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Bethlehem Steel FC 2019 schedule released

8 of the team’s first 12 games will be at Talen Energy Stadium

Courtesy of Bethlehem Steel FC

Talen Energy Stadium will be seeing plenty of soccer in the first three months of the USL Championship with eight Bethlehem Steel FC games scheduled for the team’s “temporary” home over the first three months of the season.

After opening the season against Birmingham Legion FC, the Steel will return home for a three-game home stand in March and will have three-game stretches in Chester in May and June.

Though we won’t know until the release of the Major League Soccer schedule how many games will be part of double-headers in Chester or will overlap with first team road games, the schedule does represent a shift from the Sunday afternoon heavy schedule from the Steel’s first three seasons playing at Goodman Stadium.

The 2019 schedule doesn’t include any Sunday dates; 25 of the 34 games are on Saturdays, two are on Fridays and the other seven games are on weekdays (one Tuesday, four Wednesday and one Thursday). The Steel will play its Thursday game on the Fourth of July at the Pittsburgh Riverhounds.

In addition to home games at Talen Energy Stadium, the team will play at MLS venues Children’s Mercy Stadium in Kansas City and Audi Field in Washington D.C. and three NFL/CFL venues against Indy Eleven, Nashville SC and Ottawa Fury. Road games against Louisville City FC and Memphis 901 FC will both be played at baseball stadiums.

Kickoff times have not been released.

In addition to the schedule release, the league has also announced the playoff format, which will be expanded from eight teams in each of the two conferences to 10 teams from each in 2019. The 7-10 seeds will be part of a play-in round to start the playoffs on October 23. USL Cup will be played some time between November 14 and 18.

The Union announced last month that the team would be playing at Talen Energy Stadium in 2019 because a suitable venue in the Lehigh Valley could not be secured. The team elected to keep Bethlehem in the name because they say they are committed to returning to the Lehigh Valley.

2019 Bethlehem Steel FC Schedule

Date Home Team Away Team Venue
Date Home Team Away Team Venue
Saturday, March 9 Birmingham Legion FC Bethelehem Steel BBVA Compass Field
Saturday, March 16 Bethlehem Steel North Carolina FC Talen Energy Stadium
Saturday, March 23 Bethlehem Steel Memphis 901 FC Talen Energy Stadium
Saturday, March 30 Bethlehem Steel Pittsburgh Riverhounds Talen Energy Stadium
Saturday, April 6 Swope Park Rangers Bethelehem Steel Children's Mercy Stadium
Saturday, April 13 Bethlehem Steel Charleston Battery Talen Energy Stadium
Tuesday, April 16 Charlotte Independence Bethelehem Steel Sportsplex at Matthews
Wednesday, April 24 Bethlehem Steel Indy Eleven Talen Energy Stadium
Friday, May 3 Loudoun United Bethelehem Steel Audi Field
Friday, April 12 Bethlehem Steel Atlanta United 2 Talen Energy Stadium
Saturday, May 18 Bethlehem Steel Ottawa Fury Talen Energy Stadium
Saturday, May 25 Bethlehem Steel Louisville City Talen Energy Stadium
Saturday, June 1 New York Red Bulls II Bethelehem Steel MSU Soccer Park
Saturday, June 1 Bethlehem Steel Nashville SC Talen Energy Stadium
Saturday, June 15 Bethlehem Steel Saint Louis FC Talen Energy Stadium
Saturday, June 22 Bethlehem Steel Tampa Bay Rowdies Talen Energy Stadium
Saturday, June 29 Hartford Athletic Bethelehem Steel Dillon Stadium
Thursday, July 4 Pittsburgh Riverhounds Bethelehem Steel Highmark Stadium
Wednesday, July 10 Bethlehem Steel New York Red Bulls II Talen Energy Stadium
Saturday, July 20 Louisville City Bethelehem Steel Louisville Slugger Field
Saturday, July 27 Saint Louis FC Bethelehem Steel Toyota Stadium
Wednesday, July 31 Bethlehem Steel Hartford Athletic Talen Energy Stadium
Saturday, August 10 Nashville SC Bethelehem Steel Nissan Field
Saturday, August 17 Tampa Bay Rowdies Bethelehem Steel Al Lang Stadium
Saturday, August 24 Bethlehem Steel Birmingham Legion Talen Energy Stadium
Saturday, August 31 Bethlehem Steel Swope Park Rangers Talen Energy Stadium
Saturday, September 7 North Carolina FC Bethelehem Steel WakeMed Soccer Park
Saturday, September 14 Indy Eleven Bethelehem Steel Lucas Oil Stadium
Saturday, September 21 Bethlehem Steel Loudoun United FC Talen Energy Stadium
Saturday, September 28 Memphis 901 FC Bethelehem Steel AutoZone Park
Saturday, October 5 Bethlehem Steel Charlotte Independence Talen Energy Stadium
Wednesday, October 9 Atlanta United 2 Bethelehem Steel Fifth Third Bank Stadium
Saturday, October 12 Ottawa Fury Bethelehem Steel TD Place Stadium
Saturday, October 19 Charleston Battery Bethelehem Steel MUSC Health Stadium
Wednesday, October 23 Play-In Round
Friday, October 25 Conference Quarterfinals
Saturday, October 26 Conference Quarterfinals
Sunday, October 27 Conference Quarterfinals
Friday, November 1 Conference Semifinals
Saturday, November 2 Conference Semifinals
Sunday, November 3 Conference Semifinals
Friday, November 8 Conference Finals
Saturday, November 9 Conference Finals
Sunday, November 10 Conference Finals
Thursday, November 14 USL Cup
Friday, November 15 USL Cup
Saturday, November 16 USL Cup
Sunday, November 17 USL Cup
Monday, November 18 USL Cup