The day Man U comes back to the Linc The Lincoln Financial Field date was added yesterday, per the Septa-sponsored Metro newspaper (the one you locals pick up at an El, a Broad Street Subway, or a regional rail station). It was on page 23 of this morning's editions. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After opening Lincoln Financial Field last August before a sellout crowd, Manchester United is scheduled to return on July 28 as part of its second tour of the United States. The Red Devils, who went undefeated during their preseason U.S. Tour last summer, are also scheduled to play at Chicago’s Soldier Field on July 25 and at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., on July 31. Manchester United officials said they are excited to be returning to the U.S. this summer, where they received a great amount of support from the American soccer fans. The Red Devils enjoy a strong following in this country. "We are thrilled to be returning to the United States for such significant matches next year," Manchester United chairman David Gill said. "The passion for soccer and the enthusiasm for Manchester United that greeted us last summer during our visit to the USA was simply overwhelming, and we are already getting eager to experience the American warmth and sports atmosphere once again. "And, the chance to play world-class teams to again prepare for our Premiership season just adds spice to the adventure." Paul
Any word on opponent? I saw a report that somebody said that somebody heard that it was rumored that the Chicago match will be against Bayern Munich. My own sources tell me that Real Madrid will not be part of this year's tour, but that's slightly more than speculation at this point as well. I believe I saw that Celtic will be one of this year's CampionsWorld Series participants, playing 2 matches. 1 was to be in Toronto, and the 2nd site escapes me.
Celtic was the only other team confirmed as of now; that would be nice if Real was there, and ManU played them here Paul
Guess what? Yep, you're right! I won't go to this game if I have to pay for it! Why? Because the more times Manchester United comes here the less chance there is that the people who are already soccer fans here but will only watch the European game because Man U has been here two years in a row won't support a Philadelphia MLS team, or the move to get one! Don't give ChampionsWorld your money until they put a MLS team in their tour! Vote with your head, not your heart!
You are, of course, entitled to your opinion. I'm just curious about your thought process. One can make the argument that a massive club such as United will only enlarge the universe of fans here, not segment it. If newbies in Philly see that particular game, would they be more/less inclined to follow a Philly club? That United playing a game in Philly will hurt a local team's chances of forming is a weak argument. The ChampionsWorld is a traveling circus interested in getting top-dollar for their offering(s). If a venue such as the Linc is unwilling to partake in a potentially-lucrative game featuring United or whoever else, other venues such as the Swamp, the Razor, or RFK might be considered as alternatives. If they haven't been already. To me, a game featuring United is an entertainment offering, just like any other game. The choice to watch/not watch a single United game in Philly (one that will likely feature only half of the first-team) will not be a mutually exclusive decision that will doom MLS Philly. Perhaps the next time Metallica are in town, it would be best to not see them as it may hurt the chances for success of aspiring bands performing in the local clubs.
I see this as a rather particular case though, because I don't think that a music fan is going to judge an aspiring band's music worse than Metallica as easily as someone who is already a soccer fann will judge MLS to be weaker than Man United and thus not go. Now if the Philadelphia PR people were smart about it, they would figure out the following as far as marketing: 1) This is Philadelphia's soccer team. Don't try to market the rest of the circus (which the Kixx and Phantoms do a lot, and the Wings less so), market the meat of it, which is beating New York and DC and New England and LA. 2) Make sure that the club does everything possible to reach out to places like the Dark Horse and Tir Na Nog and make an aggresive argument that if they bash the lack of tradition or atmosphere in MLS it's their own fault for not trying to create it. Those people should be the core of a Supporters Club for the team in this city. Especially when the Metros or DC come to town, I would hope that the Philly team's front office wouldn't want their fans to be out-shouted by the ESC or Screaming Eagles/La Norte expeditions. 3) Get out there and push the media hard, ESPECIALLY THE SPANISH LANGUAGE MEDIA. I know it's out there and I know that the Hispanic population is growing in Philadelphia. Lurie or whoever owns the team cannot take them for granted. Get Mega Radio, Al Dia, and anything else out there on board as quickly as possible. If a team can do these things Man United can come as often as it wants and it won't dent the fan base. But we have to get there first.
Dennis, I figure tickets will go on sale sometime in March or April, but that's just a total guess on my part. Best to check out the Ticketmaster website intermittently to see for sure once the CW games are posted. Another country heard from. Welcome back. If you saw Bend it Like Beckham, note Jess's father's speech near the end of it, where he lamented about being discriminated against as a cricket player because of his nationality. He'd show them, by never playing the sport in his new home of England ever again. Who did it wind up hurting? Only himself. (*) Thing is, this region could be without soccer for the foreseeable future, if the festival deal falls through in June and WUSA 2.0 leaves Philly altogether for LA. It's *football*. Maybe ManU's return to the Linc will break the still-standing attendance record for that arena. Another great showing will perhaps convince AEG to put in a Philly MLS expansion team before the decade is out. Paul ( * - who will be sorely tested to practice what he preached if Jeffrey "My NFL team is the gold standard and my coach is totally satisfied with his wide receivers" Lurie is the only bidder for such an expansion franchise ) P.S. It's tiring, I know, to see the same person starting threads to keep the forum breathing. So somebody else start a thread Charge or soccer-in-general-in-Philly related and break this streak, OK? :=D
well my rumor is from a diadora sales rep.... the philly soccer market is much like boston, with the exception is boston has an mls team. a significant change in recent years has been a booming hispanic population, from mexico and central america, which was quite marginal 10 years ago.
Anyway, I hope we get a team soon. I'm tired of hearing about the other sports played in Philadelphia. I want to follow a Philadelphia professional soccer team! Sorry. I'm just a little testy right now. I miss the Charge.
Champions World 2004 Tour Dates Announced SCHEDULE Saturday, July 24 – Chelsea v. Celtic (Seahawks Stadium, Seattle) Sunday, July 25 – Manchester United v. Bayern Munich (Soldier Field, Chicago) Monday, July 26 – Liverpool v. Celtic (Rentschler Field, E. Hartford, CT) Wednesday, July 28 – Manchester United v. Celtic (Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia) Thursday, July 29 – AS Roma v. Chelsea (Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, PA) Saturday, July 31 – Manchester United v. AC Milan (Giants Stadium, E. Rutherford, NJ) Saturday, July 31 – Celtic v. AS Roma (SkyDome, Toronto, Ontario, Canada) Monday, August 2 – Chelsea v. AC Milan (Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia) Tuesday, August 3 – AS Roma v. Liverpool (Giants Stadium, E. Rutherford, NJ) Also, they're saying Porto has been added to the group, so we have to see where and when they fit on the schedule.