Philadelphia Union II

Philadelphia Union II is an American professional soccer team based in Chester, Pennsylvania competing in MLS Next Pro. Founded in 2015 as Bethlehem Steel FC, the team is the official affiliate of the Philadelphia Union of Major League Soccer. The team competed for five seasons in the USL Championship (the first three as Bethlehem Steel FC) before going on hiatus from competition during the 2021 season. The club's current colors are navy blue and gold. History Since the formalized partnership between United Soccer League and Major League Soccer in 2013, MLS teams had begun to form and field their own teams on the then third tier. This endeavor was largely driven to fill in the missing piece of player development between high school/college players and professional soccer players. In June 2015, the Philadelphia Union sent out a survey to fans gauging interest in fielding their own USL team. The survey input and directives from the Union front office eventually led to the creation of a team that would play in the Lehigh Valley, officially announced on August 19, 2015. This announcement made the Union the ninth MLS team to independently own and operate a USL club. The announcement also coincided with dissolving the previous affiliation with USL side Penn FC (formerly Harrisburg City Islanders), originally established in 2010. After surveying fans for a name of the team, the results ended overwhelmingly in favor of “Bethlehem Steel FC” honoring the previous incarnation of the team in the early twentieth century. Bethlehem Steel FC would become the “missing link” of player development between YSC Academy and first team for the Philadelphia Union. The club began to take shape hiring former Union assistant coach, Brendan Burke as the first head coach of the team's history on October 29, 2015. On December 3, 2015, Burke made his first signing to the team in Derrick Jones, who was a player developing in the Union Academy. First seasons (2016–2018) In preparation of their inaugural season, Steel FC built a roster with a combination of USL veterans (Mickey Daly, Ryan Richter, Bolu Akinyode), Philadelphia Union draft picks (Josh Yaro, Fabian Herbers), and key international players (James Chambers, Cory Burke). This team would be largely supported by Union players on short-term loans in addition to academy players from YSC Academy.