Photo of the Day

Cheering with the Sons of Ben

Photography by Ryan Donnell

Person: Corey Furlan, 29
Place: The parking lot outside PPL Park
Thing: Marching with the Sons of Ben into a Philadelphia Union match

Are you an original member of the Sons of Ben? Yes. I’m one of the elders now, the game-day coordinator/capo—the guy who leads all the songs and chants.

Is this howling victory walk a recurrent thing? We march into the stadium before every game, hooting and hollering the whole time.

Feel guilty for cursing in the chants? Do parents get angry? Sometimes, yes.

Nice jersey. Authentic? It is. My lovely girlfriend bought it for me, like, a week after the white jerseys came out.

Do you wear that scarf in the heat? Of course. I always wear it, no matter how hot it is.

I heard that to get tickets in the Sons of Ben section, you have to promise to stand and cheer the whole time. That’s part of the whole thing to be in that section. You have to be a paid member, so you know what’s coming.

Any game-day essentials? Scarf, for one. Cough drops so you can deal with the sore throat you get from singing. A bottle of water and your voice. Be ready to sing for 90 minutes.

Text by Morgan Zalot // Photography by Ryan Donnell