by Matt Acconciamessa - US Soccer Daily
For me, Sunday started about 14 miles north of Chester at Citizens Bank Park, the south Philadelphia home of the Phillies. When the Toronto Blue Jays moved their home games against the Phils to the City of Brotherly Love because of the G-20 Summit, I snapped up a ticket, figuring that a stop at the ballpark would be a good appetizer for the main course: the opening of PPL Park.
Mother Nature was conspiring against me, however, as the oppressive heat and humidity of another summer heat wave in the Philadelphia area sapped the life out of me by the time I wandered out of the stadium after 6 innings. I was sun burnt, had a headache, and really was just ready for a nap more than anything, but I soldiered on down I-95 towards the promised land.
With the Commodore Barry Bridge over head and the stadium roof in sight, I was tantalizingly close to PPL Park when my brain finally caught up with the situation and realized that trying to find a parking spot would be yet another hurdle to test my already withering patience. After considering all of the legitimate options while hardly moving an inch in traffic, I opted for the quickest out, which ended up being parking on the grass next to a weathered building in a residential area. I would not be alone in this choice, with countless others choosing to improvise with the lack of lots in the area.
My dad and I then made the long walk over to stadium, made only longer by the sweltering and unrelenting sun. We finally got through the gates, only to be greeted by a packed concourse that was in stark contrast to what we saw at the open house a few weeks ago. Shuffling along, I was increasingly crotchety, just wanting to get to my seat and sit down for a minute before the game started.
After coming out of the tunnel by section 135, though, everything changed.
It was the kind of sight that wiped away all of my weariness. Seeing hordes of fans decked out in their blue and gold with players warming up on a pristine field at a soccer stadium – our stadium – was something that was once nothing more than a pipe dream for me and thousands of other Philadelphians. But there it was, PPL Park, rising up out of the wilderness of this impoverished suburb like a desert oasis, breathing life into me and into a community that on most other days is front and center for all the wrong reasons.
As the match kicked off, I could hardly believe just what was happening and where I was: a state-of-the-art MLS stadium in Chester on a plot of land that was nothing more than trees and dirt a couple of years ago (and still is according to Google Maps). Nothing could put a damper on the day from that point on, from the triple digit heat index to Pat Noonan’s first half goal to Baldomero Toledo.
Regardless of the result, yesterday would have felt like a win, both for Chester and the thousands (millions? Okay, maybe that’s wishful thinking) of soccer fans in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. It was just icing on the cake when the Union came out and controlled the match in the second half, leveling the score early on after the break. The stadium erupted just minutes later following Chris Seitz’s game-changing penalty save, and it was all downhill from there, with a memorable home win seeming inevitable for PPL Park’s grand opening. The goals eventually came, and it was nothing but celebrations once the final whistle was blown. Players and coaches saluted the fans and joined in the fun, reveling in a win that meant a little more than just three points.
Filing out of the stadium, there were nothing but smiles on the faces of fans, save for a dozen or so outsiders clad in rave green. By the time I got home, the adrenaline had died down, and six hours of standing in the sun finally caught up to me. But as exhausted as I was, I couldn’t stop smiling as I basked in the victory. From start to finish, it really was just an unforgettable evening on the bank of the Delaware River for me and everyone else in attendance.
Hopefully it’s just the first of many.
