Photo @PhilaUnionII

Union II’s 2024 MLS NEXT Pro season begins St. Patrick’s Day, Sunday, March 17 at 3 PM at Subaru Park.

Conference alignments and game schedules are now official. We organize them visually, then break down Philadelphia Union II’s game schedule structure, and close by exploring “developmental double duty,” a facet of the interplay between the schedule and the organization’s philosophy of professional player development.

Predictions and additions

In MLS NEXT Pro’s first two years, the quality of  Union II’s league opponents fluctuated meaningfully from match to match let alone season to season, so we predict no outcomes for 2024. Red Bull II is the most intense rival, but there is already too much history with New York City, New England, Toronto, and Columbus for them to be ignored.

The single biggest change in the competitiveness of the entire Eastern Conference may be the departure of Columbus Crew 2 head coach Laurent Courtois for MLS to become CF Montreal’s new head man. Courtois twice led Crew 2 to the league championship match, winning it once. Crew 2 has not yet announced Courtois’s replacement.

A fresh development that probably already affects Union II’s roster strength is the new academy U16 side. Likely the U16s thin the academy support available to Union II because a brand-new side must now be fully staffed directly below the U17s.

Additions to the league are Chattanooga and Carolina as new independent sides.

Chattanooga has played for 15 years, most recently in the National Independent Soccer Association  (NISA) and the Southeast Division of the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL). They are stepping up from Division 4 to Division 3.

Carolina is a brand-new expansion side from Cary, NC led by these names from U. S. Soccer’s and MLS’s past: Eddie Pope (Chief Soccer Officer), Roy Lassiter (Head Coach), Donovan Ricketts (Goalkeeper Coach), and Andy Williams (Head Scout).

Conferences and divisions

For 2024 there are eight teams in the Northeast division and seven each in Southeast (the re-christened old Central), Frontier, and Pacific. All changes are in the east. The Western Conference remains as it was in 2023.

Union II plays only Eastern Conference opponents. Twenty of their 28 games are with the Northeast division.

• The Northeast has added Chicago, Columbus, and Cincinnati to Toronto, New England, both New Yorks, and Philadelphia.
• The newly christened Southeast adds newcomers Carolina and Chattanooga to holdovers Atlanta, Crown Legacy (Charlotte), Huntsville (Nashville), Orlando, and Miami.

Union II’s game schedule

The structure of UnionII’s 28-game schedule is complex. Reasons probably include maintaining or strengthening existing rivalries and reducing travel time and mileage.

• Union II plays six of the other seven teams in its division three times.
• They play six of the seven teams in the Southeast division only once.
• They play the remaining two teams, one from each division, twice. (NYC FC and Atlanta)

We divide U II’s schedule home and away. Click here for the chronologically integrated original.

*Dates and times are subject to change.

Streaming sources are currently available only for the three games of March. All three are listed with Apple Plus under MLS Season Pass.

Developmental double duty

Ever since Earnie Stewart became Sporting Director Keystone Sports has used every opportunity to provide its first team reserves with developmental minutes on the second team. From the perspective of Union II, such participation might be called first-team reinforcements.

Twelve of Union II’s 28 matches occur the day after a first-team game. Eight are either in the same place — or geographically close enough to each other — to allow players to sit on the first team’s bench on day one and then play for the second on day two. The season’s last six consecutive matches fit that pattern.

We do not include any projected first-team Concacaf Champions Cup matches or any unannounced Leagues Cup ones, i. e., beyond the group stage.

Of course just because reinforcement is possible does not mean that it will occur. The first team’s needs at any moment will always take precedence over those of Union II.