1. Philadelphia Union, known as Zolos, were founded in 2008. Their nickname came about at a “Meet-the-Owners” event held two days before the expansion press conference, they wore nametags with handwritten numbers intended to read “2010.” The number was mistakenly interpreted as “ZOLO” by an ownership group member.
2. They play at 18,500 capacity stadium PPL Park which is allocated along the Delaware River and only opened last month.
3. They have won just 4 of the 14 games they have played this season and lost 8.
4. The name of the club was decided by a fan poll and alludes to the Union of the Thirteen Colonies, of which Philadelphia was the first capital.
5. The club came in to being because of the Sons of Ben supporters group which has over 5,000 members.
6. The club’s motto is Jungite aut perite which is the Latin for join or die. The supporters group motto is Ad Finem Fidelis which is the Latin for Faithful to the end.
7. Their colors are navy blue and gold, representing the primary colours of the Continental Army’s uniforms during the American Revolutionary War.
8. In their squad of 25, they have 13 Americans, 2 Brazilians, a Frenchman, a Finn, a Colombian, a Venezuelan and a Congolese.
9. Their captain is Danny Califf who has represented the USA national team 22 times, scoring 1 goal against Haiti. He was in the 2000 Olympic team as well as playing in 2003 Confederations Cup and 2007 Copa America. He has played for Danish sides Aalborg and FC Midtjylland.
10. Another player of interest is Stefani Miglioranzi, who has played for Portsmouth and Swindon Town between 1999 and 2006.
11. Their chants aren’t too advanced yet. They list the chorus to Vindaloo as one of their songs and the general theme is a lot of “na na na”s and claps. Their best song is probably for their French striker, Sébastien Le Toux.
Oh Le Toux, Le Toux!
He’s Frencher than me or you
He’ll score us a goal or two
Oh Le Toux, Le Toux!
Philadelphia Union and Sons of Ben websites.
RoM will be live blogging this game!
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It’s the Mafia lol, you keep ya mouth shut, or ya get whacked.
They beat Celtic 1-0 recently
Must be cool to be in on the beginning of a club as a supporter – i wonder what chants the first suppoters of Newton Heath sang?
Any Club that has a chant to Vindaloo gottta be on the up.
No seriously great read and informative, Mind “Join or Die ” its a bit strong, but I can think of another faction that Motto would and could be mirrored for.And I aint laughing.
just a bit of background on the “join or die” motto. it was sort of the rallying cry of the colonists leading up to the revolutionary war.
@Sp Cheers mate, glad to no. Enjoy the match buddie.
Respect O’merta.
jfc their fans were annoying tonight
i like the “join or die” thing. the philly fans are known to be really intense and really passionate about their sports.. afterall, they did pelt santa claus with snowballs at half time when the eagles were losing.
Actually funny story about this Philadelphia team. Their nearest rivals are the New York Red Bulls. Fans of the Union would travel to New York to mock the players and the team… in 2009! All they had at the time was the name and a crest LOL!