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News June 27, 2010 Chester ready for big leagues with debut of Union today By JOHN KOPP jkopp@delcotimes.com CHESTER — For soccer fans throughout Delaware County, today marks the date they’ve eagerly anticipated since Major League Soccer announced Chester would field an expansion team. For Chester residents, the opening of PPL Park offers a glimmer of hope following several weeks of turmoil that have the city under a state of emergency. About 18,500 people will flock to the stadium, located along the city’s riverfront, for the Philadelphia Union’s 5 p.m. game against the Seattle Sounders. The fans hope to gain a memorable experience; the city, a little commerce. “This has been two, three, four years of hard work by a lot of great individuals who pulled together as a team and made this happen,” said Dave DeBusschere, Union executive vice president and chief financial officer. “To see it actually come to fruition this weekend has brought tears to many people’s eyes. It’s really special. I’m really excited for the people. This is the people’s stadium for Delaware County and Chester. The jobs that are getting created and the industry it’s going to bring to the region is just phenomenal.” Tickets for the game sold out in less than five minutes and DeBusschere said many other games are filling up quickly. He doesn’t anticipate the team having many, if any, walk-up tickets available during the season. That falls in line with the team’s first two home games, which each drew more than 25,000 to Lincoln Financial Field. But as successful as those games were, this is the moment the team and the Sons of Ben fan group has been awaiting. And they plan to make it quite a housewarming party. “It’s going to be real loud, we’re going to make sure of that,” Springfield’s Matt Thornton, a member of the Sons of Ben, said Thursday at a team pep rally in Media. “We’re going to defend the river end, as they say.” Perhaps the biggest question concerning the opening of the stadium is what effect the state of emergency will have on those attending this game and those on July 10 and July 17. DeBusschere said the city’s decision to place Chester under a state of emergency did not put a damper on the stadium’s opening, adding that the Union backed the city. “We’re behind the city full-speed,” DeBusschere said. “The city has a great plan in place. They have great people running the city and, really, we don’t expect any hiccups with respect to us.” DeBusschere did not directly answer a question regarding the amount of security expected at Sunday’s game, saying, “This is something we’ve been working with the city on, we don’t expect any issues.” Thornton said, among fans, he hasn’t heard any concerns regarding the state of emergency and the opening of PPL Park. “I haven’t heard any concerns through the message boards online and people talking about it,” Thornton said. “Everybody seems really excited to be down there. They love the position of the stadium right next to the Commodore Barry Bridge. It seems like they’re going to be able to get people down there and they’re going to have a great environment down there. It really is part of the grander scheme of trying to revitalize the waterfront and all the construction projects that they’ve been planning.” The revitalization aspect brought a smile to several Chester residents Thursday. They haven’t had much to smile about recently, as a series of homicides forced Mayor Wendell N. Butler Jr. to enact a five-night state of emergency, which City Council then extended an additional 30 nights at its meeting Wednesday. Some residents complained that Butler only called for a state of emergency because of the stadium’s opening, an accusation Butler has consistently denied. Hillary Davis was among a handful of Chester residents happy to see Chester being cast in a positive light after days and days of massive media coverage regarding violence and the state of emergency that ensued. “We need something positive,” Davis said Thursday outside Chester’s swimming pool. “That’s one positive thing I can say they’ve done so far aside from fixing the housing projects.” “We need it so bad,” she said, adding that she backs the mayor. “The city needs it so bad.” Davis has witnessed directly the impact the stadium has had on jobs, as her grandson, Ahkiye Cobb, works at the stadium’s concession stands. “I think it will open up a lot more opportunities for our youth,” Davis said. “Chester residents, we need some class.” While the city hopes the stadium brings in revenue, its residents want to share in the fun inside, too. Demetrius Hunter and David Henry said they know several residents excited to check out the stadium. “That thing is going to be packed,” Hunter said. “I know a lot of people who like to play soccer.” Though Chester is known for its superb high school basketball teams, Henry said there’s a number of youth interested in soccer and that he hoped the Union would schedule some community events in Chester and bring out some of their players. “We have basketball, baseball, everything,” David Henry said. “Kids love to play soccer, though.” “This is something for us to look forward to,” Jim Swiggert of Chester said at the Union rally. “It brings some new adventures. I think this will be a big deal for our youth in the city and county.”

