The Philadelphia Independence was an American 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 ...

club that was based in the

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

suburb of

Chester, Pennsylvania Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. Located within the Philadelphia Metropolitan Area, it is the only city in Delaware County and had a population of 32,605 as of the 2020 census. Incorporated in 1682, Chester is ...

. The team joined

Women's Professional Soccer Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) was the top-level professional women's soccer league in the United States. It began play on March 29, 2009. The league was composed of seven teams for its first two seasons and fielded six teams for the 2011 sea ...

as an expansion team in 2010 and played its home games at

West Chester University West Chester University (also known as West Chester, WCU, or WCUPA, and officially as West Chester University of Pennsylvania) is a public research university in and around West Chester, Pennsylvania. The university is accredited by the Middle ...

John A. Farrell Stadium John A. Farrell Stadium is a stadium in West Chester, Pennsylvania. It is primarily used by the West Chester University of Pennsylvania Golden Rams football and track & field teams. The stadium was also the temporary home of the Philadelphia In ...

. The team played at

Widener University Widener University is a private university in Chester, Pennsylvania. The university has three other campuses: two in Pennsylvania (Harrisburg and Exton) and one in Wilmington, Delaware. Founded as The Bullock School for Boys in 1821, the school ...

's Leslie Quick Stadium in 2011. The

league folded on May 18, 2012, after an earlier announcement that the 2012 season would be suspended.

History

Women's Professional Soccer formally announced the Philadelphia market as its eighth franchise on March 17, 2009. Two months later, the Independence formally unveiled its name and colors at the

Franklin Institute The Franklin Institute is a science museum and the center of science education and research in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is named after the American scientist and statesman Benjamin Franklin. It houses the Benjamin Franklin National Memori ...

in Center City. The "Independence" name referred to the

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the ...

, adopted at

Independence Hall Independence Hall is a historic civic building in Philadelphia, where both the United States Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were debated and adopted by America's Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Fa ...

on July 4, 1776. The official motto was "We the People", referring to the

Preamble to the United States Constitution The Preamble to the United States Constitution, beginning with the words We the People, is a brief introductory statement of the Constitution's fundamental purposes and guiding principles. Courts have referred to it as reliable evidence o ...

. The Independence succeeded the former

Philadelphia Charge The Philadelphia Charge was an American women's professional soccer 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 ...

of the defunct

Women's United Soccer Association The Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) was the world's first Women's association football, women's soccer league in which all the players were paid as professionals. Founded in February 2000 in sports, 2000, the league began its first se ...

2010 season

In the inaugural season, the Independence finished the regular season as the league's three seed, then won two playoff games in overtime to advance to the WPS Championship. The Independence defeated Washington Freedom at home in the Quarterfinal, then won at Boston in the WPS Super Semifinal. In the championship, the Independence were defeated by FC Gold Pride.

2011 season

In the 2011 season, the Independence finished the regular season as the league's two seed, then won the WPS Super Semifinal 2-0 over the magicJack to advance to the WPS Championship. Goals were scored by Tasha Kai 46' and Amy Rodriguez 81'. The Independence faced the Western New York Flash for the WPS Championship where they lost by penalty shootout 1(5) - 1(4).

Colors and badge

The Independence's colors were steel grey, alluding to the city’s industrial history; pearl blue, derived from the civic flag of Philadelphia and further symbolizing the city’s

blue-collar A blue-collar worker is a working class person who performs manual labor. Blue-collar work may involve skilled or unskilled labor. The type of work may involving manufacturing, warehousing, mining, excavation, electricity generation and powe ...

heritage; and blazing yellow, representing the

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

immigrants who first came to the city in 1638. The Independence unveiled its brand on July 4, 2009, to commemorate

American Independence Day Independence Day (colloquially the Fourth of July) is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the Declaration of Independence, which was ratified by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, establishing the United States ...

. The primary logo's contour was a stylized keystone, an architectural shape that referred to

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

's official nickname, "The Keystone State." This nickname alluded to the commonwealth's economic, social, and political relevance in the original

Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies, also known as the Thirteen British Colonies, the Thirteen American Colonies, or later as the United Colonies, were a group of Kingdom of Great Britain, British Colony, colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America. Fo ...

. An eighteenth-century

war flag A war flag, also known as a military flag, battle flag, or standard, is a variant of a national flag for use by a country's military forces when on land. The nautical equivalent is a naval ensign. Under the strictest sense of the term, few countri ...

, featuring the team's name and motto, is superimposed across the shield.

Stadium

PPL Park before Independence Playoff Game 2010

For the 2010 season, the club played at

. For 2011, it played its home games at

's Leslie Quick Stadium in

. The Independence elected to utilize

PPL Park Subaru Park (formerly known as PPL Park and Talen Energy Stadium) is a soccer-specific stadium located in Chester, Pennsylvania, located next to the Commodore Barry Bridge on the waterfront along the Delaware River. The venue is home to the Ph ...

to host playoff games in 2011. The Independence practiced and held preseason games at their training home, United Sports, in

West Bradford Township, Pennsylvania West Bradford Township is a township in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 12,376 at the 2010 census. History There are three federal historic districts ( Marshallton, Trimbleville, and Northbrook) on the National ...

Supporters

Grassroots support was instrumental in bringing top-tier women's professional soccer back to the Philadelphia area. The Philadelphia Independence masterfully cultivated relationships with Philadelphia-area girls' travel soccer teams, offering workshops all over the region with Independence players at reasonable costs, sending emails about games, inviting teams to have a formal relationship with the Independence, having local girls' teams on the field for the teams' introductions at every game, and having all players on the field for an extensive post-game autograph and conversation time after every game. The formal grassroots support group for the Independence was nicknamed "The Cheesesteaks". For men's soccer, this backing came in the form of a supporters' association known as the Sons of Ben, named for Founding Father and Philadelphia icon

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

, founded in January 2007. The Sons of Ben petitioned the men's

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

league to expand to the Philadelphia market until the official expansion announcement of the men's team, later named the

Philadelphia Union The Philadelphia Union are an American professional soccer club based in Chester, Pennsylvania. The Union compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Founded on February 28, 2008, the club began playing in 201 ...

, was made in January 2008.

Players

2012 roster

(2012 draft pick) (2012 draft pick) (2012 draft pick) (2012 draft pick)

Free agents

Coaching staff

:''As of April 7, 2009.'' Paul Riley, Steven Fraser and Skip Thorp were selected as coaches for the 2010 WPS All-Star game held in Atlanta. Paul Riley was voted the WPS Coach of the Year in 2010 for his team's third place regular season performance as an expansion franchise and subsequent playoff berth.

Year-by-year

Ownership

The Philadelphia Independence was owned and operated by David and Linda Halstead. The Halsteads purchased the franchise from WPS in March 2009 and orchestrated the team's success in both 2010 and 2011 seasons (they never won a championship, but were runners-up both years). Their first coach was Paul Riley. After the league folded in 2012, the name stopped being used.

League suspension

On January 30, 2012,

announced suspension of the 2012 season, citing several internal organization struggles as the primary cause. Some of these included an ongoing legal battle with an ex-franchise owner and the lack of resources invested into the league.

References

External links

{{Pennsylvania Sports Association football clubs established in 2009 Soccer clubs in Pennsylvania I Women's Professional Soccer teams Women's soccer clubs in the United States 2009 establishments in Pennsylvania 2012 disestablishments in Pennsylvania Association football clubs disestablished in 2012