| Club: | Philadelphia Union |
| Season: | 2018 |
| League: | MLS |
| Chrtitle: | Owner |
| Chairman: | Keystone Sports & Entertainment |
| Mgrtitle: | Head coach |
| Manager: | Jim Curtin |
| Stadium: | Talen Energy Stadium (Capacity: 18,500) |
| League Result: | Conference: 6th Overall: 11th |
| Cup1: | MLS Cup Playoffs |
| Cup1 Result: | Knockout round |
| Cup2: | U.S. Open Cup |
| Cup2 Result: | Runners-up |
| Highest Attendance: | 19,013 July 21 vs LA Galaxy |
| Lowest Attendance: | League: 14,795 April 7 vs San Jose Earthquakes All: 3,565 June 5 vs Richmond Kickers |
| Average Attendance: | 16,518 |
| League Topscorer: | 2 players tied (5) |
| Season Topscorer: | Cory Burke (6) |
| Pattern La1: | _philadelphia18h |
| Pattern La2: | _philadelphia17a |
| Pattern B1: | _philadelphia18H |
| Pattern B2: | _philadelphia17A |
| Pattern Ra1: | _philadelphia18h |
| Pattern Ra2: | _philadelphia17a |
| Pattern Sh1: | _Gold Stripes adidas |
| Pattern Sh2: | _philadelphia17a |
| Pattern So1: | _color_3_stripes_gold |
| Pattern So2: | _philadelphia17a |
| Leftarm1: | 000040 |
| Leftarm2: | 000040 |
| Body1: | 000040 |
| Body2: | B38708 |
| Rightarm1: | 000040 |
| Rightarm2: | 000040 |
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| Prevseason: | 2017 |
| Nextseason: | 2019 |
| American: | y |
The 2018 Philadelphia Union season was the club's ninth season in Major League Soccer, the top flight of American soccer. The team was managed by Jim Curtin, his fifth season with the club.[1] The Union reached the MLS Cup Playoffs as the bottom seed in the MLS Eastern Conference. The club also reached the 2018 U.S. Open Cup final for the third time in club history, but finished runners-up to Houston Dynamo.[1] The 2018 season was the Union's most successful to date, earning the highest points total (50) and most wins (15).[1] Additionally, the 2018 season transitioned Sporting Directors with Earnie Stewart accepting a general manager position with the United States Soccer Federation, and the Union hiring Ernst Tanner; former academy manager for Red Bull Salzburg.[1] [2] [3]
See main article: 2018 MLS SuperDraft.
The Union selected three players from the third and fourth rounds of the 2018 SuperDraft[4]
| Round | Pick | Name | Position | Nationality | School | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 54 | Mike Catalano | Midfielder |  United States | Wisconsin | |
| 55 | Aidan Apodaca | Forward | United States | California Baptist University | ||
| 4 | 77 | Matt Danilack | Forward | United States | Dartmouth |
| No. | Name | Nationality | Position | Date of birth (age) | Signed from | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | ||||||
| 1 | John McCarthy | | GK | 4 July 1992 | Rochester Rhinos | |
| 18 | Andre Blake (INT) |  | GK | 21 November 1990 | UConn | |
| 29 | Jake McGuire | | GK | 3 September 1994 | University of Tulsa | |
| Defenders | ||||||
| 3 | Jack Elliott (INT) | CB | 24 August 1995 | West Virginia University | ||
| 4 | Mark McKenzie (HGP) | | CB | 12 August 1998 | Bethlehem Steel FC | |
| 5 | Olivier Mbaizo |  | DF | 15 August 1997 | Bethlehem Steel FC | |
| 12 | Keegan Rosenberry | | RB | 11 December 1993 | Georgetown University | |
| 15 | Joshua Yaro (GA) |  | LB/CB | 7 March 1994 | Georgetown University | |
| 16 | Richie Marquez | | CB | 26 May 1992 | University of Redlands | |
| 26 | Auston Trusty (HGP) | | CB | 12 August 1998 | Bethlehem Steel FC | |
| 28 | Ray Gaddis | | RB | 13 January 1990 | West Virginia University | |
| 32 | Matthew Real (HGP) | | LB | 10 July 1999 | Bethlehem Steel FC | |
| 33 | Fabinho |  | LB | 16 March 1985 | Sydney FC | |
| Midfielders | ||||||
| 2 | Warren Creavalle |  | DM | 14 August 1990 | Toronto FC | |
| 6 | Haris Medunjanin (INT) | CM | 8 March 1985 |  Maccabi Tel Aviv | ||
| 7 | David Accam | | MF | 28 September 1990 | Chicago Fire | |
| 8 | Derrick Jones (HGP) | | MF | 3 March 1997 | Bethlehem Steel FC | |
| 9 | Fafà Picault | | MF | 23 February 1991 | FC St. Pauli | |
| 10 | Bořek Dočkal (DP) (INT) |  | ACM | 30 September 1988 |  Henan Jianye | |
| 11 | Alejandro Bedoya (DP) | | CM/RM | 29 April 1987 |  FC Nantes | |
| 14 | Fabian Herbers | CF | 17 August 1993 | Creighton University | ||
| 20 | Marcus Epps | | CF | 16 January 1995 | South Florida | |
| 21 | Anthony Fontana (HGP) | | MF | 14 October 1999 | Bethlehem Steel FC | |
| 24 | Adam Najem |  | MF | 19 January 1995 | Akron | |
| 25 | Ilsinho (INT) | | CM/RM | 12 October 1985 |  Shakhtar Donetsk | |
| Forwards | ||||||
| 17 | C.J. Sapong | | CF | 27 December 1988 | Sporting Kansas City | |
| 19 | Cory Burke (INT) | | CF | 28 December 1991 | Bethlehem Steel FC | |
| 27 | Jay Simpson (INT) | CF | 1 December 1988 | Leyton Orient | ||
DP indicates Designated Player
GA indicates Generation Adidas Player
HGP indicates Home Grown Player
INT indicates MLS International Player and qualifies for an international roster spot
| Position | Staff | Nationality | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Head coach | |||
| Technical director and assistant coach | |||
| Assistant coach | B.J. Callaghan | ||
| Assistant coach | |||
| Goalkeeping coach | |||
| Head athletic trainer | Paul Rushing | ||
| Team coordinator | |||
| Sporting director | |||
| Academy director |
See main article: 2018 Major League Soccer season.
