I live three hours or so away from Boston, so let this opinion be that of someone who is going to make this trip once or twice a year and not a usual commuter or traveler in Greater Boston.
Also, the New England Revolution getting an SSS is awesome, we’ve literally been at this for decades, it’s going to be great even if what I’m going to talk about seems bad for me and I assume a lot of other non-Boston area Revs fans. This is a regional team that is about to transition into a very local stadium and while this is great for the team and absolutely needs to happen, it definitely is not great for some of the fanbase. Also I am going to miss my dirt cheap Foxboro area hotels for overnight trips, the travel for me is not the barrier to entry for this trip, it’s the staying over part that might be untenable for my wallet.
I dislike driving to New York City. I go around it, thank you based Tappan Zee Bridge and I-287 traffic gods, whenever possible. I can take MetroNorth from Connecticut and get to sporting stadiums in Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens, or even North Jersey in a few hours. It is overall a pleasant experience and I have always enjoyed my trips to Red Bull Arena, Yankee Stadium and elsewhere though I do usually drive to Belson Stadium for Open Cup stuff. Love that field and parking garage.
Josh Nye
I hate, with a burning passion of at least the seventh circle of hell, driving in Boston or anywhere near it. Yes, I would rather drive in Manhattan. So as talk of an actual, real life, plan for a soccer stadium actually exists currently in the bowels of Massachusetts and/or Boston politics…I did a little research as to what I would need to do to make it to a Revs game in Everett on a site that is going to feature zero on-site fan parking.
Now this is subject to change, there is talk of Silver Line expansion and a pedestrian bridge from somewhere to help access to the stadium grounds if and when it happens. All of this is gibberish to me cause I’ve never been on any of the T lines so most of could be lying and it might not be as terrible as it sounds. Also, the no car thing is a tremendous idea and I am here for it and any and all public/mass transit/train improvements. Because if I hate driving in Boston and never do it, I can assume that is a mutual feeling with people who are actually in Boston.
Basically, I’m looking at a New Haven, CT Amtrak line to South Station followed by a quick walk or one Red Line stop over to Downtown Crossing and then the Orange Line to Sullivan Square or Assembly before walking what seems like a mile or so, maybe two(?) over the water to Everett.
This is not all that different from my journey’s to RBA, in which there’s a decent walk from Grand Central down to the 33rd St NJ PATH station. There’s one transfer on the Path at Journal Square right before Harrison, so the concept of walking across a platform isn’t an odd one for me. They also re-did the entire Harrison station plan that opened this year, and I can imagine that Red Bulls games played a factor in that upgrade.
Now from the outside looking in, I don’t understand the appeal of a site that isn’t already on the T. Expanding the Silver Line is probably the easiest option but that takes you all the way around the Chelsea area via the airport and time wise the Orange Line and walking seems significantly faster. I assume using the Amtrak Newburyport/Rockport extensions are a no go and there’s not even a train station for Encore which is also completely wild to me.
I’m talking mostly about current, available options and not whatever is being talked about and could happen in the future so if and when all of this changes, I’ll revisit it.
At this point, again to reiterate, two decades into this process, any SSS in and around Boston is better than no SSS. But call me skeptical on a public transportation plan involving a soccer team that, if I recall correctly, only runs the commuter line to Foxboro for Messi-esque attendance. So, apologies for having doubts about the train system that already doesn’t work for Revs games suddenly working at a new stadium site with no current access. This does not however make me a member of Team Neverett, Mr Quinlan.
Seth Macomber
Look, Taylor Twellman is right, if the Revs get an SSS it’s an absolute game changer. For prestige and competition reasons the Revs need out of Gillette and can’t keep playing in a third full NFL stadium with turf. I think the training grounds at Gillette were a massive sign of things to come for this team and the SSS is five or ten times that level.
