The 2012

Philadelphia Union The Philadelphia Union are an American professional soccer club based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Founded on February 28, 2008, the Union began ...

season was the third season of the team's existence, competing in

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

, the top flight of American soccer. The team was initially managed by former MLS player

Peter Nowak Piotr "Peter" Nowak (; born 5 July 1964) is a Polish professional football manager and former player. He was most recently in charge of Ekstraklasa club Jagiellonia Białystok. Nowak played in Europe for Polish clubs such as Zawisza Bydgoszcz ...

, in his third season with the club. In June, Nowak resigned and assistant coach

John Hackworth John Hackworth (born February 5, 1970, in Dunedin, Florida) is an American soccer coach who is currently the Technical Director for St. Louis City SC of Major League Soccer. Player Hackworth graduated from Dunedin High School in his Florida h ...

was promoted to manager on an interim basis. Hackworth was officially made permanent head coach in August, making him the second head coach in the club's history.

2012 roster

''As of August 28, 2012.''

Match results

Preseason friendlies

MLS regular season

The Union finished 10-18-6 overall, 7-8-2 at home, 3-10-4 on the road.

U.S. Open Cup

Friendlies

MLS Reserve League

The Union Reserves are 4-4-2 overall, 3-1-1 at home, 1-3-1 on the road.

League table

Conference Overall

Results summary

Coaching staff

Squad information

Squad breakdown

Ages are as of April 16, 2012 (the date of their season opener).

Statistics

Statistics are from all MLS league matches. ''* = Not currently part of team.''

Goalkeepers

''* = Not currently part of team.''

Honors and awards

MLS Goal of the Week

MLS Team of the Week

MLS All-Stars 2012

Player movement

Transfers

In

Out

Loans

In

Out

Miscellany

Allocation ranking

Philadelphia came into the 2012 season thirteenth in the MLS Allocation Ranking. The allocation ranking is the mechanism used to determine which MLS club has first priority to acquire a U.S. National Team player who signs with MLS after playing abroad, or a former MLS player who returns to the league after having gone to a club abroad for a transfer fee. A ranking can be traded, provided that part of the compensation received in return is another club's ranking.2012 MLS Roster Rules
On June 25, the Union traded their position in the allocation ranking plus allocation money and their first round pick in the

2013 MLS SuperDraft The 2013 MLS SuperDraft was the fourteenth SuperDraft presented by Major League Soccer. The draft took place on January 17, 2013 in Indianapolis, Indiana at the Indiana Convention Center. The Colorado Rapids enjoyed returns from the 2013 draf ...

Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Vancouver. The Whitecaps compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The MLS ite ...

for the top position in the allocation rankings and a second round pick in the 2013 Draft. The Union then used the Allocation ranking to sign

Bakary Soumaré Bakary Soumaré (born 9 November 1985) is a Malian former professional footballer who played as a defender. He played professionally in the United States, France, Germany and Canada, and earned twelve caps for the Mali national team. Early li ...

International roster slots

The Union have nine

MLS International Roster Slots MLS International Roster Slots are an important piece of roster composition in Major League Soccer. MLS employs a variety of mechanisms to promote parity and domestic player development which include player entry drafts, expansion drafts, allocati ...

for use in the 2012 season. Each club in Major League Soccer is allocated eight international roster spots per season, but the Union acquired a ninth from

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

in exchange for Kyle Nakazawa. This ninth slot would eventually be traded to

D.C. United D.C. United is an American professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Supp ...

along with

Lionard Pajoy Lionard Fernando Pajoy Ortiz (born June 7, 1981) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Alianza Universidad. Career Early career in Colombia Pajoy began his career with Cortulua debuting with the first team during ...

for

Danny Cruz Daniel Arthur Quimby Cruz (born January 3, 1990) is an American soccer coach and former player who is currently the head coach of USL Championship club Louisville City FC. Career Youth and college Cruz was born in Petersburg, Virginia. He at ...

and reverts to the Galaxy at the end of 2012. NOTES: *

was born in

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

but is not considered an international player as he is a

permanent resident Permanent residency is a person's legal resident status in a country or territory of which such person is not a citizen but where they have the right to reside on a permanent basis. This is usually for a permanent period; a person with such l ...

of the US. *

Freddy Adu Fredua Koranteng "Freddy" Adu (born June 2, 1989) is an American former professional soccer player who played as an attacking midfielder. From before the time of his signing with D.C. United at the age of 14, Adu was spoken of as "the next Pel� ...

Antoine Hoppenot Antoine Laurent Hoppenot (born 23 November 1990) is a French former footballer. Career College and amateur Hoppenot played college soccer at Princeton University between 2008 and 2011. During his time at Princeton, Hoppenot was named First-Team ...

, and

Michael Lahoud Michael Lahoud (born September 15, 1986) is a Sierra Leonean former footballer. He is a broadcaster for CBS Sports Golazo Network, and a former broadcaster for Austin FC. Club career College Born in Freetown, Lahoud moved from his country to A ...

were born in

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

, respectively, but are all American citizens.

Future draft pick trades

Future picks acquired: *

second round pick (natural selection) from

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The franchise be ...

for

Andrew Jacobson Andrew Jacobson (born September 24, 1985) is a retired American professional soccer player who played as a midfielder. Early life Jacobson is Jewish and was born in Fort Myers, Florida. He attended Gunn High School, where he was named 2003 Ce ...

.
Future picks traded: *

second round pick (natural selection) and Kyle Nakazawa to

Los Angeles Galaxy The Los Angeles Galaxy are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Gal ...

for an international roster slot.
Future picks swapped: *

first round pick, allocation money, and the twelfth position in the MLS Allocation Order to

for a 2013 SuperDraft second round pick and the first position in the Allocation Order.

References

External links

Philadelphia Union website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Philadelphia Union

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

American soccer clubs 2012 season 2012 in sports in Pennsylvania