When MLS began in 1996, the city of Philadelphia did not have a team in the new league. More than 10 years later, when the city still didn’t have a team, a group of soccer fans in the area banded together to form a supporters group, in the hopes of showing MLS that there was enough support for professional soccer in the area that the city was deserving of an expansion franchise.
Hoping to get 100 members before the end of their first year, the group – called Sons of Ben, in honor of Philadelphia icon Ben Franklin -- soon was more than 1,500 strong. The documentary, “Sons of Ben,’’ directed by Jeffrey C. Bell, a Delaware Valley native, and produced by Bell and Mike Dieffenbach, tells the story of that supporters group’s efforts to land a team, and how those efforts not only succeeded in getting that team, the Philadelphia Union, but along the way helped revitalized the city of Chester, Pennsylvania, where the team’s home field, Talen Energy Stadium, was built along the waterfront.
“Sons of Ben’’ will be released on iTunes, Amazon, Google Play and on cable TV on demand on July 22, to coincide with MLS’s All-Star Week festivities.
