2021 Fourside Eagles FC season

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The 2021 Fourside Eagles FC season is the twelfth in the history of the Fourside Eagles FC. It will be the sixth season under the management of Robin Fraser.

Pre-Season

The following sales occurred during the offseason, occurring shortly after the team was eliminated from the 2020 CONCACAF Champions League:

  • Evan Newton to Borussia Dortmund, $25 million
  • Brenden Aaronson to RB Salzburg, $6 million (Philadelphia to receive 50% cut)
  • Derlis Gonzalez to Olimpia (Paraguay), $5 million
  • Michael Donovan to Villarreal, $4 million
  • Renato Tapia to Celta de Vigo, $3 million
  • Ventura Alvarado to San Luis (Mexico), $2.75 million
  • Kemar Lawrence to Anderlecht, $2 million
  • Nicolas Blandi to Colo Colo (Chile), $1 million

In addition, the following players were released on a free transfer during the off-season:

  • Stephen Sunday - Retired
  • Lamar Neagle - Retired
  • Nicolas Hasler - Released
  • Nick Besler - Released
  • Georges Mukumbilwa - Placed on waivers, released
  • Rey Ortiz - Placed on waivers, released
  • Jon Bautista - Released by mutual consent
  • Juan Elia - Placed on waivers, released
  • Paul Boyd - Retired
  • Emil Jesus - Released

The large amount of off-season moves was done mostly due to financial restraints caused by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Newton's transfer alone netted $25 million dollars, the third-highest for an outgoing transfer in the MLS. The other transfers netted the team nearly $24 million dollars when performance based add-ons were included. As well, 25% of the team was sold to private investment firm Dorilton Capital for $75 million, adding more cash to the team.

As such, the Eagles signed the following players, mostly for free via Free Agency:

  • David Bingham
  • Lisboa Robinho (via Re-Entry Draft)
  • Brandon Vazquez
  • Saad Adbul-Salaam
  • Jorge Luis Corrales
  • Kelyn Rowe
  • Mohamed El-Munir
  • Joevin Jones
  • Aaron Schoenfeld
  • Spencer Richey
  • Luis Argudo
  • Aron Jóhannsson

Regular Season

Fourside started the season with a two-leg victory over the Oregon Tornadoes in the CONCACAF Champions League, which was the de facto Micronesian Championship from the year before, as Fourside qualified as the winners of the MLS is Back Tournament, and Oregon qualified as the Micronesian Premiership champions. The Eagles opened up the regular season with a win against Nashville, but lost against NYCFC in a 5-1 drubbing, the worst defeat in the team's history. Fourside won their first leg in the Quarterfinals of the Champions League, winning with Philip Mayaka's first career goal after dribbling the ball downfield towards the goal. Another one-sided defeat occurred in Orlando, as the Eagles played their second team in preparation for their second leg against Club America. There, the Eagles scored a last minute stoppage time goal off a corner kick, with Brian Saramago scoring the crucial away goal to give the advantage to Fourside. Despite the fact that the Eagles lost the second leg 3-2, the two away goals were enough for the team to advance to the Semi-Finals, their fourth in the last five tournaments, and the first time the Eagles won a two-legged tie in the Champions League against a Mexican team.

In the following games after the Champions League, Fourside won against Miami and Montreal and lost to New England. Following the international break, Fourside lost to Colorado but won against Chicago in a stellar defensive performance. Fourside then defeated Toronto and then drew against Houston and Columbus.

At Montreal's first game in front of fans in Canada for nearly a year, Fourside got off to a fast start, with early goals from Jansen and Schoenfeld. Montreal then tied up the game at 2-2 by the 34th minute, but Fourside scored again from Joevin Jones shortly before halftime to lead 3-2. Fourside scored again right after the start of the second half from another goal from Schoenfeld, but Ahmed Hamdi scored two goals to give Montreal the lead by the 87th minute. During stoppage time, late goals from Philip Mayaka and Dave Watson gave Fourside a dramatic win, tying the record for the most goals scored by two teams in a MLS match in the process in the 6-5 victory.

The next three matches gave mixed results for the Eagles - a 1-1 draw against Atlanta in front of 100 fans, a 0-3 loss against Nashville, and a scoreless draw against DC United. A win against the Red Bulls soon followed. Fourside then traded $1.167 million dollars worth of GAM to Portland in exchange for Jeremy Ebobisse. After a draw against Orlando, Ebobisse made his debut in the Semi-Finals of the CONCACAF Champions League against Philadelphia, scoring on his debut in a 2-0 win. On August 18, Fourside was able to host 1000 fans against Montreal at Boardwalk Park in a 0-0 draw.

