Photo: Marjorie Elzey
The Philly Soccer Page has been publishing continuously for 14 years this month.
That’s an eternity in the world of the Internet.
We’ve been here for every game in Philadelphia Union history. We’ve sent writers and photographers around the continent to cover the team, including at last year’s MLS Cup. We’ve also provided hyper-local coverage of college, semi-pro, and amateur soccer in the Philadelphia area.
I am very proud of this site and everyone who has contributed over the years — including many of our longtime readers and commenters.
However, not everything lasts forever. This is a volunteer website. Although the nuts and bolts of the site are sustained by donations made to us on Patreon, what makes PSP what it is — the words and the pictures — are only possible with the time, passion, and commitment of our writers, editors, and photographers.
For many of us, our ability to commit the requisite time and passion to this site has faded, and this endless season stretched our team to the breaking point.
I am stepping down as PSP’s managing editor at the end of the year and will stop being a regular contributor to PSP. Some of our other writers and editors are likely to do the same.
We’d love to keep PSP going into 2024 and beyond. Unfortunately, that isn’t going to be possible with our current staff.
If PSP is to continue beyond this year, we will need at least one or two people — people who have the time, skills, and passion — to join PSP as editors.
Ideally, we’re looking for folks with a journalism background or training who have the time and ability to manage the PSP staff, schedule our coverage, and maintain the high standards that we’ve had since the beginning of the site.
If we’re able to find a new editor or editors, they will need to recruit additional writers to join for 2024. For almost all of PSP’s history, we have had beat writers covering the team who’ve watched games from the press box, participated in media availability, and gotten to know the players and staff behind the scenes. That access makes for sharper, more thoughtful, more informed coverage of the Union. But none of PSP’s current Union beat writers (myself, Chris Gibbons, and Mike Servedio) are in position to continue that role.
If we do not get any volunteers to take over, it is likely that the Philly Soccer Page will stop regular publication at the end of 2023.
Please reach out to me if you have any interest in leading PSP forward. Thank you all for reading over the years.
Peter Andrews
Managing editor, Philly Soccer Page
November 29, 2023
As someone who lives out of state and doesn’t get to watch as many games as I’d like this is a go to site for info on the Union. I really hope someone can step in here! Thanks for everything to all of the current writers and editors.
Thank you for everything you folks have done over the years!!!!
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You guys have been a Union beacon in a world where coverage of MLS has been limited at best.
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I hope you are able to find the right people to keep this going!! We have a lot of new faces on the beat this year, but I’ve always liked the analysis found here.
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Quick tip, I know they may offer you millions for the site – but resist selling to the hedgefund bros! ;~)
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Or you could follow SI’s lead and just get AI to run the site for you – lol
This is the preeminent site for Union news, analysis, and commentary, in my opinion, and I’m thankful and appreciative of all that PSP has produced over the years! Thanks to all the current/past staff for their insight and dedication.
I hope this site can continue on, but, if not, I’ve loved all of the great content all these years!
Wow. Certainly respect and understand. But… Wow.
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If it turns out that PSP can’t continue as an original news site, I hope we can find a way to preserve the community somehow in some other form. Even if it consisted of columns and/or podcasts without the matchday reports, I think it would still be tremendously valuable to a lot of us.
This 1000%. I would love to keep conversation going with everyone on here in some form.
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That being said, I love this site. I contribute via Patreon. I really hope it continues. However if it doesn’t… I want to thank every single person who brought this thing to life and made it what it was. It was, and is, a pleasure to read both the stories and the comments.
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PSP FOREVER!!! 🙂
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PS – the Cliff of Union Despair stuff was maybe the best stuff I ever read on this site. HA!
+1. Bring Ed back!
If I can offer a peek behind the curtain-
Matchday reports are the easy stuff. It’s coming up with something new to say (ie columns, analysis, etc) about a team that keeps doing the same thing expecting different results that at least I am burnt out on.
I see that. But those columns are easier to produce (saying with a long experience in the print news biz). It’s making sure you don’t screw up the actual reporting stuff that gets tough.
