Philadelphia Charge


The Philadelphia Charge was an American women's professional soccer team that played in the Women's United Soccer Association. The team played at Villanova Stadium on the campus of Villanova University near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

History

In spring of 2000, the newly formed Women's United Soccer Association announced eight cities were granted franchises to start the league, including Philadelphia. Most of the inaugural teams were owned by major media companies, with the new Philadelphia club operated by locally headquartered Comcast Corporation who invested an initial $5 million into WUSA. In November 2000, the club's name and logo was officially announced as the Philadelphia Charge and would play home matches at Villanova Stadium. The logo for the Charge incorporated the Comcast Corp. "C" as part of its marketing efforts. The Charge began preparations for the first team with a 15-person front office and was supported by the Comcast-Spector organization for stadium operations, marketing, promotions, tickets, and merchandise.
By late 2000, the Charge had announced that University of Hartford women's soccer coach, Mark Krikorian, would be appointed the first head coach of the team. Prior to the start of the season, Krikorian would bring on former Swedish international Pia Sundhage and John Natale as assistant coaches.
The Charge would begin their first campaign lead by American forward Lorrie Fair, German defender Doris Fitschen, and English forward Kelly Smith.

Players

Several notable U.S. Women's National Team stars made their pro debuts with the Charge, including defender Heather Mitts and goalkeeper Hope Solo, who appeared in 8 matches as a rookie backup goalkeeper in 2003. Other notables included French international Marinette Pichon, who won the 2002 WUSA Most Valuable Player award for the Charge, and English star Kelly Smith.
2003 Roster
Coach: Mark Krikorian

Year-by-year

Source:

Awards

In 2001, Philadelphia Charge player, Doris Fitschen was named WUSA Defender of the Year.
In 2002, Philadelphia Charge player, Marinette Pichon was named WUSA's Most Valuable Player and Offensive Player of the Year and was the co-recipient with Mia Hamm for Goal of the Year for a scissor kick volley against the San Diego Spirit. Goalkeeper Melissa Moore was awarded Goalkeeper of the Year and Stacey Tullock was named Rookie of the Year. Coach Mark Krikorian took the honor of WUSA Coach of the Year the same year.
In 2003, the Charge was awarded the WUSA Team Fair Play Award and defender, Jenny Benson, was named WUSA Humanitarian of the Year.

League Suspension

The Women's United Soccer Association announced on September 15, 2003 that it was suspending operations.