When the Union host New York Red Bulls on Throwback Night on May 6, the Union will be sporting exclusive throwback training tops as a nod to the history of Bethlehem Steel FC, America's first soccer team.
Bethlehem Football Club got its start in 1907 in Bethlehem, Penn. A local club, Bethlehem played against other local clubs recreationally. But as the world started to change and the onset of World War I, the local soccer landscape also started to shift.
Bethlehem Steel, a steel mill which employed nearly half the town, saw more and more work because of the need for steel for the war effort. This created more jobs, and many European immigrants found themselves in Bethlehem wanting to work for the mill. They also coincidently wanted to play soccer, and were rather good at it.
Bethlehem Steel adopted the local soccer club as part of its athletic program in 1911, thus forming Bethlehem Steel FC. The club built America's first soccer specific stadium, which is now the football field for Moravian College's football program. The Bethlehem Steel company taking in the club and building a soccer stadium turned out to be a major plus for the program.
With those two in hand, Bethlehem Steel FC rose to be the premier soccer program in the United States. During its tenure, Bethlehem Steel FC won five US Open Cups, which still stands as a record today (tied with Maccabi Los Angeles), and six American Cups. However, the Great Depression hit the club hard, and eventually, the team folded in 1930.
The Union's training top honors the past Bethlehem Steel team by modernizing its kit. The training top is all black, just like the old club's kits, and takes its block B logo and places it on the bottom left side of the kit. The Bethlehem Steel FC kits had an American Flag badge on its kit, and the Union will wear the American flag on its left arm. The Philadelphia Union's crest is monochrome, just like Steel FC's logo, and the training top features a retro Bimbo logo.
The Union's Bethlehem Steel FC retro training top will be available for purchase at the Union Shop during the Union's Throwback Night. All fans wearing a 2010-11 Gold Kit will receive 20 percent off at the Shop, including on the throwback training top.
