Major League Soccer

PRINCETON - The Independence missed out on a Women's Professional Soccer championship in 2011 by the narrowest margin possible - a penalty shootout loss in the title game. It turns out that was as close as the franchise will ever come. WPS announced Friday that it has fully shut down, dashing any lingering hopes held by fans of a rebound for the league after the London Olympics. The news came by way of an e-mail news release and a post on the league's Facebook page.

It has been declared on Page 2 by the estimable Mr. Gonzo that Major League Soccer is "a weak product of insufficient entertainment value. " I happen to disagree, but I also spend my winter watching Big Five basketball at the Palestra instead of the 76ers. To each his own, I say. So the question is: What do you think it would take for all of these apparently newfangled American soccer fans to also become fans of Major League Soccer? American fans probably aren't sold on the MLS for the same reason American fans don't watch the NBA's Development League or minor-league baseball: Because, like Page 2, it's not where the best players play.

When a proposed new professional soccer league last week announced a list of 29 cities that have expressed interest in having a team, Philadelphia was nowhere to be found. Philadelphia is trying to get on the list now. Belatedly, some people believe. Major League Soccer, the proposed circuit headed by Alan Rothenberg, the president of the United States Soccer Federation and chairman of the U.S. World Cup organizing committee, plans to start play with 12 teams in April 1995.

The Philadelphia area's chances for a pro soccer team hinge on the Pennsylvania legislature's approving a $40 million subsidy in the coming weeks, or else St. Louis is likely to get the nod, Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber said yesterday. At a news conference, Garber said the league hoped to award its 16th franchise this year, with two more in the future. On Monday, the league awarded its 15th franchise to a Seattle group. "St. Louis is considered a front- runner for future MLS expansion," Garber said, adding that he speaks with the prospective franchise owners almost daily.

Always the sport of the future, soccer may have arrived. Not everywhere. Not in Philadelphia. But the latest major soccer league, Major League Soccer, is up and running in 10 cities and bringing in the faithful. So many people showed up at the Rose Bowl (69,255) for the first game of the Los Angeles Galaxy that police were turning fans away because traffic was too heavy. Before their Giants Stadium opener (46,826), the New York-New Jersey MetroStars' phone system locked up. Last weekend, an old-time soccer fan looked around the parking lot at the Meadowlands and said it wasn't the same when he used to show up to watch Pele and the Cosmos.

The Columbus Crew opened their new stadium with a 2-0 victory over the New England Revolution in a Major League Soccer game last night. Jeff Cunningham and Stern John scored.

The Philadelphia Union, which begins its inaugural Major League Soccer season in March, yesterday named Reading United AC - formerly the Reading Rage - as its minor-league affiliate in this region. The Union will open the 2010 MLS season March 25 in Seattle. The club's home opener will be April 10 against D.C. United at Lincoln Financial Field.

The United States soccer team did more than uphold its share of the bargain. Now, the pressure is on Alan Rothenberg, president of World Cup USA 1994, and the rest of the U.S. Soccer Federation to run with the ball that has been handed to them. The U.S. Soccer Federation wanted to use the 1994 World Cup as its springboard for this country's proposed Major League Soccer, which is scheduled to start in April. Despite being eliminated by Brazil yesterday, 1-0, the U.S. team's successful run into the second round of the tournament could be just that boost - provided Rothenberg and company take advantage of it. "We said we would put on a great World Cup and use it to launch professional soccer in the United States," Rothenberg said.

The Union's home opener is set for March 18 at PPL Park, Major League Soccer has announced. The league revealed the home opening dates for each team, but did not provide opponents. MLS will have six games on March 10, two on March 11 and one on March 12. It is possible the Union would open on the road in one of those games. The entire regular-season schedule is expected to be released by the end of the year. Each club will play 34 games in the regular season.

Pump up those soccer balls and dust off the cleats - professional soccer is about to return to the Philadelphia region. Major League Soccer plans a 2 p.m. press conference in in Chester tomorrow to formally announce what The Inquirer reported last week - that the region has been awarded an expansion team. The as-yet-unnamed Philadelphia club will be the league's 16th team. The announcement is scheduled to be made at the Wharf at Rivertown, an office complex that links downtrodden Chester's past and future, located in what was once the Philadelphia Electric Co. station.

