Philadelphia Union & The oldest soccer tournament in the history of the United States

 

A brief history of the tournament

The Lamar Hunt US Open Cup is the oldest running soccer tournament in the United States and the third longest running soccer tournament in the world. It combines teams from all divisions of North American Soccer, from your local amateur adult team that plays in the park to professional teams in Major League Soccer. The inaugural tournament, known as the National Challenge Cup, took place in 1913 with Brooklyn F.C winning 2-1 over Brooklyn Celtic. Since then, Bethlehem Steel F.C and Maccabi Los Angeles hold the record for the most tournaments won at five. Since the establishment of Major League Soccer in 1996, only once did a non-MLS team win the tournament.

Now this tournament is not just for the glory and bragging rights. Each winner of the US Open Cup Tournament earns $250,000.00 in prize money and a spot in the CONCACAF Champions League. The tournament winner is not the only team that leaves the tournament with something. The second place team in the tournament earns $60,000.00 and each lower division team that advances the farthest wins $15,000.00. As you can see, there are many winners in this tournament.

2014 US Open Cup teams across all divisions of American Soccer

Philadelphia Union and US Open Cup play

The first two seasons for the Philadelphia Union left them unqualified to participate in US Open Cup play. In 2012, the team made huge strides by beating the Rochester Rhinos, DC United, and their affiliates the Harrisburg City Islanders  for a spot in the semifinals. Unfortunately, the Union fell to Sporting Kansas City on home soil in the semifinal round 2-0. Freddy Adu led the team on the offensive front with three goals scored during the tournament.  Sporting Kansas City went on to win it all, beating the Seattle Sounders in penalty kicks.

The next year was even more disappointing in Open Cup play. Not only did the Philadelphia Union not qualify for the MLS playoffs, but made it only to the fourth round after conceding three goals to D.C United and only scoring once. Like the previous year, the team that beat the Union went on to win it all. DC United wrapped up a great run with the tournament championship beating Real Salt Lake 1-0 with a goal by Lewis Neal.

2014 US Open Cup

Unfortunately after a fantastic US Open Cup campaign, the Philadelphia Union lost against the Seattle Sounders in the championship match of the 2014 US Open Cup. 2014 marks the year of the most successful US Open Cup campaign by the Philadelphia Union to date. Here’s to hoping we can win it all next year!

2 thoughts on “Philadelphia Union & The oldest soccer tournament in the history of the United States

  1. Andrew McCauley Billemeyer says:

    I was unaware that there is a tournament that non-professional teams can play in with professional teams. That’s very cool and is a great way for talent to be recruited if someone didn’t get the opportunity for the big leagues. It is also a great way for non-professional athletes to get paid like one!

  2. Jonathan Skewes says:

    Sadly, I support the Rochester Rhinos, and I was sad to see the Philadelphia Union beat them. Also, there was a really small club in the town where I went to school in Tennessee, and they qualified for this tournament once, but they never made it far. Did you ever go to one of these games?

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