It’s been a week now since news leaked of the Chicago Fire seeking out of the village of Bridgeview and back into the city of Chicago. Toyota Park/Seat Geek Stadium has been a massive financial drain on the community, and its inconvenient from downtown location has been crippling to Fire attendance figures.
The Fire’s lease runs all the way until 2036, so you can see why they have been trying to get out of it for about a year. Friday night brings the first Chicago Fire home game since news of the desire to move back to downtown broke, and thus it will be fascinating to see what the vibe at the park will be.
Chicago Fire Soccer Club vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC FYIs
Friday, April 12 at 7:30 p.m. CT at SeatGeek Stadium (ESPN+, Univision Radio WRTO AM 1200)
Records: Chicago Fire (1-2-2, 5 points) Vancouver Whitecaps FC (0-4-1, 1 point)
- Crowd Size, Crowd Signs
What will the fans have to say about the potential move and/or the rebrand that is being explored? What about signs, banners, flags? Is there going to be a contingent imploring the Chicago Fire to stay put? Or is public sentiment favoring the return to Soldier Field?
We might see some creative takes on what a new team name and logo could be!
2. Will Anyone from the Club Say Anything at all About the Move, Rebrand?
Until the transaction is signed, sealed and delivered, no one from the Chicago Fire can really say anything of substance about it. If you were in their shoes, radio silence would be the best option, but if/when anybody gets asked on this topic, you can fully expect to hear a response that’s a non-answer.
Of course, you can always try reading the tea leaves of certain actions or in between the lines of what is said.
3. Transfer Rumors
A new (well old) home plus a (maybe) new rebrand means you need to get some new players, and in order to make this work, it has to be brand name players. You need to make a splash signing, and some American pundits are tossing out a few ideas.
Arjen Robben reportedly prefers a move to MLS over the idea of staying in Europe, and he certainly is now of that age where the time is right, but where in the USA specifically? NBC Pro Soccer Talk explains at this link how and why a reunion with Bastian Schweinsteiger could make sense.
Then you have the emphatic Taylor Twellman, who has a three point plan- sign Chicharito tomorrow, move back to Soldier Field, then obtain Robert Lewandowski.
Watch below:
A three-step plan to revive the Chicago Fire by @TaylorTwellman:
1. Sign Chicharito tomorrow
2. Move to Soldier Field
3. Sign Lewandowski pic.twitter.com/sh5zGgmYMd— Jack Grimse (@JackGrimse) April 7, 2019
Okay sure! Easy! How about you add Kylian Mbappe, David de Gea and Lionel Messi while we’re at it? Done!
While Robben might be realistic, there is no reason to believe Javier Hernandez is interested in a MLS move now. He’s been linked with crossing the pond quite a bit in recent years and it’s never happened. And even if he does make the switch, one of the L.A. teams would probably be a better fit.
Still #Chichago or #Chicagorito or whatever word hybrid you could come up with as a product rollout hashtag for Chicharito in Chicago would be amazing!
Lewandowski is not realistic either, and the idea of both him and Chicharito…uhm, yeah, ok dude!! Good luck with that!
Still Twellman has the right overall ideas, and he’s clearly up on the ethnic background demographics of the city, because he knows which players would have the most market appeal here. Additionally, Twellman is totally correct about how Soldier Field needs to be a bridge to something else down the line.
Eventually, the Chicago Fire will need a home of their own, and within the city limits. It will be interesting to hear what fans have to say about potential roster additions and long term stadium plans.
In Terms of the Actual Game…
…Well, according to ESPN’s MLS Power Rankings, this is a match up of the 19th best team (Chicago) and the 21st (Vancouver); in a 24 team league. That’s a solid synopsis.
There is the natural storyline of veteran goalkeeper David Ousted, who will face the Whitecaps for the first time as a member of the Chicago Fire. Ousted spent five seasons (2013-17) with Vancouver, appearing in 142 matches (142 starts) and tallying 42 clean sheets during that stretch. He made two All-Star appearances during his time in British Columbia.
“Of course, against Vancouver it will be a hard game,” said Chicago Fire striker Nemanja Nikolic said of the match on Friday night.
“They also struggle. The last two games we have four points and we played against two great opponents so against Vancouver we need to do the same thing. We need to believe in ourselves to build our confidence and home games we need to win, all of them.”
Chicago Fire Forward CJ Sapong added the following on the game:
“This league is very interesting. Things can go any which way, depending on where the wind is blowing so staying true, staying focused, being happy and having some joy on the field will definitely get us to where we need to be.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
He also contributes sociopolitical essays to Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.