Philadelphia Union
Supporters’ Shield redemption story for Union, Carnell
In the post-game celebrations after the Philadelphia Union clinched the 2025 MLS Supporters’ Shield on Saturday night, reporter Michele Giannone began to ask Bradley Carnell a question. “The way things ended in St. Louis—”
Before Giannone could finish, Carnell walked away, refusing to answer.
Maybe it was unfair for Carnell to be asked about his failures only moments after his most significant success without having the chance to celebrate first. At the same time, perhaps it was unfair of Carnell to not consider the premise of Giannone’s question, or to at least entertain the direction it was heading in; after all, Giannone may have been alluding to the word that has surrounded both the Union and their manager over the last year.
Redemption.
After taking some time to soak it all in and celebrate on the field, Carnell made his way to the post-game presser. There, he discussed the passion and intensity that he saw from his team throughout the season.
“They’re hungry. And this is what we’ve seen from the guys all the way through the season is this hunger, and this desire to just, I don’t know, prove people wrong [after] last year. You know, for me personally as well… so it was this culmination of, I would say, two failures… and to grow together, to build something together, then execute? I mean, it’s amazing.”
Given a bit more time, Carnell was now ready to reflect on the past.
It’s been a whirlwind 12 months for Carnell as well as the Union. For how successful the 2025 season has been, and for how happy the players and staff were to hoist the Supporters’ Shield on Saturday night, it can be easy to forget the struggles of 2024. On one hand, the Union struggled mightily, starting early in the season in the Concacaf Champions League. After drawing the Round of 16 home leg against Pachuca, the Union were battered 6-0 away from home, crashing out of the tournament. The woes would continue throughout the MLS season, breaking a streak of six consecutive playoff appearances as they were eliminated on Decision Day at home. A laughable own goal felt like the perfect summarization of a lost season. The Union sputtered to a halt in 12th place, behind Toronto, D.C. United, and Montréal.
On the other hand, Carnell experienced struggles of his own in 2024. After leading expansion team St. Louis City SC to the No. .1 seed in the Western Conference in 2023, an early playoff exit and a rough beginning to the 2024 season saw Carnell let go by the St. Louis front office.
The Union organization and Ernst Tanner made the tough decision to move on from Jim Curtin after a decade at the club after the 2024 season, leaving a vacancy for the head coaching position in Philadelphia. The managerial search concluded with the hiring of Carnell on January 2. At the time, Carnell may not have been thought of as an immediate favorite; as the fourth head coach in Union history, he was the first to be hired from outside of the organization. Curtin was a fan favorite that brought sustained success to a club that had never experienced it previously, but the results went against the Union for a season, and Tanner pulled the trigger quickly.
Pessimism and uncertainty dominated conversation about the team, only heightening when the Union moved on from multiple veterans, including Jack Elliott and all-time leading goal scorer Dániel Gazdag.
Tanner’s risks have paid off, with Carnell’s Union claiming the Supporters’ Shield in his very first season.
Both the players and Carnell took time to bask in their victory but recognized that plenty of work remains to be done in the playoffs. I spoke to Kai Wagner post-match, who was one of four Union players to play in Saturday’s shield clincher and the first shield clinching match in 2020 at a COVID-shutdown Subaru Park.
“It’s a big achievement for us to get it done at home… Everybody knew what could happen this week and so everybody was probably a little bit nervous,” Wagner responded, when asked about what it meant to win the Shield with fans in attendance this time around.
“Really, really happy to get the job done but like I said, the job is not done yet. We still have a lot to go, and I’m really happy that we could achieve that today, but it’s not done yet.”
Carnell also reflected on a past Supporters’ Shield of his own. Carnell was an assistant coach on the 2018 New York Red Bulls. Like Wagner and the other four Union players, this one felt a bit different.
“I had a moment in 2018, winning the Supporters’ Shield — never got to hold it. I regretted that moment all the time. To get to hold it today was really special, to get the players to hold the real shield [and not the] makeshift shield from 2020. I said before a meeting, Ale [Bedoya], I want you to hold the real one.”
Carnell got his wish for both himself and Bedoya. The 2025 Union, despite finishing with the most points in MLS, were hardly predictable. Who could have predicted this?
Maybe Carnell is the breath of fresh air that the Union roster needed. Maybe the players had the mentality, intensity, and talent that Carnell’s roster was missing in St. Louis. Maybe two wrongs can make a right.
No matter how it’s spun, the Philadelphia Union and Bradley Carnell are redeemed, and can be called 2025 MLS Supporters’ Shield Champions.
