The Philadelphia Inquirer , Delaware Online - News Journal and ESPN are all reporting that the new MLS franchise in Philadelphia, set to play next year will be called "Philadelphia Union."
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Our story originally broke late Wednesday afternoon, right after Sounders Fan Insider received an e-mail via Facebook. The e-mail stated that the name of the official "Philadelphia MLS Fans" Facebook Group Page name has been changed to "Philadelphia Union Fans."
In addition several fans on Big Soccer Message boards were posting links to sites that sell official MLS merchandise.
On Wednesday, Pictures of the merchandise were taken down, but the team nickname remained. Now the link is down and access leads back to Philadelphia's "Big Soccer" message board. MLS Rumors has what allegedly, are pictures of the scarves and T-shirts with the clubs name and crest on their web site.
When speaking with Bryan James from the Philadelphia supporters group, Son's of Ben yesterday, he indicated that initial fan response in Philadelphia seems to be very positive. "Eighty Five percent of the fans love it. The only people that don’t seem to like it are Crew fans." James said, jokingly.
Comments on various soccer message boards seem to support James analysis. Philadelphia fans are already starting to come up with phrases for chants as well as ideas for banners for match day in 2010.
With Philadelphia's rich history and origins to the American revolution, Union seems to be the right name for the "City of Brotherly Love". In addition, it seemed to be an overwhelming favorite by the fans of Philadelphia when a fan vote took place earlier in the year.
Other names on the Philly ballot were: "AC Philadelphia" or "Philadelphia AC" "City" and "Philadelphia SC". There were a lot of Philadelphia fans that liked the name Philadelphia Athletic but that was a non starter due to the fact that Major League Baseball owns the trademark on the old "Philadelphia Athletics".
The official announcement by the club will take place on Monday, May 11th at 11:30 (EDT). Here are excerpts from the press release:
"PHILADELPHIA, PA (April 30, 2009) – Major League Soccer (MLS) Philadelphia 2010 today revealed the date for an announcement ceremony to unveil the club’s name, colors, logo, and ticket pricing. The celebration will be hosted at City Hall by Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter on Monday, May 11 at 11:30am."
MLS Philadelphia CEO & Operating Partner Nick Sakiewicz. “We’ve created an authentic brand that reflects Philadelphia’s deep-rooted history and the wealth of feedback gathered from our supporters. The arrival of top-flight soccer in Philadelphia is about to feel decidedly more tangible.”
Reach Greg Roth - Sounders Fan Insider at nextseasonsports@gmail.com
