The Philadelphia Union are the league's great developers — the team that built a contender from its academy and broke everyone's heart in the final. Founded in 2008 and debuting in 2010, they were the Sons of Ben's team: the supporters' group that willed the franchise into existence, named for Franklin's revolutionaries, and the most authentic fan culture in MLS.
The Jim Curtin era was the rise: the high-pressing, academy-fueled machine — Brenden Aaronson, Mark McKenzie, the homegrown pipeline — winning the 2020 Supporters' Shield with the league's best defense. The Union became the model: develop, sell, compete. The 2022 season was the peak: the best team in the league, the Cup final at home — and the most devastating loss in club history, falling to LAFC on penalties after Gareth Bale's 128th-minute equalizer.
The 2022 final remains the wound: a sold-out Subaru Park, the trophy in the building, and Bale's header ripping it away. The Union have been contenders ever since, the academy still producing, the fans still singing. But the Cup is the missing piece, and Philadelphia knows it.
The post-Curtin Union (2024-present) turned the page: the 2024 47-point season (the playoff miss, the Curtin exit), the 2025 Carnell arrival (the new coach), and the stunning 2025 revival (the 66-point season, the East's best) — the Baribo brilliance (the 2025 Golden Boot), the academy youth, the league's best turnaround. The 2022 67-point season (the Shield race, the 3-3 LAFC classic final) was the peak; the 2024 miss the scar. Subaru Park's Chester crowd brings the 2022 memory: the Sons of Ben's roar, the 3-3 classic, the belief that the Union always contend. The East's young-gun wars define the summer. What the Union are now is a franchise revived — the 2025 turnaround the proof, the Baribo brilliance the engine, and the 2022 standard the goal. In Chester, the 2024 exit is the fuel, and the Cup is the only thing missing.
The 2020 Shield (the 47-point season, the the peak) is the club's first trophy. The 2022 67-point season (the 3-3 LAFC classic) is the modern legend. In Chester, the 2022 final the standard, and the 2020 Shield the heritage.
What defines the Union is the method: the academy pipeline, the pressing identity, and a fanbase that built the club. No MLS Cup yet — but in Chester, the Union are proof that the right way can nearly win everything. The breakthrough is coming.
