Article:P.U. it's Philadelphia

The club name of the new Philadelphia entry into Major League Soccer has apparently been leaked. The club is set to begin play next season at a brand spanking new facility in Chester, Pennsylvania. Without further adieu MLS now welcomes Philadelphia Union. Not a bad club name and the badge is really classy. However I just kind of like the way the club initials spell P.U. kind of apropros if you ask me. It kind of reminds me of how appropriate it was when the Wachovia Center was called the First Union Center or more affectionately known as the FU Center. Anyways the official announcement is scheduled for Monday in the City of Brotherly Love.

As far as names go I do like it, although I am not all that critical when it comes to club names. MLS has seen a trend to return to club names from the old North American Soccer League with the San Jose Earthquakes starting that trend. Given the Philadelphia entries in the old NASL category that would have limited the choices to either Atoms or Fury. Atoms was decent, Fury not so much. Many names/nicknames have been bandied about over the last few months. Philadelphia City, Philadelphia S.C and Philadelphia Athletic were all names that I heard were underconsideration. So Philadelphia Union sounds just fine to me. Many speculated that the club may use the unofficial nickname of Zolos. Zolos was the nickname given when the club was awarded to the city and one of the co-owners of the club mistakenly read the 2010 handwritten badges of the fans to read ZOLO. Given the backing the club has even before it was awarded PU should be a resounding success with the supporters. How the club does on the pitch is another question entirely. First year club Seattle Sounders FC seem to have gotten off to a resoundingly successful start to this season, a repeat of this for another new club may be a bit much to ask.

Following P.U. into MLS will be Portland Timbers and Vancouver in 2011. The Vancouver club has not offically names itself Whitecaps, the traditional name for the professional club from that city, but I would not bet against it. Oh, both those Timbers and Whitecaps names harken back to the glory days of the NASL.