MLS Preview: New England Revolution

Hooligan Soccer

·16 de fevereiro de 2025

MLS Preview: New England Revolution

Club History

This is one of the ten charter clubs. Commonly referred to as the Revs, they tap into a rich and long history of soccer within the greater Boston area. The first World Cup hat-trick was scored by Bert Patenaude, who was a resident of Fall River, MA. Does this have anything to do with the Revs? No.

It’s a distraction so I could avoid being blunt… this team is trash. Even when they’re good, the lingering stench of garbage sticks to them and they manage to muck things up. I know I won’t be able to set foot in a Boston-area pub for a pint for saying this, but to be honest I prefer Providence. So there.

Vídeos OneFootball

And there have been some good years. They have a respectable 59% postseason appearance metric. While they’ve won only two honors: the 2007 Open Cup and the 2021 Supporters Shield, they have reached five MLS Cup finals – losing them all. Aside from being the Minnesota Vikings of the MLS they are in some ways well-balanced: they’ve finished last in the East as many times as they’ve finished first (3).

Ownership

Robert Kraft and his son Jonathan have been the owners since the club’s founding. They also own the NFL New England Patriots. What a pity they haven’t been able to replicate that team’s postseason success with the Revs.

Significant Players

Taylor Twellman (United States) – Forward All-time goal scoring record holder (119). Won the Golden Boot twice (2002 & 2005)
Shalrie Joseph (Grenada) – Midfielder Made 261 appearances over 10 years for the club. Selected for the MLS Best XI four times.
Steve Ralston (United States) – Midfielder 105 contributions over 234 appearances. At his 2010 retirement he was the MLS record holder for assists, starts and minutes played.
Matt Reis (United States) – Goalkeeper. Affectionately referred to as the Revs’ “skin headed, short sleeved shot stopper.” Has an alter-ego named Luis “El Lobo” Fangoso.
Clint Dempsey (United States) – Forward American soccer legend who got his start with the Revs, playing from 2004-2006 before transferring to Fulham.

Other Facts

Gillette Stadium, 2013 (Source)

The team shares Gillette Stadium with the New England Patriots. The Kraft family have been “planning” to construct a soccer specific facility closer to central Boston since 2006, to no avail.
The only founding MLS team that has had every single game televised.
Robert Ukrop scored the club’s first and second MLS goals.
The supporter groups really lean into the Revolutionary theme, with names like “Midnight Riders” and “The Rebellion.” There’s also a reenactor group called the West End Militia who fire flintlock muskets when the team score a home goal.
Prior to 2024, they held the season records for points (73) from their 2021 season.

2024 Season Recap

9W – 4D – 21L for 31 points. Finished 14th in the Eastern Conference. 28th overall.
Really… it was awful.

Who to Watch 2025

The squad has undergone a complete remodel after last year’s woeful campaign. Quoth head coach Caleb Porter: “We had good players here…they just didn’t happen to be the right players, once we got in here. They’re still good players, but now we have the right players.”

Carles Gil (Spain) – Midfielder [DP] 12 contributions last year. 32% of the team’s total.
Tomás Chancalay (Argentina) – Winger [DP] 9 contributions last year. 24% of the team’s total.
Mamadou Fofana (Mail), Brayan Ceballos (Colombia), Wyatt Omsberg (United States) – Defenders A trifecta of central defenders brought in after they canned or traded a half-dozen offseason