Philadelphia has a long and proud history of hosting the United Soccer Coaches’ convention, the largest annual gathering of American soccer thinkers, influencers and power-brokers. Since the event began in 1942, this city has welcomed it 11 times.
But there has never been one quite like this year’s.
With only a few weeks to go until the hotly contested U.S. Soccer Federation presidential election in early February, the Pennsylvania Convention Center will serve as one of the last big stages for candidates to make their cases.
The nationwide groundswell of anger at the U.S. men’s national team’s failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup has turned the campaign into an unprecedented spectacle.