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I think this season did us all in. Nearly killed Glesnes, Flach and Martinez, All of PSP is burned out. Kinkead is shelving
It’s Always Soccer….” Good job MLS, you did it. You gave us too much.
Sad if this is the end. This line resonated with me: “For many of us, our ability to commit the requisite time and passion to this site has faded, and this endless season stretched our team to the breaking point.” totally understand and relate to that.
Bravo though.
I am lucky to have found this website so early on, as you all have contributed to my knowledge and enjoyment of Philadelphia’s beautiful game. When this place started, I only watched the WC and Euros, so I was vastly uneducated on lots of things football, minus the fact we were given a MLS team. You all have been so instrumental in growing the game to a region who besides the Kicks, didn’t have much sample size to work with. Now I stay up much too late watching as much football as I can get, and everyone who has written or commented here has created this football junkie. I hope this site can continue, because the recaps and comments keep me motivated for the next game or talk me off the cliff (insert Union cliff of despair joke here). It’s been a great ride and I hope we continue the fun here at PSP.
I feel very fortunate to have found this website so early on and wish I had any type of journalistic skills (or time for that matter). I hope that you will find people but can understand if not. Either way, thanks for being there for so long.
Sad news if this is forthcoming. I started on Big Soccer and somehow that linked to this site. I still visit both more than once a week but understand how volunteering isn’t easy over long periods of time and people move on. Hopefully someone will pick up the torch and continue the run.
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You would think some local colleges would use this as a way to give students a chance to get experience for journalism students?
We’ve done that, actually. PSP is able to serve as an internship.
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Overall, PSP has led to full-time jobs in sports and/or media for multiple contributors, including at least two I remember who were contributors while college students.
I certainly hope that others with the same passion and ability are able to carry forward this project. It’s no exaggeration to call this the go-to site for Union and regional soccer news, and it has become so only because so many talented people devoted so much time and effort to it.
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Regardless of if the site continues or what form it continues in, we all owe a big debt of gratitude to everyone who played a part in running it for so long. Thanks for everything.
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One request, in case this really is the end. Someone needs to ensure that Peter’s August 2017 article ‘Every player in Union history, ranked’ is preserved for posterity. And someone needs to bug him every so often to try to find a long weekend in which he has enough free time to update it. That thing is a gem.
Like Chris noted, I can really appreciate the following statement: “For many of us, our ability to commit the requisite time and passion to this site has faded, and this endless season stretched our team to the breaking point.”
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All PSP contributors past and present have my respect and appreciation. Thank you for all you’ve given to all of us as readers, more than most of us can fully grasp in terms of your time and energy.
Sad news. Hope PSP stays. Otherwise you’re reduced to Johathan Tannenwald’s twitter feed, who blocks anyone saying a discouraging word about him. I got blocked for reasons even 3 years later STILL surpass reason or understanding.
Thanks to the staff for trudging along as the Union imploded in each of the past 3 post-seasons.
Maybe he blocked you bc you’re an insufferable troll?
+1
Wow, This is heartbreaking. I only discovered the union around the beginning of this season and around the same time discovered this website. This is where I have gotten pretty much all of my information about the club and knowledge about the club. The fact is, I am not qualified at all to help with the website for many reasons and don’t have the money to donate but if there’s any other way I could help, whether it be writing crudely made and terrible match reports for someone to edit or fix up, or contribute in some other way that would be great. The fact is, I don’t really know how stuff like this works but I would love to help if I could
Well then…. this sucks! But like the man said nothing lasts forever! If this is the last year of this site so be it.
A huge thanks to every person who contributed to this over the the years! I hope that there is someone who can take the reins and keep it going. The community of commenters has truly been funny and great entertainment! The Cliff of Despair is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen.
Thanks so much to all of you! I will miss this place for sure! I also hope it continues in some way!
Sincere thanks to PSP!
Let the site die like this season’s playoffs. My desire to be a union supporter has faded. I live in Philadelphia and no games on local tv unless you pay extra via Apple TV. F the mls and f the union.
WE ARE…,,,not televised in our own city.
Isn’t it in a legal contract somewhere that you guys aren’t allowed to shut PSP down until Lot A is paved?
