The Philadelphia Charge was an American women's professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

team that played in the Women's United Soccer Association. The team played at Villanova Stadium on the campus of Villanova University near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

History

In spring of 2000, the newly formed Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) announced eight cities were granted franchises to start the league, including Philadelphia. Most of the inaugural teams were owned by major media companies, with the new Philadelphia club operated by locally headquartered Comcast Corporation who invested an initial $5 million into WUSA. In November 2000, the club's name and logo was officially announced as the Philadelphia Charge and would play home matches at Villanova Stadium. The logo for the Charge incorporated the Comcast Corp. "C" as part of its marketing efforts. The Charge began preparations for the first team with a 15-person front office and was supported by the Comcast-Spector organization for stadium operations, marketing, promotions, tickets, and merchandise. By late 2000, the Charge had announced that University of Hartford women's soccer coach,

Mark Krikorian Mark Krikorian has been the executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, an anti-immigration think-tank in Washington, D. C., since 1995. Krikorian is a regular contributor to the conservative publication ''National Re ...

, would be appointed the first head coach of the team. Prior to the start of the season, Krikorian would bring on former Swedish international Pia Sundhage and John Natale as assistant coaches.

2001 season

The Charge would begin their first campaign lead by American forward Lorrie Fair, German defender Doris Fitschen, and English forward Kelly Smith. Finishing the inaugural season in fourth, the Charge advanced to the WUSA semi-final playoff match, losing to Atlanta Beat 3–2.

2002 season

Building on their first season, the Charge finished second in the standings for the regular season and lead the league in defense with fewest goals conceded (22). This season also featured the signing of

Marinette Pichon Marinette Pichon (born 26 November 1975) is a French former football player. Biography Pichon had a dysfunctional childhood with an alcoholic father. Career She started her career at Saint-Memmie Olympique, then signed on to the Women' ...

, who lead the team in scoring and earning Most Valuable Player and Offensive Player of the Year awards. Similar to the first season, the Charge lost in the semi-finals, this time to

Washington Freedom Washington Freedom was an American professional soccer club based in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Germantown, Maryland, that participated in Women's Professional Soccer. The Freedom was founded in 2001 as a member of the defunct Women's Unite ...

also won WUSA Coach of the Year honors from the successful regular season.

2003 season

The Charge's final season featured the team's worst record, finishing last (eighth) in the WUSA regular season standings. This season also began the career of future national team goalkeeper, Hope Solo, who made her professional debut in the Charge's first win of the season at New York Power.

Stadium

The Charged played all their home matches at Villanova Stadium, located in Villanova, Pennsylvania. The 12,500 capacity stadium was the only WUSA stadium utilizing artificial turf. The Charge players, coaches and front office representatives took part in upgraded turf unveiling ahead of the 2002 season.

Players

Several notable U.S. Women's National Team stars made their pro debuts with the Charge, including defender Heather Mitts (2001-2003) and goalkeeper Hope Solo, who appeared in 8 matches as a rookie backup goalkeeper in 2003. Other notables included French international

, who won the 2002 WUSA Most Valuable Player award for the Charge, and English star Kelly Smith. 2003 Roster Coach:

Year-by-year

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Awards

In 2001, Philadelphia Charge player, Doris Fitschen was named WUSA Defender of the Year. In 2002, Philadelphia Charge player,

was named WUSA's Most Valuable Player and Offensive Player of the Year and was the co-recipient with Mia Hamm for Goal of the Year for a scissor kick volley against the

San Diego Spirit The San Diego Spirit was a professional soccer team that played in the Women's United Soccer Association. The team played at Torero Stadium on the campus of the University of San Diego in San Diego, California. The team began play in 2001. The l ...

. Goalkeeper Melissa Moore was awarded Goalkeeper of the Year and Stacey Tullock was named Rookie of the Year. Coach

took the honor of WUSA Coach of the Year the same year. In 2003, the Charge was awarded the WUSA Team Fair Play Award and defender,

Jenny Benson Jennifer Lee Spiehs (; born January 25, 1978) is a retired American soccer midfielder/ defender who was a member of the United States women's national soccer team The United States women's national soccer team (USWNT) represents the United S ...

, was named WUSA Humanitarian of the Year.

League Suspension

The Women's United Soccer Association announced on September 15, 2003 that it was suspending operations.

References

External links

Philadelphia Charge website (archive.org)
{{Women's United Soccer Association Defunct soccer clubs in Pennsylvania Women's soccer clubs in the United States Charge C Soccer clubs in Pennsylvania Women's United Soccer Association teams 2000 establishments in Pennsylvania 2003 disestablishments in Pennsylvania Association football clubs disestablished in 2003 Association football clubs established in 2000