{"id":315933,"date":"2026-10-28T09:10:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T09:10:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/315933\/"},"modified":"2026-10-28T09:10:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T09:10:08","slug":"hometown-sports-a-tale-of-two-seasons-for-the-philadelphia-union","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/315933\/","title":{"rendered":"Hometown Sports: A tale of two seasons for the Philadelphia Union"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve been a Philadelphia Union fan as long as I can remember. The club was founded in 2008 \u2014 the same year I was born \u2014 and played their debut season in Major League Soccer (MLS) in 2010. They\u2019ve since won two MLS Supporters\u2019 Shields<\/a> for having the best record in the league and made the MLS Cup final in 2022, but lost in a heartbreaking penalty shootout to Los Angeles FC.<\/p>\n

The first game I ever went to was in October 2011, when I was three years old. Not that I particularly remember any of it, but the game ended as a draw at one against Toronto FC, which clinched the franchise\u2019s first-ever MLS playoff berth.<\/p>\n

Since then, I\u2019ve gone every year with my family, for birthdays, celebrations and just as a way to spend quality time together. I\u2019ve always loved being a fan of the club, and even got to go to see them play here in Chicago this year.<\/p>\n

Pre-World Cup<\/p>\n

The Union kicked off their 2026 campaign, to be quite frank, horribly. They came off a season where they lifted the Supporters\u2019 Shield before being eliminated in a disappointing manner against New York City FC in the Eastern Conference semifinal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The offseason saw the departures of veteran defenders Kai Wagner and Jakob Glesnes, both of whom are three-time MLS All-Stars, and the Union\u2019s top goalscorer of 2025<\/a> Tai Baribo. Notable arrivals included two largely unproven forwards in Ezekiel Alladoh and Agust\u00edn Anello, and defenders Philippe Ndinga and Japhet Sery Larsen.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Union started the season with six straight losses, scoring four goals and conceding 11. They got their first points almost two months into the season, beating CF Montr\u00e9al on the road 2-1.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

They followed this result with four draws and three losses, being outscored 12-8. The last straw for Head Coach Bradley Carnell came after a 6-4 loss to Lionel Messi\u2019s Inter Miami. The coach was fired just three days after the match, leaving the team sitting dead last in the Eastern Conference with only seven points in 15 games.<\/p>\n

World Cup break<\/p>\n

After the disastrous first half of the season, the team had two months to regroup while the MLS paused for the World Cup. Ryan Richter, head coach of the Union II reserve team, was appointed as interim manager the same day Carnell was fired.\u00a0<\/p>\n

During this time, Wagner was re-signed in July from Birmingham City FC after being in England for only six months. He registered one goal and three assists in 18 appearances in all competitions during his time overseas.<\/p>\n

Post-World Cup<\/p>\n

The Union came back from the break, guns blazing. With a new manager at the helm, Wagner returning home and star midfielder Quinn Sullivan making his comeback from a torn ACL suffered late in the 2025 season, the Union won four games on the bounce.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I was at a victory over Atlanta United, an exciting game that saw the Union score three goals all after the 73rd minute to erase a two-goal deficit, winning 3-2.<\/p>\n

Draws with Inter Miami and Austin FC preceded an eight-game win streak, putting the Union in an exclusive club of only four teams to have achieved the feat in the MLS post-shootout era \u2014 a time when the MLS used to have penalty shootouts to decide regular season games tied at fulltime. They were prevented from tying the all-time consecutive win record when they drew with Charlotte FC Oct. 17.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The run included comebacks from deficits that seemed insurmountable \u2014 the Atlanta game, a three goal comeback against New York City FC and overcoming a one-goal deficit at the half to beat Chicago Fire FC 3-1. The most notable comeback came when they went three goals down to Sporting Kansas City at halftime before scoring four unanswered goals within 10 minutes to secure the victory.<\/p>\n

The miraculous run came to an end Oct. 25 in a 2-1 loss to New England at home.<\/p>\n

With three games to go, they sit in sixth place with 46 points. They need just three points to clinch a spot in the playoffs, a feat that felt impossible 15 games into the season. So what was it that inspired this second wind?<\/p>\n

Comeback kids<\/p>\n

The average age of the Union\u2019s squad is 25.4 years, the third-youngest<\/a> in the league. It wasn\u2019t until after the break that the young talent in the team was properly utilized.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Seventeen-year-old midfielder Cavan Sullivan started seven of the 13 league games he appeared in before the break, but has started 13 out of his 14 appearances since. During the unbeaten run, he picked up six goals and six assists. He\u2019s proved a crucial part of Philadelphia\u2019s turnaround.<\/p>\n

Nineteen-year-old center back Niel Pierre made his season debut in the first game after the World Cup. He featured as a substitute, playing 35 minutes in the 3-1 win over the New York Red Bulls, and scored his first Union goal just ten minutes after coming on to put the boys in blue in front.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The 6-foot-7 homegrown Pennsylvanian has scored five times this season, all but one of which came in his first seven MLS matches. Since his introduction into the squad, the Union\u2019s only lost one game in all competitions he\u2019s started in.<\/p>\n

The 20-year-old right-back Frankie Westfield played a role in last year\u2019s Supporters\u2019 Shield-winning team, but this season he\u2019s hit his stride. He\u2019s started all 26 of his appearances in MLS play and has tallied eight assists \u2014 two more than any other defender in the league.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

All three players were called up to the U.S. Men\u2019s National Team during the September international break, during which they each made their senior international debuts. Cavan Sullivan scored his first of hopefully many goals for the national team in a 3-0 win against Mexico.<\/p>\n

The introduction of youth has proved a crucial change, and in my eyes, the increase in the intensity of the play is noticeable. They\u2019ve stepped up in the big moments and will undoubtedly turn out to be superstars for the Union, the national team and wherever they go after their time in Philly.<\/p>\n

Richter\u2019s rule<\/p>\n

Richter took over from Carnell in what can only be described as a rut. Following Carnell\u2019s termination, newly appointed Sporting Director Jon Scheer announced he\u2019d lead a global search for a new manager, according to a Union press release<\/a>. With the form Richter\u2019s delivered, it\u2019s not outrageous to ask whether he\u2019s here to stay in a permanent role.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Personally, I think he\u2019s done more than enough to earn the job. The real deciding factor will be his performance in the playoffs, whether he can propel the team to a deep run or even bring home silverware.<\/p>\n

Under Richter\u2019s control, the Union\u2019s gone from averaging 1.2 goals scored and 2 goals conceded per game to scoring 2.75 goals per game and conceding an average of only 1.25.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Given his history as former coach of many of the young players he\u2019s given chances, the emphasis on youth in his lineups has caused a huge change in performances and will develop those players for the future of the club.<\/p>\n

So far, Richter\u2019s broken records, giving the franchise its longest ever unbeaten run and became the manager with the longest unbeaten streak to start an MLS managerial career.<\/p>\n

A bright future<\/p>\n

So, can the Union keep up their form? I certainly think so. With the playoffs right around the corner in November, and homegrown, European-experienced center back Mark MacKenzie set to return for the 2027 season, it\u2019s hard not to be excited for what\u2019s to come.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After years of packing stadiums and cheering on the team, is this the year that the Union can finally deliver the fans a title? An MLS championship would mean the world to me, and soccer fans all over the city. I know me and my family will be tuning in to watch as they compete for the cup, and I strongly suggest readers do the same.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I\u2019ve been a Philadelphia Union fan as long as I can remember. The club was founded in 2008…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":315934,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[69,71,70],"class_list":["post-315933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315933","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=315933"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315933\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/315934"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=315933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=315933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=315933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}