Okay Philadelphia MLS fans, it is time to vote.
The Philadelphia Inquirer/Daily News is hosting the official ballot to name the 2010 MLS franchise in Philadelphia. The four choices are the same ones revealed two weeks ago, along with a write-in category that voters can chose to select something different.
More than 3,600 votes were cast in SBI's informal poll on naming the Philly team, and it was a very close race. Philadelphia City won the SBI voting with 30 percent of the voting while AC Philadelphia (27 percent) and Philadelphia Union (26 percent) followed closely behind. Philadelphia SC drew the least support among SBI readers with just 14 percent of the vote. In case you missed my previous endorsement, I am sticking with Philadelphia City as my favorite choice for the name.
Now that you have had some time to digest the choices for a Philly team name which name do you think should be chosen? Which would get your vote today? Which would make you the least happy? What write-in vote do you see making some noise?
Share your thoughts on the Philadelphia MLS team name vote below.
“Brothers of Philadelphia”
in honor of the city of brotherly love
Philadelphia Athletic. I doubt you could go wrong with taking the names of defunct baseball teams for new MLS teams. Philadelphia As, STL Browns etc.
I’m writing in Independence FC or Philadelphia Independents SC. Seems like a good compromise between old world and new. Kind of a nod to Independiente or even FC Internazionale as well as Philly tradition.
I’m really not feeling City at all. I find it ironic that in a quest for something traditional/legitimizing/whatever, City supporters have chosen a name that could not possibly sound more artificial and out of place…okay, Real Philadelphia would be worse, but not much.
Come on guys! Philadelphia City? Real Salt Lake? AC Philadelphia? We’re not taking this far enough!
-Rushden & Diamonds Philadelphia
-Queens Park Philadelphia
-Philadelphia Phorest
-MK Dons Philadephia
-The Philadelphia Manchester Uniteds
WE STUPID AMERICANS NEED TO LEARN TO GO WITH THE FLOW AND STICK WITH TRADITION!! THESE ARE THE NAMES WE SHOULD BE DEBATING!!
To answer the question about preferred name of the Sons of Ben, it is Philadelphia City. At least that’s what I was told when I emailed them. I hate the name. But out of respect for the supporters, I’m simply not going to vote.
I prefer something like “Independence FC” or something. I think Seattle would have sounded great as “Emerald City” too.
Philadelphia Commodores! Please write this in! The Commodore Barry Bridge, which hovers over the teams’ stadium in Chester, is named after a Philadelphia Revolutionary War hero who became the U.S.’s very first commissioned naval officer. There are other names, but no better ones.
Cheesesteak FC, AC Philly, Liberty SC
Hard to come up with “good” team names off the top.
kaka staying at milan.
Philadelphia Independence is terrible. That’s the kind of terrible name MLS started with in 1996 and have been trying to get rid of.
Seattle Sounders is cool because “Sounders” is a unique, interesting name. To me, Seattle Sounders has the same effect as Tottenham Hotspur.
Independence is just a word that doesn’t really mean anything in this context. If you were stuck on that name, the Independents would make more sense.
Sports teams should not be named after concepts like Independence or Revolution.
I am going with AC Philadelphia. Something different than all the other clubs in MLS. Also, Philadelphia City just sounds too plain.
I think that the write-in vote that will get the most recognition will be Philadelphia Athletic.
ugh sc, please not sc, fc always over sc. i would have to vote for ac
Philadelphia Franklins
anyone have a link to landon’s goal vs kaiserslatern?
philly independents?
jk- philly sc is my vote
If you are going to name a club (city name) City, you should at least be actually playing games in that city. so I would also go with Chester City
I nominate the name: “Philly Cheese steak”.
So, I don’t care one way or the other, I just want to vote for what the sons of ben want it to be, as it is really their team. DOes anyone know if they’re shooting for a write in a la seattle?
Sorry about the double post
Philadelphia Freedom
Sincerely,
Elton John
I feel that Philadelphia Independence SC is the best since Athletic can’t be used (though it still makes no sense to me why they can’t use it without the S on the end)
I was always mad that Houston 1845 never stuck around but I know it had a recist conotation to sum.
Philadelphia Union would have been my choice if there was no write in.
Philadelphia Freedom
Sincerely,
Elton John
ac is fine as long as they make it clear that ac stands for “athletic club”, not “asocion… calcio”
assuming ac wins, it should be known as “athletic club of philadelphia”, shortened to “ac philadelphia”.
look at it this way, i would assume the most likely colors of this team are light blue and yellow… same as the city flag of philly and its the colors that the sons of ben use. if they use the “city” name, and go for those colors, the team will look like horrible man city wannabes. think about it, philly fans, is that what you really want with your new team? to be a wannabe manchester city? regardless of who owns them at the moment, manchester city has one of the most tortured fanbases in football history. these guys make spurs supporters look like yankees fans. they are the cubs of the premier league without the glamour. not an image you want to invoke.
