USL President Tim Holt said that there is a chance the amount of teams having a MLS affiliation possibly doubling, on the heels of Orlando taking the USL PRO championship.

Chicago Fire has been a part of MLS since 1997 and has enjoyed moderate success, having won MLS cup and the Supporters Shield once and the US Open Cup four times. Here’s some pros and cons for having Chicago Fire as an affiliate for the Riverhounds.

PROS

• The Fire’s first team is loaded with midfielders. Not that the Riverhounds aren’t already set in the core players we would play there, but it would be nice to have a little variety, plus some competition for positions wouldn’t hurt in practice.
• The first team also has a lot of youth in it. There’s a good bit of guys that are in their early to mid-20s, so with them just not in their prime form yet, it would give them the chance to get more games in than they probably would with the USL PRO team. They then could move up and make a dent in the first team. Dom Dwyer anyone?
• Frank Klopas and Justin Evans seem to be cut from the same cloth. Both played for their respective teams before taking the management role. They know what they want from their players and want their clubs to succeed. It would be interesting to see those two sit down and not only swap stories, but to see what they would do with exchanging players.

CONS

• They already have a pretty all-embracing development system. Their PDL team, founded in 2001, has won their division seven times, has been to the national PDL final twice and have notable former players like Jay Demerit, Brad Guzan, Eric Lichaj, Thabiso Khumalo and Niko Katic. Their Super-20 team is no slouch either, winning two North American championships and consistently making a playoff appearance.
• Travel could be a bit tough. Depending on how you look at it, travel from Toyota Park to Highmark Stadium is between six and eight hours. Granted, we could probably summon the Tuffy-copter if needed for a player.

WHY NOT?

• Ownership has been a bit spotty under Andrew Hauptman. He has been accused as aloof and one that just enjoys the stigma of owning a sports team. Currently the Fire are on the outside looking in on the playoffs, but are still “in the hunt”.

VERDICT

The way the Chicago Fire system is set up, it does not seem like there is a chance they would set up a USL PRO affiliation. However, there is a major difference from playing fourth division soccer, in the Reserve League and playing in MLS. Having the Riverhounds as a partner, players would be in a system that can not only improve players on loan that could make the transition or aren’t getting enough reps with the first team. Could the Fire make it happen? Possibly. Will it happen? I really doubt it.