Losses against New England and Columbus pushed Fourside out of the playoff race, and another loss against Davenport in the first leg of the condensed Micronesian Championship caused some concern amongst the fans. A win against Inter Miami changed things, though, after a last minute goal from Brian Jansen in stoppage time. This momentum continued in the second leg of the Championship, as Fourside won easily 3-0 in front of their home fans. A win against Toronto also followed. At the second leg of the CONCACAF Champions League in Philadelphia, Fourside won again 2-0, putting them into the final for their first time in history, on their fourth trip to the Semi-Finals in five years.

The next few games after the Champions League were disastrous for the Eagles; after a draw against New York City FC, the Eagles suffered heavy losses against Atlanta and DC United. Against Toronto, Fourside came back from a 3-1 deficit to win, with Saramago scoring the winning goal in stoppage time. Another win against the Red Bulls soon followed, followed by another against Philadelphia, their third straight. After a draw against Orlando, Fourside won in a thrilling match against Chicago, coming back from a 2-0 deficit, then clawing their way back to a 3-2 lead, before having it tied in stoppage time, only for Dave Watson to score the winner two minutes later.

After a loss against Miami, Fourside went over to Mexico to face off against CF Monterrey in the CONCACAF Champions League Final. After conceding an early goal, Fourside maintained most of the possession in the game, and produced most of the shots on goal, but still could not find an equalizer. In stoppage time, Fourside appeared to find the tying goal, but it was overruled via VAR; the majority of the players boycotted the medal ceremony as a result. Only five people accepted their runner-up medals; Head Coach Fraser, Captain Hedges, Jansen, Johannsson, and Watson. Even the owner, Tom Delano, refused to apologize until the referees were disciplined for the blown call. Fourside finished the season with a win against Philadelphia, a loss against Nashville, and a win against Atlanta.

The Eagles placed third in the Eastern Conference and had a home match against Philadelphia in the first round of the playoffs, albeit in front of only 1000 fans as a result of new restrictions in the country. Fourside won the first round 3-1, with two goals from Ebobisse helping them in the victory. The Conference Semi-Finals against Nashville ended in a penalty shootout, in which Spencer Richey was able to make two saves while Nashville missed the other two shots, as Johannsson and Jones made their shots, giving Fourside the win in the shootout. In the Conference Finals against New York City FC, Fourside had a number of players (Johannsson, Ebobisse, Richey, Joevin Jones, Robinho and Corrales among them) forced to sit out due to coronavirus violations (despite the fact that none of them tested positive for the virus) - despite this, the Eagles won 2-1, with Saramago's winner advancing them to their second MLS Cup Final.

In the final at Portland, 2500 fans managed to make the trip to the West Coast to see the Eagles play. The Eagles scored first, with Johannsson's header slipping past the goalkeeper. The Eagles held the lead for the majority of the match afterwards, but surrendered a late equalizer in the final seconds of stoppage time, enraging Brian Jansen, as he believed he was fouled in the box before the goal was scored. The game went over to penalties, where Johannsson scored, Ebobisse had his penalty saved, and Watson, Saramago and Kelyn Rowe scored to get the Eagles their second MLS Cup victory. David Bingham made two crucial saves in the penalty shootout, and made other key saves during the rest of the match. For this, he was awarded the MLS Cup MVP.

