Stars Year-in-Review: A step forward, but more needed

Courtesy: Chicago Stars FC

We might as well call them Chicago Stars FC, now. The Cliff Notes version of what this reporter thinks is that while the logo is okay (at least better than what the Fire came out with in 2020!), just calling the club “The Stars” sounds a little generic compared to “Red Stars” which had a uniqueness to it. Still, the premise for the Red Stars, as it was for the Fire before them, is to reintroduce themselves to Chicago. They also want to be in Chicago more often in the near future, but let’s look at what happened on the pitch, first.

The Stars will at least leave 2024 as the only Chicago professional sports team that made the postseason (since no one counts the Bulls making the play-in round in the NBA as such). While defense was an improvement allowing twelve fewer goals than last season, goal scoring improved by only three. Mallory Swanson and Ally Schlegel had seven goals each, but no one else on the squad had more than three, and one of the two that had three was the late-arriving Ludmila. Rosella Ayane came in later than Ludmila, and it is hoped she, Ludmila, and Swanson can be a three-headed attack monster for the Stars. It’s up to coach Lorne Donaldson to optimize the attacking talent at hand.

Defense was an improvement, but hampered by the season ending injury to Maxi Rall. Natalia Kuikka was also a plus this season and Alyssa Naeher was Alyssa Naeher in goal. Signing Naeher for next season was a plus as well. However, it’s clear that some upgrades are needed in the back four to move up the table.

The bigger picture is that the Red Stars need to get beyond a one-dimensional attack where if the opposition manages to stop Mallory Swanson from creating and scoring, you stop the Stars. The Stars will need a central attack midfielder to complement the attack options at hand for next season.

Off the pitch, while the Stars can claim the biggest crowd of the season of 35,038 at Wrigley Field on June 8th, take that away and the average attendance at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview was just 4,833 which would’ve put them dead last in NWSL attendance by over 1,300 a home game. Indeed, the Stars also had the lowest league crowd of the season at 2,999 on May 1st.

It’s no secret that the Stars prefer to move to a new stadium within City Limits, though they may have to take a number in that regard as the Bears, White Sox, and Fire also are looking for new places to play (and only the Fire are willing to privately fund theirs in full). The lease at SeatGeek Stadium for the Stars expires after the 2025 season, so moves need to be made on that end.

The Stars also rank last in team valuation according to Sportico and last in revenue generated. Bridgeview has not been the ideal place for soccer as the economic development surrounding the stadium took too long to develop while at the same time the teams that played there were not the winningest. If the Stars can get a new stadium deal done in the city, that would present a golden opportunity to build their fan base and not get cut adrift by the growing numbers at other NWSL teams. Before that though, the product on the pitch will still need upgrades as the Stars enter a new chapter and try to build off of a step forward in 2024 after a disastrous 2023 and a troubled past couple years before that. All for Laura Ricketts and her group to do to get ready for 2025 and it may have already started with hiring Cate McManmom as the club’s chief strategy and finance officer on Friday.