PRINCETON - The Independence missed out on a Women's Professional Soccer championship in 2011 by the narrowest margin possible - a penalty shootout loss in the title game. It turns out that was as close as the franchise will ever come. WPS announced Friday that it has fully shut down, dashing any lingering hopes held by fans of a rebound for the league after the London Olympics. The news came by way of an e-mail news release and a post on the league's Facebook page.

Just because the Union host a Mother's Day showdown against Major League Soccer rival New York Red Bulls on Sunday doesn't mean they are overlooking Wednesday's friendly against Schalke 04. They can't afford to. This isn't a preseason match for the German visitors, but rather a U.S. visit three days removed from a successful campaign in the top-flight Bundesliga. Schalke's third-place finish secured a Champions League spot next season as one of the best in Europe. Although not a household name in the States, Schalke is no joke, and the Union know it. The club features some of the world's premier talent, including Dutch midfielder Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and veteran Spanish forward Raúl Gonzalez Blanco (known worldwide by just his first name)

The Union had hoped to get off to a better start than 2-4-1, but there have been positives in this young Major League Soccer season, and among the most pleasant surprises has been the play of rookie defender Raymon Gaddis. Even the most ardent fans couldn't have predicted that this second-round draft choice, the No. 35 overall selection in the MLS draft, would make such a significant contribution. The 22-year-old former West Virginia University product will likely start his fourth consecutive game Saturday at Seattle (5-1-1)

The Union's home opener is set for March 18 at PPL Park, Major League Soccer has announced. The league revealed the home opening dates for each team, but did not provide opponents. MLS will have six games on March 10, two on March 11 and one on March 12. It is possible the Union would open on the road in one of those games. The entire regular-season schedule is expected to be released by the end of the year. Each club will play 34 games in the regular season.

Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber has presided since 1999 over the fastest-growing professional sports entity in the country. The league, which had 10 teams in 2004, will start next season with 19. And that's not the only number that has increased. MLS is drawing larger average crowds than the NHL or NBA - and outdrawing professional soccer leagues in Scotland, Brazil, and England. Television viewership is way up, and expansion fees have more than quadrupled since 2007. By next spring, more than three quarters of the league's teams, once largely unwelcome tenants in cavernous football stadiums, will be playing in new soccer-specific stadiums.

There's a new love in town, sports fans. Michelle Stella grew up with season tickets to the Eagles, and hasn't missed a home game in 10 years. But the Union, a soccer team in only its second season, have their first-ever MLS Cup playoff game, against the Houston Dynamo, on Sunday. Turns out, the Union play in the afternoon, and the Eagles play the Dallas Cowboys at night, so Stella's boyfriend will rush her from one game to the next. But when she thought she had to choose - there was no choice.

A NEW STUDY finds Major League Soccer has maintained high marks for its racial hiring practices but has slipped slightly when it comes to gender. The University of Central Florida's Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport released its Race and Gender Report Card and gave the MLS its second straight A grade for race and C-plus for gender, for a combined grade of B. The report shows that, like its professional sports counterparts, the MLS...

Soccer is on the brink of being huge in America. That's what they told us as we formed circles for passing drills on the Liberty Bell Youth Organization fields in Northeast Philadelphia, and as we watched the Atoms in a nearly empty Veterans Stadium. That was 1973. Soccer never quite got huge in the way everyone predicted, as a threat to the popularity of the four major-league sports. It is huge nonetheless. Millions of kids play. Technology allows fans to follow the really elite game as it is played in Europe and South America and Mexico.

Recently named U.S. Men's National Team soccer coach, Jurgen Klinsmann sees the strides soccer has made in this country, but understands that the next step is the biggest and most difficult. And it will all begin for Klinsmann in Philadelphia. Officially named last week to replace Bob Bradley, Klinsmann gets to run his first workouts on Monday and Tuesday in Philadelphia to prepare for Wednesday's 9 p.m. friendly at Lincoln Financial Field against Mexico. Two practices, one game, and Klinsmann is off and running, attempting to get the United States further in the 2014 World Cup after competing in the round of 16 in 2010.

MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER   Union (6-3-2) at Colorado (4-3-6) Saturday, 9 p.m., at Dick's Sporting Goods Park (TCN) Most recent game: The Union demolished Toronto FC last Saturday, 6-2. Colorado played visiting Sporting Kansas City to a 1-1 draw on Saturday. Outlook: The Union will be without Carlos Ruiz, who is playing with Guatemala's national team. Colorado is without three players who have national team commitments - Omar Cummings and Tyrone Marshall of Jamaica and Sanna Nyassi of Gambia.