Warning: You may feel old reading the newsletter today and recollecting about the last time Real Salt Lake came to town. A lot has changed in the almost six years since then and perhaps the most exciting change is the new brewhall making its debut tomorrow.

In the email today:

1.🧂Remember Real Salt Lake?

One of the unfortunate developments that has come out of rampant MLS expansion (gotta pay those bills with expansion fees) is that it’s a lot harder to follow the league as a whole and easy to forget teams even exist when your team goes long stretches without playing a team from the other conference. Like Real Salt Lake.

Real Salt Lake last came to Chester nearly six years ago and were blown out 4-1. It was the first and only time the Union have beaten RSL and they paid for it at altitude with a 4-1 loss in Sandy a year later in 2019.

The lineup (in a 4-2-3-1 of course) for the Union’s last meeting with RSL in Chester is fun to look back on:

RSL comes to town in great form with two straight clean sheets and an on fire Chico Arango, who is an early frontrunner for league MVP with 14 goal contributions in 9 games.

It’s been a while since the Union have played at home but with two games against Western Conference opponents in four days (Seattle will be back to play 85 minutes on Tuesday) it is a great time for the Union to build some more momentum for the home fans as the weather (finally, hopefully?) warms.

The match is at 7:30 but you’ll want to get there early if you’re going to check out the new Union Yards.

2. 🍺 Union Yards Sneak Peek

Union Yards was opened up for a special VIP sneak peek on Thursday afternoon with Phang, Jim Curtin and the first team players test driving the new brewhall space off Reaney Street.

The hall with indoor and outdoor space is the latest fulfillment of a long term version for the transformation of the campus surrounding Subaru Park.

“We've heard for years it’d be great to have spots pregame and postgame around the stadium to go to and we the Larimer next door and they've done a nice job so and we have the Sons of Ben here now so this is the next thing and hopefully more and more developers, companies, restaurants and entrepreneurs want to be here,” said Union President Tim McDermott. “There's a lot of opportunity in this area, in this region. This should be a really cool fan experience.”

McDermott refers to Reaney Street as a gateway to the stadium campus, which now also includes the WSFS Bank Sportsplex that opened phase one earlier this year and has plans to open a fieldhouse and academy building in the next year.

“The WSFS Sportsplex here is a game-changer,” McDermott said. “Now you have people here every night.”

Officials from Dogfish Brewery and GIANT, both partners in the venture, and Chester Mayor Stefan Roots were on hand for the occasion Thursday.

“I love coming to the games, I'm gonna love coming here,” Roots said in his remarks. “If nothing else, it's the best tap I've seen in the city.”

Curtin did the honors of pouring the first drink and players autographed boots in the GIANT Boot Room, a private dining area with a wall adorned with adidas cleats.

3. 🕺🏻 Tweet of the Day: Dancing with the Phang

4. 💧 Water Cooler: What To Do With Tai Baribo

5. 🔗 Link Roundup

• The latest chapter in the ongoing Soccerwarz takes us to Indianapolis where the mayor caused a stir talking up the possibility of an MLS team in the circle city.

• Sebastien Le Toux will be guest bartending at Union Yards tomorrow.

• The Doopy Brothers hiatus ended with a new episode and it’s a fun journey as usual into the minds of our favorite brother duo.

• The Union fanbase becoming Monterrey fans has been one of the more unpredictable storylines of the season so far.

• Speaking of the WSFS Bank Sportsplex. CASA Soccer League is running adult leagues and pickup events down there worth checking out. The next pickup scheduled is Thursday, May 2 from 8:30-10 p.m.

Philadelphia Union One Planet Pre-Match Jersey Now Available. Order at the MLS Store.

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