In February of 2008, the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was awarded a team in Major League Soccer. Earlier this week, the Philadelphia team was finally given a name. According to a report in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia’s MLS team will be named the Philadelphia Union.

To pick the team name, future fans of the team were asked to cast their vote online at Philly.com. The final four names to make the ballot were Philadelphia AC, Philadelphia SC, Philadelphia City and Philadelphia Union. The Philadelphia Independence was also considered earlier in the voting process.

The “Union” team name represents two aspects of Philadelphia. First of all, the city played an important part in the labor movement in the United States. Secondly, the history of the founding of the United States union can’t be told without mentioning the city of Philadelphia.

When the Philadelphia Union goes onto the soccer field, they’ll be the 16th team in the MLS. They will join the Chicago Fire, Columbus Crew, D.C. United, Kansas City Wizards, New England Revolution, New York Red Bulls, Toronto FC, Chivas USA, Colorado Rapids, FC Dallas, Houston Dynamo, Los Angeles Galaxy, Real Salt Lake, San Jose Earthquake and Seattle Sounders FC. In 2011, expansion teams in Portland and Vancouver will join Major League Soccer.

Although the Union will hold the Philadelphia name, the team will actually play in Chester Stadium in Chester, Pennsylvania. Chester Stadium, which is currently under construction, will cost approximately $115 million. It will have a capacity of 18,500 and its two major tenants will be the Union and a a team in the Women’s Professional Soccer league.

The colors for the Philadelphia Union will reportedly be blue and gold and the logo will feature a snake. The exact look of the logo will be unveiled in a press conference on Monday, May 11th.

Tags: major league soccer, MLS, philadelphia union, soccer tickets
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