Nick Sakiewicz

Manchester United, the New York Yankees of soccer, will come to Philadelphia to face the Union. The defending English Premier League champion will play the Major League Soccer team on July 21 at Lincoln Financial Field. The Union's MLS match at Colorado, originally scheduled for that date, will be moved to Sept. 29. The game will be the second stop on a four-city tour for Manchester United. The team will play Celtic FC on July 16 in Toronto and MLS' Wizards on July 25 in Kansas City.

In his office on the top floor of the old Delaware County Electric power plant along the river in Chester, Philadelphia Union chief executive officer and managing partner Nick Sakiewicz points to a photo of the December 2008 groundbreaking at PPL Park just down the block. "I was in such pain right there," Sakiewicz said as he glanced at the photo of himself with another Union partner. "I hugged him and whispered in his ear, 'I've got to get out of here.' " Sakiewicz assumed his acute lower-back pain was familiar, from his days as a goalkeeper.

When PPL Park was being built, Philadelphia Union fans imagined what it could become: a grand soccer locus that routinely hosted large crowds. That came to be. Now fans may need to envision the year-old stadium in a new way: bigger. Union officials are developing long-term plans to expand the arena, contemplating a three-phase process, the first to increase seating from 18,500 to 20,000. If all goes well, that construction could start in 2014, according to team chief executive officer Nick Sakiewicz.

Philabundance, a nonprofit organization that provides emergency food and services to area residents throughout the Philadelphia region, has named Michelle Hong chair. She is an attorney and director of wealth planning at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. New board members include: Bassam Awadalla, a consumer market executive at Bank of America; Dianne Elderkin, a partner at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, L.L.P.; Joseph A. Tedesco, senior vice president and regional sales manager at First Niagara Bank; and D. Michael Wilson, president of FMC Corp.; and Aaron R. Krauss, a partner at Cozen O'Connor.

For the second year in a row an international soccer power has decided to showcase its skills against the Union in Philadelphia while making a limited U.S. tour. A year ago, England's Manchester United played the Union at Lincoln Financial Field. And now, as announced two weeks ago, Spain's Real Madrid will be coming to the Linc on July 23 to play a friendly against the Union. Philadelphia was among four stops for Manchester United last year in its North American tour. Real Madrid will end a three-game U.S. trip in Philadelphia after playing in Los Angeles on July 7 and San Diego on July 20. So why is Philadelphia such a desirable stop?

Peter Nowak, an assistant coach for the U.S. men's national team and head coach of the under-23 squad, has been named team manager of Philadelphia's new entry in Major League Soccer, the Union. Nowak will serve as coach and general manager. The 44-year-old, who was not available for comment yesterday, will be introduced at a news conference this afternoon. "For me, Peter was our No. 1 candidate from day one and we worked very hard to try to bring him to Philadelphia," said Nick Sakiewicz, the Union's chief executive officer and operating partner.

WHILE PPL PARK is in the running to host the 2012 MLS All-Star Game, the decision to award the stadium hosting rights has not been etched in stone, contrary to a recent Internet report that the Union already won the bid. The Union-centric soccer blog "Broad Street Hooligans" claimed (and then retracted, somewhat) that someone connected to the stadium witnessed a cellphone text to a Union official that the club was awarded the match, to be played on Aug. 1. But nothing is official, according to Union CEO and managing partner Nick Sakiewicz.

A City Hall news conference on Tuesday involving Mayor Nutter and officials from Major League Soccer and the Union is expected to make official what multiple league sources have confirmed to Philly.com: that the Union will be hosting the 2012 MLS All-Star Game next summer. MLS and Union officials would not comment, but in addition to Nutter, MLS commissioner Don Garber, Chester mayor John Linder and Union CEO and operating partner Nick Sakiewicz are scheduled to be among attending the news conference.

FORMER UNION manager Peter Nowak endangered his players, created a hostile work environment and was insubordinate to his superiors, according to his letter of termination, a copy of which was obtained by the Daily News. The letter from Pennsylvania Professional Soccer LLC also claims that during his time as manager, Nowak showed little regard for player safety, specifically noting that he directed "strenuous training activities" in excessive heat, denying players access to water.

The Philadelphia Union officially introduced Peter Nowak as its first coach and general manager yesterday at The Wharf at Rivertown in Chester, handing him a multi-year contract and the reigns to an expansion franchise scheduled to make its Major League Soccer debut in March, 2010. "I don't believe in words. I believe in hard work," Nowak said at his first news conference. "That's how teams have played when I've coached them. This is what we intend to do with this team. " Nowak, 44, will function both as the Union's head coach and general manager, mimicking what Union chairman Jay Sugarman called a "European model," which allows coaches to be involved directly in acquiring the talent they eventually will coach on the field.