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Seriously, I hope PSP does keep going, but if not, I echo the comments above from many names I’ve never met but who I felt I could join on Saturday night (and the occasional Wednesday) to vent, rant or revel in the results of the Union.
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A sincere thank you to the all the writers and editors, past and present. The quality of the coverage here has been incredible, through the good and bad years for the club. Never homers, critical when needed, but always informative. Thank you all.
Thank you PSP for being the one thing I looked forward to daily. You made my soccer experience infinitely deeper, grander, and more informed. You took me from an ill-informed ex-grade school level soccer player to a bit more informed much too opinionated soccer fanatic. I can’t thank you enough for that. I hope the staff goes on to to find fulfillment in whatever you all choose to do next.
This was a tough year for me. I choose not to spring for the Apple package, and until I found a pirate site, my only Union experience was CCl or the 1-2 matches on TV. PSP kept me involved and interested even when I tried to convince myself I wasn’t. The way the season went, the disappointments, all the matches, Kai, Ale, the ending, it was probably one of the least enjoyable seasons I’ve had as a Union fan and that says a lot to me.
I stayed away from commenting on PSP this year because I felt the way I acted sometimes made this site worse and I hated that. Since it may come to an end I just wanted to express my gratitude for everyone at PSP and those here in the comment section. This has been the oasis in the desert that is soccer coverage in Philly. I hope everyone has wonderful holidays and is healthy in the new year.
To el P, I’m sorry and my apologies for being judgemental and quick to anger.
Never really commented but have been reading PSP articles for years. I am hopeful there will be talented folks to carry the torch, but if not I wanted to say a heartfelt thank you to all of the editors, contributors and everyone who has dedicated their time to creating a dynamic Union focused informational resource and community. You’ve been a major part of our Union experience. Thank you.
It took me a couple of days to get my thoughts together as to how to respond to this, given how much a part of my life PSP has been for the last 11 or 12 years (don’t remember if I found it in late 2011 or early 2012).
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Unfortunately, I don’t have the journalism experience to be able to be an editor and I’m not sure I have the time to cover the team until I retire in a few years, otherwise I’d love to help keep the site going.
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Many thanks to you, Peter, who has kept PSP running for the last several years. Also thanks especially to Mike Servidio who I believe has been with PSP since the start. Thanks to rest of the current and past PSP team.
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Finally thanks especially to Dan Walsh and Ed Farnsworth for starting the whole thing and to Adam Cann who definitely went on to bigger and better things.
+1
you forgot Tim. Here is a nice article by Tim who also thanks Adam: https://phillysoccerpage.net/2023/04/05/how-we-talk-about-player-development/
Good point. Having been to many Union 2 games from 2019-2022 (I ended up missing most of them this year), I’ve probably commented more on Tim’s articles than anyone else has.
Thank you for all you’ve done!
Loved this site since day one, and still proudly wear my PSP “union pundit” t shirt and use my PSP bottle opener proudly. It was a great privilege to write for PSP for a stretch (Fan’s View) and I’m thankful for Dan,Ed, and everyone who started PSP, along with all of the writers, editors, live tweeters, and contributors who have made this such a special place!
Union sign Venezuelan Jesus Bueno today. 2024 MLS Cup assured!! (/s)
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Another nobody acquired on the cheap, no doubt.
That’s literally a current player, you insufferable troll.
Falling off the Cliff….It’s been a fun ride. Don’t always agree with your analysis, but the fact that you have kept it an open forum is priceless. Your site kept my interest in the Union even though I moved away 10 years ago. I will always be a fan of the team. The leagues decision t.o make a deal with the DEVIL and take a full bight from the forbidden fruit in the form of Apple TV will surely come back and kick them where it hurts. ….( expanding viewership and generating new fans to MLS SOCCER.. Penny wise and Pound foolish to quote a famous Philadelphian. ps thank you for overlooking my many typos.
Have loved PSP for the last 7 years. All of you deserve our gratitude for your sacrifices over the years. I would like to volunteer my services to be a beat writer. I am retired and would have plenty of time to give. Thanks again for PSP.
Thank you for all you have done!
Sure hope someone with more time than myself picks up the mantle !
DOOP and Happy Holidays !