Position references Eastern Conference standings.
See main article: List of Philadelphia Union records and statistics.
|-! colspan="12" style="background:#041C2C; color:#FFFFFF; border:2px solid #DFD1A7;" text-align:center;"| Defenders|-! colspan="12" style="background:#041C2C; color:#FFFFFF; border:2px solid #DFD1A7;" text-align:center;"| Midfielders|-! colspan="12" style="background:#041C2C; color:#FFFFFF; border:2px solid #DFD1A7;" text-align:center;"| Forwards|}Statistics are from all matches as documented by Soccerway.com.[5]
| Place | Position | Name | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MF | Ilsinho | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| MF | Bořek Dočkal | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 2 | FW | C.J. Sapong | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| FW | Cory Burke | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3 | DF | Keegan Rosenberry | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| MF | Haris Medunjanin | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| MF | Alejandro Bedoya | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| MF | Marcus Epps | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| MF | Anthony Fontana | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| Total | 15 | 0 | 0 | 15 | |||
| class="wikitable sortable" | |||||||||||
| Nat. | No. | Player | Apps | Starts | Record | GA | GAA | SO | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andre Blake | 14 | 14 | 5–5–3 | 16 | 1.07 | 4 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 27 | John McCarthy | 0 | 0 | 0–0–0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 29 | Jake McGuire | 0 | 0 | 0–0–0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Total | 5-5-3 | 15 | 1.07 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |||||
Record = W-L-D
| Date | No. | Pos. | Player | Transferred from | Fee/notes | Source | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 20, 2017 | 14 | MF | Signed new contract | [6] | |||
| December 20, 2017 | 25 | MF | Signed new contract | ||||
| December 20, 2017 | 33 | DF | Signed new contract | ||||
| December 21, 2017 | 21 | FW | Signed | [7] | |||
| January 18, 2018 | 32 | DF | Signed as Homegrown Player | [8] | |||
| January 18, 2018 | 4 | DF | Signed as Homegrown Player | [9] | |||
| January 19, 2018 | 7 | MF | $1,200,000 allocation money | [10] | |||
| April 17, 2018 | 5 | DF | Signed | [11] |
| Date | No. | Pos. | Player | Transferred to | Fee/notes | Source | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 1, 2017 | 4 | DF | Declined contract option | [12] [13] | |||
| November 1, 2017 | 5 | DF | Declined contract option | ||||
| November 1, 2017 | 8 | MF | Declined contract option | ||||
| November 1, 2017 | 9 | FW | Retired | Declined contract option | [14] | ||
| November 1, 2017 | 10 | MF | Declined contract option | [15] | |||
| November 1, 2017 | 13 | MF | End of contract | [16] | |||
| November 1, 2017 | 14 | MF | Declined contract option, re-signed new contract | ||||
| November 1, 2017 | 19 | DF | Declined contract option | ||||
| November 1, 2017 | 25 | MF | Declined contract option, re-signed new contract | ||||
| November 1, 2017 | 32 | DF | Declined contract option | [17] | |||
| November 1, 2017 | 33 | DF | End of contract, re-signed new contract |
In May 2018, long time Philadelphia Union forward Sebastian Le Toux announced his retirement from professional soccer. Making a name for himself as a top player for the Philadelphia Union, Le Toux signed a ceremonial one-day contract to retire as a Philadelphia player.[19] His retirement ceremony was held on June 23, 2018, during a home match against Vancouver Whitecaps FC, where he was the first inductee into the Union's Ring of Honor.[19] [20]