PREFACE: The worst-kept secret in MLS was made official and so was one of the second-worst in Bastian Schweinsteiger retiring. Also, sixty-eight season ticket holders got an unexpected, yet pleasant, surprise on this anniversary of the event for which the Fire are named after.
SCHWEINSTEIGER: German and Bayern Munich legend Bastian Schweinsteiger announced his retirement on Tuesday morning ending an 18-year playing career with Bayern (2002-2015), Manchester United (2015-2017), and the Chicago Fire (2017-2019). With the Fire, Schweinsteiger made 85 league appearances scoring eight goals and tallying 15 assists in three seasons. During his 18-year career, Schweinsteiger tallied 78 goals and 118 assists at the club level, while also notching 24 goals on the international stage for Germany.
“Basti has meant so much to our Club,” said Chicago Fire Owner and Chairman Joe Mansueto. “It was an absolute pleasure to watch him play. His soccer IQ is so elite, you can see that he’s three steps ahead at every turn. He’s a leader, a great teammate and a generational player who put Chicago Fire on the world map. I’d like to say, on behalf of the Club: Danke, Basti.”
SOLDIER FIELD MOVE OFFICIAL: Billed as the “Best Worst-Kept Secret” and supplemented with an open letter in Tuesday’s Chicago Sun-Times, the Chicago Fire made their move to Soldier Field official for next season. They also announced that their home opener in 2020 will be nationally televised on March 21st against Atlanta United at 2:30pm CT.
“Our Club needs to be located centrally where all of Chicago can enjoy it,” said Mansueto. “Soldier Field is the perfect location. In my view, part of being a world-class city today is having a professional soccer team located downtown. You see what’s happening in Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles and Atlanta. Their Major League Soccer teams are bringing their cities together and have become an important part of the cultural fabric of the city. We will make that happen for Chicago too.
“As Daniel Burnham said, ‘Make no little plans’. We dream big. We want to invite the whole City of Chicago to attend a game next year. We hope that every seat in Soldier Field will be filled on March 21, 2020.”
The club will continue to use their home of the last 14 seasons, SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, as a training facility and headquarters for the Fire’s youth development programs.
All Fire league and playoff home games will be played at Soldier Field and will be scheduled not to interfere with Bears games. The initial agreement is for three years with options for the next eight.
THOUGHTS: The Fire will do well not to make ‘little plans’ as they plan to move back into the city and to Soldier Field. They have to make a huge splash in the offseason and get a high profile player which has been made easier with Schweinsteiger’s retirement. They also need in goalkeeping, defense, midfield, and at forward in particular. Not doing so after the 2017 season set the club back. There will be more to say in the debrief later this week.
SURPRISE: There have been 68 Fire season ticket holders have been so since Day One. Those holders will get their 2020 tickets for free courtesy of Joe Mansueto. Ticket prices as a whole will not go up from this past season and deposits for tickets will be taken for $20 with more information to come.