News
June 27, 2010

Chester ready for big leagues with debut of Union today
By JOHN KOPP
jkopp@delcotimes.com

CHESTER — For soccer fans throughout Delaware County, today marks the date they’ve eagerly anticipated since Major League Soccer announced Chester would field an expansion team.

For Chester residents, the opening of PPL Park offers a glimmer of hope following several weeks of turmoil that have the city under a state of emergency.

About 18,500 people will flock to the stadium, located along the city’s riverfront, for the Philadelphia Union’s 5 p.m. game against the Seattle Sounders. The fans hope to gain a memorable experience; the city, a little commerce.

“This has been two, three, four years of hard work by a lot of great individuals who pulled together as a team and made this happen,” said Dave DeBusschere, Union executive vice president and chief financial officer. “To see it actually come to fruition this weekend has brought tears to many people’s eyes. It’s really special. I’m really excited for the people. This is the people’s stadium for Delaware County and Chester. The jobs that are getting created and the industry it’s going to bring to the region is just phenomenal.”

Tickets for the game sold out in less than five minutes and DeBusschere said many other games are filling up quickly. He doesn’t anticipate the team having many, if any, walk-up tickets available during the season. That falls in line with the team’s first two home games, which each drew more than 25,000 to Lincoln Financial Field.

But as successful as those games were, this is the moment the team and the Sons of Ben fan group has been awaiting. And they plan to make it quite a housewarming party.

“It’s going to be real loud, we’re going to make sure of that,” Springfield’s Matt Thornton, a member of the Sons of Ben, said Thursday at a team pep rally in Media. “We’re going to defend the river end, as they say.”

Perhaps the biggest question concerning the opening of the stadium is what effect the state of emergency will have on those attending this game and those on July 10 and July 17.

DeBusschere said the city’s decision to place Chester under a state of emergency did not put a damper on the stadium’s opening, adding that the Union backed the city.

“We’re behind the city full-speed,” DeBusschere said. “The city has a great plan in place. They have great people running the city and, really, we don’t expect any hiccups with respect to us.”

DeBusschere did not directly answer a question regarding the amount of security expected at Sunday’s game, saying, “This is something we’ve been working with the city on, we don’t expect any issues.”

Thornton said, among fans, he hasn’t heard any concerns regarding the state of emergency and the opening of PPL Park.

“I haven’t heard any concerns through the message boards online and people talking about it,” Thornton said. “Everybody seems really excited to be down there. They love the position of the stadium right next to the Commodore Barry Bridge. It seems like they’re going to be able to get people down there and they’re going to have a great environment down there. It really is part of the grander scheme of trying to revitalize the waterfront and all the construction projects that they’ve been planning.”

The revitalization aspect brought a smile to several Chester residents Thursday. They haven’t had much to smile about recently, as a series of homicides forced Mayor Wendell N. Butler Jr. to enact a five-night state of emergency, which City Council then extended an additional 30 nights at its meeting Wednesday.

Some residents complained that Butler only called for a state of emergency because of the stadium’s opening, an accusation Butler has consistently denied.

Hillary Davis was among a handful of Chester residents happy to see Chester being cast in a positive light after days and days of massive media coverage regarding violence and the state of emergency that ensued.

“We need something positive,” Davis said Thursday outside Chester’s swimming pool. “That’s one positive thing I can say they’ve done so far aside from fixing the housing projects.”

“We need it so bad,” she said, adding that she backs the mayor. “The city needs it so bad.”

Davis has witnessed directly the impact the stadium has had on jobs, as her grandson, Ahkiye Cobb, works at the stadium’s concession stands.

“I think it will open up a lot more opportunities for our youth,” Davis said. “Chester residents, we need some class.”

While the city hopes the stadium brings in revenue, its residents want to share in the fun inside, too.

Demetrius Hunter and David Henry said they know several residents excited to check out the stadium.

“That thing is going to be packed,” Hunter said. “I know a lot of people who like to play soccer.”

Though Chester is known for its superb high school basketball teams, Henry said there’s a number of youth interested in soccer and that he hoped the Union would schedule some community events in Chester and bring out some of their players.

“We have basketball, baseball, everything,” David Henry said. “Kids love to play soccer, though.”

“This is something for us to look forward to,” Jim Swiggert of Chester said at the Union rally. “It brings some new adventures. I think this will be a big deal for our youth in the city and county.”