But if we’re talking about fan experience, I already know taking the train to NY/NJ is a positive one and if I’m overreacting you can leave disparaging comments about Connecticut down below. Most of you already do that on Twitter, I’m sorry - X, already.
But I need to see if that positive travel experience I know exists will carry over to Boston in a few years time at a brand new awesome stadium next to the water. Hopefully. We shouldn’t believe it until we’re there, the players walk out, the anthems are played, and referee signals ready to play and kickoff occurs. Shovels in the ground aren’t good enough, we’re too traumatized at this point.
Now I did not ask today’s guest Ben Miller of The Mane Land about Orlando City’s stadium which I’m sure is lovely and I know the Lions absolutely don’t want to come to Gillette anymore cause they never win here. But Orlando is riding a hot streak as well, especially on offense, so if they can’t beat the Revs while they’re shorthanded tonight then it’s never going to happen and Gillette is just fully cursed for OCSC. You can watch New England-Orlando tonight at 730pm EDT on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+ and every game is free this weekend with a login.
Be sure to check out The Mane Land’s site for my answers to Ben’s questions and all of their NE-ORL game coverage. Ignore my hopefulness about Carles Gil starting, we did this exchange midweek before that update from Porter and the Revs.
Sam Minton
TBM: Orlando has won three of their last four, scoring 13 goals in the process if I've done the math right. What's been working offensively during that stretch and what went wrong in NYC?
BM: To begin with, I think the schedule has worked in Orlando's favor. No disrespect to Chicago, Toronto, and D.C., but all three teams are in various states of struggle at the moment when it comes to their play. When faced with a team like NYCFC that's been playing well, things fell apart a bit. Still, as you mentioned, the scoring has been present across all four matches, which definitely wasn't the case early in the season. I think some of that has to do with the big guns getting hot, Facundo Torres and Martin Ojeda have hit nice patches of form, while Duncan McGuire continues to show that last season wasn't a fluke. Additionally, Oscar Pareja finally has the personnel available to play his preferred 4-2-3-1, and the shift has coincided with the team looking a lot better on offense.
TBM: Is there an under the radar player that has been key for Orlando this year and/or a young player you'd like to see more of?
BM: Dagur Dan Thorhallsson has quietly had a pretty good season at right back. He came to Orlando as a midfielder, but when Mikey Halliday went down last season, Pareja converted him to a fullback, and he's had the starting job ever since. Jeorgio Kocevski has started being brought on as a sub late in games. Partly to waste time, but partly to help close up shop and see out a result. His longest appearance was 45 minutes in the 4-2 loss to NYCFC and he looked pretty good. I'm curious to see more.
TBM: OCSC is currently in 7th place, what needs to improve to keep them in the playoff hunt and are there any summer signings on the way?
BM: The defense needs to tighten up some. It was a strong point last season, as the Lions gave up 39 goals in 34 games. In 2024 they've given up 36 through 22, so it's been quite the drop-off. A lot of those goals have simply come from sloppy play and switching off at the worst possible time. Orlando is usually capable of getting at least one goal, but too often this year it has spotted the opposition a tally that could have easily been prevented, and dropped points because of it. If those sort of errors can get cleaned up it should help this team considerably.
Lineup/Injuries/Predictions/Etc
Mikey Halliday is out with a knee issue, while backup keeper Mason Stajduhar's year is done after having surgery to repair a tib-fib fracture he suffered in the NYCFC loss. Youngster Tahir Reid-Brown is questionable with a thigh issue, but he's very unlikely to play a part even if fit.
Pedro Gallese; Kyle Smith, Robin Jansson, David Brekalo, Dagur Dan Thorhallson; Cesar Araujo, Wilder Cartagena, Facundo Torres, Martin Ojeda, Ivan Angulo; Duncan McGuire.
Orlando has never won at Gillette Stadium, but there's no time like the present. I'll guess that the defense stays leaky but the offense is just hot enough to get things done. 3-2 in favor of Orlando City.