Regular Season Games

Date Team Stadium Final Score W-L-T Record
April 17, 2021 Nashville SC Nissan Stadium 3-2 1-0-0
April 24, 2021 New York City FC Yankee Stadium 1-5 1-1-0
May 1, 2021 Orlando City SC Exploria Stadium 0-3 1-2-0
May 16, 2021 Inter Miami CF Boardwalk Park 4-3 2-2-0
May 22, 2021 CF Montreal DRV PNK Stadium 2-1 3-2-0
May 29, 2021 New England Revolution Boardwalk Park 0-1 3-3-0
June 19, 2021 Colorado Rapids Boardwalk Park 0-2 3-4-0
June 23, 2021 Chicago Fire FC Soldier Field 1-0 4-4-0
June 26, 2021 Toronto FC Exploria Stadium 2-0 5-4-0
July 3, 2021 Houston Dynamo FC BBVA Stadium 1-1 5-4-1
July 7, 2021 Columbus Crew SC Boardwalk Park 2-2 5-4-2
July 17, 2021 CF Montreal Stade Saputo 6-5 6-4-2
July 21, 2021 Atlanta United FC Boardwalk Park 1-1 6-4-3
July 24, 2021 Nashville SC Nissan Stadium 0-3 6-5-3
July 31, 2021 DC United Boardwalk Park 0-0 6-5-4
August 4, 2021 New York Red Bulls Red Bull Arena 1-0 7-5-4
August 7, 2021 Orlando City SC Boardwalk Park 1-1 7-5-5
August 18, 2021 CF Montreal Boardwalk Park 0-0 7-5-6
August 21, 2021 New England Revolution Gillette Stadium 1-4 7-6-6
August 27, 2021 Columbus Crew SC Crew Stadium 2-3 7-7-6
September 4, 2021 Inter Miami CF Boardwalk Park 1-0 8-7-6
September 11, 2021 Toronto FC Boardwalk Park 2-0 9-7-6
September 18, 2021 New York City FC Boardwalk Park 2-2 9-7-7
September 22, 2021 Atlanta United FC Mercedes-Benz Stadium 0-4 9-8-7
September 25, 2021 DC United Audi Field 2-4 9-9-7
September 29, 2021 Toronto FC BMO Field 4-3 10-9-7
October 2, 2021 New York Red Bulls Boardwalk Park 1-0 11-9-7
October 9, 2021 Philadelphia Union Boardwalk Park 2-1 12-9-7
October 16, 2021 Orlando City SC Boardwalk Park 1-1 12-9-8
October 20, 2021 Chicago Fire FC Boardwalk Park 4-3 13-9-8
October 23, 2021 Inter Miami CF DRV PNK Stadium 1-3 13-10-8
October 31, 2021 Philadelphia Union Subaru Park 2-0 14-10-8
November 3, 2021 Nashville SC Boardwalk Park 1-3 14-11-8
November 7, 2021 Atlanta United FC Boardwalk Park 2-1 15-11-8

Other Games

Date Team Location Score Competition
April 6, 2021 Micronesia.png Oregon Tornadoes Soldier Field (Oregon) 3-1 CONCACAF Champions League - Round of 16
April 13, 2021 Micronesia.png Oregon Tornadoes Boardwalk Park 4-0 CONCACAF Champions League - Round of 16
April 28, 2021 Mexico.png Club América Boardwalk Park 1-0 CONCACAF Champions League - Quarterfinals
May 5, 2021 Mexico.png Club América Estadio Azteca 2-3 CONCACAF Champions League - Quarterfinals
August 12, 2021 USA.png Philadelphia Union Boardwalk Park 2-0 CONCACAF Champions League - Semi-Finals
September 1, 2021 Micronesia.png Davenport FC Boardwalk Park[1] 1-2 Micronesian Championship - Finals
September 8, 2021 Micronesia.png Davenport FC Boardwalk Park[2] 3-0 Micronesian Championship - Finals
September 15, 2021 USA.png Philadelphia Union Subaru Park 2-0 CONCACAF Champions League - Semi-Finals
October 28, 2021 Mexico.png CF Monterrey Estadio BBVA 0-1 CONCACAF Champions League - Finals
November 23, 2021 USA.png Philadelphia Union Boardwalk Park 3-1 MLS Cup Playoffs - Round One
November 28, 2021 USA.png Nashville SC Nissan Stadium 1-1[3] MLS Cup Playoffs - Conference Semi-Finals
December 5, 2021 USA.png New York City FC Boardwalk Park 2-1 MLS Cup Playoffs - Conference Finals
December 11, 2021 USA.png Portland Timbers Providence Park 1-1[4] MLS Cup Playoffs - Final
  1. Designated away game
  2. Designated home game
  3. Won 2-0 in Penalties
  4. Won 4-2 in Penalties

Goal Scorers

Player MLS Season Mic. Champ CONCACAF Playoffs Total
USA.png Aron Jóhannsson 10 0 1 1 12
Micronesia.png Dave Watson 7 1 2 1 11
USA.png Brian Saramago 4 1 4 1 10
USA.png Aaron Schoenfeld 6 0 1 0 7
Tobago.png Joevin Jones 5 0 1 0 6
Micronesia.png Brian Jansen 5 0 1 0 6
USA.png Brandon Vazquez 3 2 1 0 6
USA.png Jeremy Ebobisse 2 0 1 2 5
Brazil.png Robinho 4 0 0 0 4
Kenya.png Philip Mayaka 2 0 1 1 4
USA.png Kelyn Rowe 3 0 0 0 3
Ghana.png Solomon Asante 2 0 1 0 3
USA.png Matt Hedges 1 0 0 0 1
Own Goal 0 0 0 1 1