Orange and Blue Looking Level at Formidable Philadelphia

April 4, 2023 – Major League Soccer (MLS) – FC Cincinnati News Release

MLS Fact: FC Cincinnati and Philadelphia Union will play their 10th all-time match this Saturday at TQL Stadium.

Also a Fact: For the first time, FCC owns the pregame swagger. No longer the Aspirant, the Apprentice, the Sparring Partner or the Little Brother. Instead, the Alpha. The side with not a speck of appetite to balm a loss with the warm glow of a learning experience.

“I’d say that’s accurate,” affirms FCC general manager Chris Albright. “We’ve probably been the underdog every time we’ve played them. And this time, probably, we won’t be. At this juncture, I think we’ve earned that.”

The numbers trumpet it. FCC is 4-0-2, in first place in the Eastern Conference, while the Union sits at 2-3-1. Last year’s results speak, too. The Orange and Blue won their first game in the series and also drew the road matchup.

But the Union, from the start, were a side Cincinnati’s fans looked up to as if based on Olympus. Except when the fans got mad, that is. The latter happened in 2019, when some fans alleged suspiciously sharp practices on Philly’s part in a trade involving SuperDraft picks. But the former fixation, the Olympus one, lasted much longer and was much more empirically based.

While FCC won just 14 games over its first three seasons (2019-21), the Union claimed three points 44 times. The Union finished third, first and then second in the Eastern Conference. FCC’s record vs. Philly through ’21 was a bruised 0-5-1. The Union was a franchise known around the league for doing it right.

So the swagger was all for the Philly fans. The Union logo, with its powerfully coiled serpent, imbued the wearer with implicit bragging rights in certain establishments.

And as the ’21 season wound to a close, before it could be known that the ’22 Orange and Blue would actually do just fine, the “Little Brother” trope was birthed. Prior to the start of the season, FCC hired Albright, the Union technical director and former player. Two months later, Pat Noonan, a top assistant to Philly head coach Jim Curtin for those aforementioned 44 wins, was secured as FCC head coach. FCC indeed looked to be following a Philadelphia model.

So what, FCC fans would say now. The team dramatically improved with the Albright and Noonan hires, so who cares if they were promoted from posts at the Union?

Fair point. But even as FCC were proving itself a seriously good MLS squad throughout the ’22 season, the Union were still…