When the Philadelphia Union raised the Supporters’ Shield on Decision Day presented by AT&T, you may have noticed that something looked a little off about the trophy.
That’s because the actual shield didn’t arrive in time from Los Angeles (LAFC won in 2019, mind you), so the club had to get creative. Step in the tale of a Captain America shield, a 150-pound force magnet and Philadelphia’s web manager’s fiancee’s sister’s boyfriend.
Hear from the owner of the shield himself
It’s the ultimate story of “I know a guy who knows a guy,” and there’s something uniquely MLS about it. It even involves Medford, New Jersey, the hometown of homegrown midfielder Brenden Aaronson, who’s joining Red Bull Salzburg via transfer after the 2020 season.
Don’t believe us? Just check out the Twitter thread below from MLSsoccer.com’s Andrew Wiebe for all the details. Oh, and be sure to thank Jeremy.
THE SAVIOR OF THE SUPPORTERS' SHIELD CELE:
— X - PhilaUnion🛡 (@PhilaUnion) November 9, 2020
Our web manager’s fiancee’s sister’s boyfriend, Jeremy
THANK YOU, JEREMY!
Check @andrew_wiebe's thread for the story⬇️⬇️⬇️ https://t.co/ly6U5JsYqY pic.twitter.com/5w2l62ZF4b
They were about to get a 16-inch pizza tray covered with a vinyl sticker when someone said, "Well, I do know a guy with a shield..."
— Andrew Wiebe (@andrew_wiebe) November 9, 2020
Turns out the web manager's fiancee's sister's boyfriend is the proud owner of a full Captain America costume. We're not talking Halloween. Legit.
The magnet on the back -- powerful enough for it to stick and hold to the back of the costume, like I said LEGIT -- was so strong the heat guns got stuck to it during the process of applying the vinyl.
— Andrew Wiebe (@andrew_wiebe) November 9, 2020
End result? F#%&ING AWESOME. pic.twitter.com/HO249A1srO
I just keep reading "web manager's fiancee's sister's boyfriend" back over and over and over. I love this league.
— Andrew Wiebe (@andrew_wiebe) November 9, 2020