How about the Schuykill Sludge?
With all due respect, Philadelphia City is the stupidest thing i’ve ever heard.
…Ok, not “RSL” stupid, but still…
Philadelphia Love!
This naming poll is a perfect situation for using what is called Approval Voting. Every voter gets to cast a ballot for each team name they like. The winner is the one with the most votes. This is far more likely to identify the name preferred by most voters than casting a vote for only one name. For example, say voter’s like two of the names, but hate one of the other two. With only one vote each, they must weigh not only which of the two names they prefer the most, they must also think about which of them is likely to beat the one they hate. If the two preferred names end up splitting their votes, a minority of voters who prefer the hated name may win with considerably less than half the vote, but more than the other two. Approval voting identifies the name preferred by the most people.
I’m surprised you have such poor taste Ives. “City”? Really? That would be just as poseur as Real Salt Lake! They don’t even play in the city and are not trying to distinguish themselves from another club in Philly. Really Ives I’m shocked you support that name.
Do we really want to curse Philidelphia with a name that is so associated with mediocrity in “City”.
I’m in agreement with cam. If MLS wants to start taking ownership for itself as an American soccer league instead of a European wannabe league then it should stop using rip-off European club names (like real salt lake), which in some cases, like “Philadelphia City,” wouldn’t even make sense. I could understand the trend a few years ago when MLS was trying to bring in American fans of European footie, but let’s not push it. I agree that ‘Philadelphia Athletic’ is a great name not only because it sounds like a soccer team but it reflects Philadelphia’s past. Philadelphia SC would be good too since the letters actually reflect words we use in English (unlike ‘FC’ or ‘AC’). What would AC Philadelphia be short for? Assosiazione Calcio Philadelphia? MLS is not an Italian league. Philadelphia SC (Soccer Team) or even ST (Soccer Team) would be more appropriate for a US team.
I am american and I call it football…
FC or SC either works for me…
like smits said….
Philadelphia(nickname) FC/SC
I’m really hoping Independence wins the write-in. I voted for it too.
Otherwise, I’d go with Union. They can combine S.C. on the end of either of these.
I wrote in Philadelphia Independence. That’s my choice and I’m sticking to it!!! All the others were so-so. I just couldn’t choose. Thus I wrote in the name that has been spat about and is the one that seems most appropriate.
I’m in for a “something SC”.
I think the Seattle model is good, so Philadelphia [insert team name] SC would be desirable if I has Philly rooting interests. The Philadelphia Continentals SC has a good ring to it if you ask me. But so long as it doesn’t have an “FC” in it I’m cool, no American calls the sport football, we call it soccer thus SC must replace FC in all team names.
NO CITY! the team is going to play in chester, not philly itself. manchester city is called “city” because they actually play in the city of manchester, as opposed to manchester united who play in old trafford, just outside of the city of manchester. the name “philadelphia city” would be as artificial as “real salt lake”. we really need to stop trying to push euro style names on our teams when they don’t fit.
the name “athletic” is perfect. it is a name that has been used in the city before… the philadelphia athletics, who are now the oakland a’s.
union is dumb, we already have (dc) united, and the crew already have a shout out to workers so no need to overdo that. sc works fine, but not as well as athletic.
ac philadelphia. colors should be light blue accented with yellow, away shirt should be white.
Like “Steve” or “Brad” ?
I wrote in Philadelphia Athletic, but I’d read somewhere that it is unlikely to be that name since MLB still sells memorabilia and has the Philadelphia Athletics name copyrighted.
After that, probably Philadelphia City would be my choice. At first I hated AC, but I guess in a way that would be calling them Athletic. I would just hope it be Philadelphia AC instead of AC Philadelphia.
Is there a growing sentiment in Philly over a name other than these 4?
Chester Molesters, FTW!
But for real, wouldn’t that team being called “Philadelphia City” be just as laughable as us being “New York”?
I will be stuffing the digital ballot box with votes for “Union”, because I hate this team already, and want them to sound as horrible as possible.
I like that Brian.
As a born and raised New Yorker, I think the team name should be “Shrill Bastards” or “Chips on Shoulders”.
ANd thus a new rivalry with Philly sports teams has begun!
How about an American name?
What does Sons of Ben want?
Shortbus FC
Sorry was a little bit off topic. I vote for Chester City
Hey Landon scores. Kaiserslautern -Bayern 0:2
Deportivo Filadelfia.
(I’m trying to get us off aping the English model and onto the Latin-American-naming bandwagon).
Brian
Ives,
You have Philadelphia Union receiving both 26% & 14% in your poll. I think it should be Philadphia SC at 14%.
Philadelphia City all the way! If not, I could see them adding AC or SC to the end of the Union nickname (making it Philadelphia Union AC/SC).