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Before the Philadelphia Union’s existence, the Philadelphia Eagles were hosting soccer games. In fact, Lincoln Financial Field hosted a soccer game before the Eagles played a preseason game in it when Barcelona and Manchester United played in a friendly.
Since that game, other soccer games have taken part there, including the part of the Union’s 2010 season. Philadelphia won its first home match and team’s first victory against D.C. United 3-2. Even though the Union moved to its current home PPL Park part way through the 2010 season, they took on Real Madrid in 2011 as part of the World Football Challenge.
This year, the partnership between the Philadelphia Union and Eagles has continued to be beneficial. For the last week, the Union has been practicing at the NovaCare Complex, which is the Eagles practice facility. This complex is much bigger than where the Union was practicing two weeks ago.
The Eagles and the Union both value this relationship. It has been one of the reasons why the soccer landscape has been growing since the Union’s inception.
“We have an excellent relationship with the Union and we share their commitment to growing the game of soccer in the greater Philadelphia area,” said Eagles president Don Smolenski. “We are happy to help the Union in any way we can; not only with their preparation for the 2013 Major League Soccer season, but also with the footprint they have established in the Philadelphia soccer community and sports landscape.”
Union CEO and operating president Nick Sakiewicz echoed Smolenski’s commitment to this current relationship and thanked the Eagles organization for its support.
“We feel very fortunate to have used the fantastic facilities over at NovaCare and Lincoln Financial Field,” said Sakiewicz. “I’d like to thank [Eagles chairman and CEO] Jeff Lurie, [vice president of event operations and event services] Leonard Bonacci and [team president] Don Smolenski for accommodating us and allowing us access to their facility as our franchise prepares for a very important season.”
In the future, it will be great to watch this relationship continue and prosper. For now it has helped the Union get off to a good start heading into the 2013 season.
Phil Naegely is a Soccer writer at RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter or add him to your network on Google
Portions of this article were taken from information written by Philadelphiaunion.com.
