Fans who attended USWNT’s draw vs. Spain at Subaru Park say NWSL expansion team in Philly is ‘long overdue’
It was a night filled with inspiring young women and celebrating women's soccer at Subaru Park on Tuesday. Here’s everything you missed from the USWNT takeover.
Two of the world’s top-ranked women’s soccer teams faced off at Subaru Park on Tuesday night. The reigning Olympic champion U.S. women’s national team competed against Spain, the defending women’s World Cup champions, in the final game of their two-game set. Fans were ready for the action.
After losing 2-0 to Spain in their first meeting in Washington on Saturday, the USWNT was looking to bounce back. And with the Philly crowd backing them on Tuesday, they played to a 2-2 draw with Spain.
From tailgating to nail bars and build your own laces, here’s everything you missed from the USWNT takeover:
» READ MORE: Ashley Sanchez and Mallory Swanson’s goals earn the USWNT a comeback draw against Spain
Philly, a soccer city?
A soccer craze took overPhiladelphia this summer with the arrival of the World Cup. And that popularity continues to surge. Three months after Philly hosted six World Cup matches at Lincoln Financial Field, the USWNT came to town.
“There’s a great soccer crowd here,” 36-year-old Lower Merion native Brian Mechanick said. “We’re putting out talent for the men’s national team and the women’s national team. I’m just hoping we can continue to grow the game here. And we love any opportunity to celebrate the women especially for the country. But, hey, if we had a chance to support them for club too I think there would be a lot of fans who would really like that.”
The last time the USWNT was at Subaru Park was last October for a friendly against Portugal that also featured Alex Morgan’s retirement ceremony — a game which Mechanick also attended.
“That was a really fun game against Portugal,” Mechanick said. “I would say there’s just a lot more energy now with it being on the other side of the men’s World Cup and then building up to the women’s World Cup. … I think they really want to show that they can hang with the world’s best.”
Philly expansion team?
Subaru Park is typically the home of the city’s Major League Soccer team, the Union (12-10), who are currently in position for a playoff run, sitting at sixth place in the Eastern Conference. With the team’s success and all the attention from the World Cup, Philadelphia sports fans would love to see a National Women’s Soccer League expansion team come to the city — especially with the arrival of a WNBA team already scheduled to come in 2030.
“I think it’s long overdue,” Dana Billig, a Lancaster native, said. “It’s good to watch the women play and there’s a market for watching women sports. We’ve seen it in other cities, we’ve seen it with bars in the cities that are literally women’s sports bars. So, I know that Chester or Philly would be a good home town for women’s soccer.”
» READ MORE: The USWNT-Spain series coming to Chester is as big for the players as it is for the women’s soccer world
Both Dana, 50, and his wife Roberta, 48, are part of the American Outlaws, a support group for the U.S. men’s and women’s national teams, and have been traveling to both women’s and men’s soccer games for 12 years. They even made the trip to Washington just three days prior.
But they aren’t the only fans dedicated to traveling to games. Cheryl Kopatz, 63, Helen Riggs, 83, and Sue Schneider, 60, made the trip from Atlanta to support the USWNT. They’ve been traveling to games together since 2014. When they saw that the women’s national team was making the trip to Philadelphia, Riggs’ daughter, who lives in New Jersey, gave them a place to stay.
With Atlanta set to get a NWSL team in 2028, Koppatz, Riggs, and Schneider marveled at the idea of Philly getting one as well.
“Absolutely, this is a perfect venue for it,” Kopatz said.
When NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman was asked about a possible expansion during halftime of Tuesday’s game, she responded: “I think expectations are clear that in order for us to even be in a position to consider a bid, there has to be a control owner who has the financial wherewithal to support the investment required to build a team from scratch.
“And whether it’s Philadelphia or any other market, we look forward to seeing those qualified bidders come forward and work with us through the process. Because we transitioned to a rolling process [for picking expansion cities], we’re not on a specific timeline. And so the opportunity is there when the time is right, whether here or in other markets.”
Inspiring young girls and women
There was plenty of star power on display on Tuesday, featuring players like Trinity Rodman, Rose Lavelle, Sophia Wilson, and Alyssa Thompson. Cora Connolly, a 15-year-old New York native was most excited to see Claire Hutton, who once played for the Albany Alleycats just like herself.
“Obviously, women have been playing soccer for a long time, but the fact that they’re finally getting the recognition is really cool for young girls to be able to see that,” Connolly said. “Some of these players didn’t have that when they were younger because it wasn’t as big of a thing.”
Scranton natives Lyla Buffalino, 13, Claire Scanlon, 13, Ava Maritato, 14, were excited to see the USWNT in person. The trio all play travel soccer with Anthracite FC.
» READ MORE: From January: The NWSL still wants an expansion team in Philadelphia, if a buyer comes along
“It shows that women can do the same things as men,” Maritato said. “And that we are just as important.”
Ahead of the game, there was plenty of activations for fans to partake in — including a nail bar, soccer games, and a make your own laces station where Buffalino, Scanlon, and Maritato made matching friendship laces with their initials woven in.
“There’s a lot of fun things to do before we went into the game and we definitely took use of them,” Buffalino said.
