The U.S. Open Cup brings together two thriving Chicago sides this Saturday
If any team embodies the enduring value of the U.S. Open Cup, it’s Chicago House. This community-focused club formed in 2020 nearly went under but for a thrilling run in this venerable tournament that gives underdogs their only chance to make their mark at national level.
This Saturday, Chicago House plays city rivals Edgewater Castle in the First Qualifying Round of the 2024-25 – and 110th – edition in which 114 amateur teams from across the States battle it out for 14 places in the First Round proper next spring.
As local soccer historian and House volunteer Chuck Carlson explains, “Chicago House still exists because of the U.S. Open Cup. Following the 2021 season, it looked like House would fold. Due to the move from professional to non-professional, almost all players left the team. The front office was reduced to two paid staff and two volunteers. Because of coach Matt Poland’s efforts, along with team captain AR Smith, House entered the 2022-23 Open Cup as a way to keep the players together”.
“Amazingly, in that first year, we qualified for the Open Cup proper by winning three qualifying games, each with its own compelling story.”
This set up a potential dream fixture against the city’s MLS team, Chicago Fire, but here’s where any comparison with England’s FA Cup ends. As Chuck reveals: “The Fire, who usually play their home matches at Soldier Field, moved the game to Seat Geek Stadium, and used few resources to market the event”.
“What could have been a compelling story of two Chicago teams battling it out in the oldest continuously operating soccer knockout tournament in the U.S., became a non-story. House lost the match 3-0, but we were one of the two amateur sides that progressed the farthest that year.”
The two opponents are not only poles apart in terms of status but ambition, too. While Chicago House was founded on the principles of “social justice, racial equality, inclusion and serving the underserved”, The Fire is a franchise, one earning the unwanted acronym DNQ in its MLS record for every season but one over the last decade. It operates, as Chuck puts it, “without competitive consequence”.
The Fire’s most successful period was under founding president and general manager Peter Wilt, under whom it won its only MLS Cup in 1998, as well as three U.S. Open Cups.
Passionate about promoting the game in the Midwest, 20 years later Wilt turned his attention to co-founding the National Independent Soccer Association (NISA) and setting up its Chicago franchise.
This later became Chicago House. Though the third-tier NISA met with difficulty, this year Wilt was also involved in the Open Soccer Alliance, “to unite likeminded clubs and leagues throughout the United States who share the desire to play soccer in an open system in the way the game is structured in the rest of the world”.
Yet the division between MLS and the entire ecosystem below it, best characterized in Chicago, has never been more marked. As Libero outlined this spring in The Magic of the U.S. Open Cup, in 2024 MLS was going to withdraw from the tournament entirely, until it was persuaded to enter eight senior teams and nine Next Pro ones of reserves and juniors.
Chicago House now competes in the regional Midwest Premier League. A pointer to the future of lower-league soccer in America, MWPL is of decent standard, and this year introduced promotion and relegation. While House plays in Heartland Division 1, Saturday’s opponents Edgewater Castle is one tier below.
“Chicago, with a metropolitan population of greater than nine million, has one professional men’s team and one women’s. The Chicago Fire, with its territorial exclusivity agreement with MLS, ensures they are the only professional men’s team in the city.”
“The fact that Chicago has hundreds of clubs that play soccer at a high level, but do not have the opportunity to develop into fully professional organizations, is why Chicago needed (and needs) a team like House, and others such as Edgewater Castle, Roscoe AFC, Lakeview AFC and Chicago Wisłoka.”
Representing the city’s Polish community, Wisłoka was only formed in 2014 but was inspired by its namesake in Dębica, Poland, created in 1908.
As Chuck has detailed in several articles on the subject, the game in Illinois was developed by its coal-mining communities, in particular Scots, who brought with them the short-passing game.
With so many Central Europeans arriving between the wars, more teams formed and leagues were merged before the Chicago Soccer League and International Soccer Football League came together to create the National Soccer League (NSL) of Chicago in 1938. Recently renamed the Greater Chicago Soccer League, it still features heritage sides such as Ukrainian Lions and RWB Adria.
For all this grass-roots enthusiasm, the practical reality of keeping a team afloat is “incredibly challenging”, as Chuck knows better than most. “It is only because of the dedication of many volunteers, including our players, that the club still exists.”
And then there’s the pitch. First based at the out-of-town Seat Geek Stadium, House moved to Stuart Field at Illinois Institute of Technology, which had the location but not onsite locker rooms or a press box.
“In 2023 and 2024, we played at DePaul prep HS, which is where Chicago’s amusement park Riverview was located, including its dedicated soccer stadium back in the 1920s. The location was excellent, but the field itself was not wide enough for Open Cup games. For 2025, the men’s and women’s teams will be moving to Elmhurst University in the suburbs.”
The women’s team is vital to the whole equation: “Women’s college soccer exploded in ‘80s and ‘90s. A youth system was established, foundation for the successful US Women’s national team. As competition has increased throughout the world, a post-college system is needed”.
“The NWSL is attracting investment, but having a stable, productive lower-tier adult soccer system will be needed to sustain success at national level. Hopefully, House can be part of that development. In 2024, we joined the Women’s Premier Soccer League (WPSL), which is a more competitive environment.”
As for the men, being part of their own stable, regional, local league has helped House come back from the brink.
Local rivalries also help. Saturday’s opponents, Edgewater Castle generate a lively atmosphere at their games, and will be keen for a first win over House in three competitive games.
Long-term, Chicago House needs a suitable venue within the city for 2026 and beyond: “Having a viable, competitive professional team outside MLS would benefit Chicago as a whole. Last Saturday, the Premier League USA broadcast team was here, and over 20,000 people showed up to watch a game on TV, so the market is there. House is hoping to be part of providing an alternative team in a city which demonstrates again and again that it is a soccer town”.
Chicago House v Edgewater Castle, U.S. Open Cup, Benedictine University Soccer Field, Benedictine Drive, Lisle, IL 60532. Saturday, October 5, 7pm CDT. General Admission $18, youth $8 (game day $20/$10) available here.
