USL Feature

Thursday, August 20, 2015

Philadelphia Union CEO Nick Sakiewicz and the MLS club have been tied to the USL for the better part of five years, but Sakiewicz said there was increasing interest to explore a necessary additional step in the professional realm.

That officially came to fruition Wednesday with the announcement of expansion USL side Lehigh Valley, which will make its league debut next year.

“We began exploring our options a couple years ago to take this to a higher level,” Sakiewicz said of the new USL team, which will be run by the Union. “We felt that we needed to do this in-house and our way. So while our relationship with the Harrisburg City Islanders has been terrific, we’re now going into a different place. Three or four months ago, I reached out to [USL CEO and Managing Partner] Alec Papadakis and said we need to do this for 2016.

“We have great respect for the quality of play in the league and immense respect for Alec and the staff,” Sakiewicz said. “They’ve done a tremendous job putting the USL on a similar growth trajectory as Major League Soccer. It’s phenomenal to be a part of this growth.”

With the announcement, the Union’s partnership with Harrisburg came to a close, but Sakiewicz let it be known how beneficial that connection has been since 2010.

“It’s been a terrific relationship, and I think that affiliation was kind of the impetus for ideas around the USL and Major League Soccer’s partnership,” Sakiewicz said. “It’s a fruitful relationship and has been a good collaboration of getting our players to play at the highest level of professional soccer just below the MLS structure. As that relationship evolved, USL has grown, and [MLS] has grown in the same trajectory.”

The USL’s growth into the Lehigh Valley expands on an already deep-rooted soccer market, dating back to the early years of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.

“It was 85 years ago when there was a team that played in the glory years of soccer, and that is the Bethlehem Steel, which won five U.S. Open Cups and played in front of massive crowds,” Sakiewicz said. “There has been a long history of soccer in Lehigh, both professional soccer and youth soccer.”

In recent years, general soccer fandom has been evident in the Valley, especially during National Team events.

“Last year when the men’s team was in Brazil [for the 2014 FIFA World Cup], we had viewing parties there, with 20,000 people watching the team,” Sakiewicz said. “This past Women’s World Cup we also had viewing parties. It’s a robust soccer market with a lot of tradition and nearly 1 million people. It’s a great central location – 60 miles from Philadelphia, 90 from New York City – and we’re going to play in a 16,000-seat, beautiful stadium on a nice grass pitch [at Lehigh University]. It’s a great environment, and it’s all right there in this marketplace.

“We’re setting our roots down in this community and it gives us an opportunity to extend our organization,” Sakiewicz said. “The fact that the Union is in support of the brand, this gives us the ability to truly be a part of the community for 365 days out of the year for the people living there and working there.”

Time is of the essence for Lehigh Valley. From naming the team to forming a coaching staff and competitive roster, the expansion club has a busy stretch to prepare for its inaugural season.

“We’ve got about seven months until Opening Day, so there isn’t a lot of time,” Sakiewicz said. “It’s going to be a busy timeline. We are holding a campaign for fans to have a say in the team name and the brand we stand for, and in October we hope to roll out that name market-wide. We will likely announce our coach in late September or October, along with joining staff. We will have a number of events taking place in the fall through the beginning of January, a number of meet the team events, player signings to form our roster and a series of other events heading into Opening Day.”

2016 Lehigh Valley ticket deposits: For only $25, Lehigh Valley USL fans can make season ticket deposits for the team’s 2016 season, with home games taking place at the 16,000-seat Goodman Stadium on the campus of Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa. For more, visit PhiladelphiaUnion.com/USL or call 1-844-LVUSL16 (1-844-588-7516).