marjorie, Ben, Thomas, John, Peter, Jim, Sean and Mike. Thank you. Thank you , thank you, THANK YOU. If I missed anyone, forgive me, and I thank you too.
I’ll be back. 🙂 Just been very busy.
boy does the number 10,000 mean someting in this town.
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at least this time it has a happy connotation.
If you don’t and you can afford to of course, please go to Patreon and support this site.
https://www.patreon.com/phillysoccerpage
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I do and I am proud to do so. This site is amazing and I literally read it every day. Thanks to anyone and everyone involved. Keep up the amazing work.
a good reminder. i paused it when, understandably, they all but stopped posting for 4 months. i was excited for soccer to back in the mix but it took them a bit to get moving again.
Congratulations and thank you for all the hard work it takes to produce so much quality material! Looking forward to the next 10,000. What happened to Adam at the Union? Have not seen much of him this year.
Thanks for all of the great content, analysis, photos, live match btweeting, and banter over the years. It’s been a pleasure reading, and at times contributing to this incredible site. To all involved, your efforts are much appreciated!
Goodness, I can’t believe that Pete turned up that first “match report.” I had absolutely no memory of it. Oh my.