The Union will play in the U.S. Open Cup and not the Leagues Cup this year
The Union return to America's oldest soccer competition after not playing in it last year, amid a fight between MLS and U.S. Soccer. And the club is pre-seeded for its first Cup home game since 2018.
In November, Union sporting director Ernst Tanner caused a stir when he said the team would be “out of [the] Leagues Cup” this coming season.
He had jumped the gun then, but it didn’t take long for word to get out that he was right. On Tuesday, Major League Soccer finally made it official that the team won’t play in this year’s edition of the summer tournament between teams from MLS and Mexico’s Liga MX.
That news might be cheered by the many Union fans who voted against the tournament with their wallets last year and stayed home from games they didn’t care for. But the reason the Union aren’t in the event isn’t such a good one.
The format changed this year to include only the top 18 teams from each league, which in MLS’s case will be the top nine teams from each of the Eastern and Western Conferences. Because the Union finished 12th in the East last year, they’re out.
So the Leagues Cup will go on without stopping at Subaru Park, with this year’s games set for midweek dates in July and August. But at another time of year, the Union will be in a different tournament — one that historically has mattered much more than the Leagues Cup: the U.S. Open Cup.
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The Union will be one of 16 teams in America’s oldest soccer tournament this year, an increase from last year when MLS threw a fit at U.S. Soccer over the event — and had a fit thrown right back at it by fans who cherish the history.
Founded in 1914, the Open Cup isn’t just this country’s equivalent of famed European competitions like England’s FA Cup. In fact, it’s one of the oldest national cup tournaments in the world. Teams of every size and scale can enter, from local amateur outfits to the star-studded MLS ranks. The tournament is a straight knockout event through its many rounds, and the upsets along the way are cherished as much as the champion.
The Open Cup has a particularly rich history in eastern Pennsylvania. Bethlehem Steel won it five times, four times between 1915 and 1919 and again in ’26, and the club remains an all-time name in the history books. Philadelphia’s Uhrik Truckers won it in 1936, and the Ukrainian Nationals — another legendary team — won in 1960, ’61, ’63, and ’66.
The Ukies, as they’re nicknamed, remain active today as an amateur and youth club, and their adult teams sometimes compete to qualify for the Open Cup. Their clubhouse in North Wales is full of memorabilia recalling famous players: Alex Ely, Mike Noha, Oscar Mendez, and, above all, Walt Chyzowych and Walter Bahr.
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No Philadelphia team has won the Open Cup since the Ukrainian Nationals’ last title. Nor has any team from Pennsylvania added to the commonwealth’s 14 titles, the third-most of any state. The Union have made three finals, but lost them all: 2014, 2015, and 2018.
In fact, 2018 was the last year when the Union won an Open Cup game. They fell at the first hurdle for pro teams, the fourth round, in 2019, 2022, and 2023. (The 2020 and 2021 editions were canceled because of the pandemic.)
It may or may not be a coincidence that the Union also haven’t hosted an Open Cup game since 2018. Matchups in each round are drawn on a semi-random basis by U.S. Soccer, which runs the Open Cup, with teams grouped by geographical region and then drawn for matchup and hosting rights.
The Union’s last Open Cup home game was the 2018 semifinal win over the Chicago Fire. It drew just 7,934 fans to the 18,500-seat Subaru Park.
That was the year before the team started its multiyear run of success. With this year expected to be a bit of a rebuild, the Open Cup will likely be the best shot at a trophy. And the wait for a home game will end, as U.S. Soccer has pre-seeded the Union to host when they enter the fourth round on May 6 or 7.
“The Open Cup is not just the traditional values of what this cup competition and American soccer represents, it’s also [for] the fans, and the tradition at the club level,” new Union manager Bradley Carnell said. “This is an amazing opportunity, and I see this as a big chance to put a stamp on what we are doing.”
Now to see who shows up for it.
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