Photo illustration by Anthony Mendolia
Sons of Ben
Habitat: They sit—make that stand—in the River End, a cool sliver of Talen Energy Stadium behind one of the goals, just above where the teams come out of their locker rooms and, you guessed it, closest to the Delaware River. Recently, they took over an old building a few hundred yards from the stadium as the home base for their pregame tailgates, which leads to a long and loud march to the game that weaves through several stadium parking lots.
Visual Identification: They wear light blue shirts and scarves and wave blue and yellow flags, the group’s official colors. Tattoos are not uncommon and, like many supporters’ groups, you'll hear a lot of yelling on gameday and find most of them sharing a beer.
Defining Characteristics: The Sons of Ben are best known for forming before they even had a team to cheer for, helping to push MLS to award Philadelphia a franchise eight years ago by showcasing the region’s dedication to soccer. That also led to a documentary film being made on the group. Sons of Ben: The Movie was released last year to critical acclaim at several international film festivals.
The Sons of Ben, a registered nonprofit, also donates a lot of time and money to help charities in Chester, the city where the Union are based. And recently, they became one of the league’s only supporters’ groups to have a female president, when Ami Rivera took the reins from past president Kenny Hanson.
Songs and Calls: The catchy “Doop” song is the most famous one, which they sing after goals as it blares from the loudspeaker. Some of the others they sing the most during games are “Four Leaf Clover,” “Come on Union Score A Goal,” and “No One Likes Us,” the latter two of which, perhaps not surprisingly, have some curses sprinkled in.
“No One Likes Us” is a particularly good anthem for a Philadelphia team. The lyrics, sung to the tune of “Oh my Darling, Clementine”, go this way:
“No one likes us, no one likes us, no one liiiikes us, we don’t care.
We’re from Philly, filthy Philly, no one likes us, we don’t care.”
