Mini soccer fields planned at playground in Northern Liberties ahead of World Cup

The fields will be installed at Tip Top Playground at the intersection of Front and Richmond streets. They’re being paid for by the nonprofit Street Soccer USA, Visa and Bank of America in a partnership that’s bringing similar fields to each of the 11 U.S. hosts for the international tournament.

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Both fields will be “professional grade,” a Bank of America spokesperson said, but they will not be regulation-size pitches. They’ll have lighting for night games, and the playground will also get learning centers and a workforce programming hub for people seeking employment resources.

The fields will be installed before the start of the World Cup on June 11, but officials did not say when the fields will be ready. Philadelphia Parks & Recreation, which manages space, did not respond to a request for comment.

Tip Top Playground, covering just over an acre, was last upgraded in the 1980s. It has playground equipment at the north end, one basketball hoop and a fenced-in area for soccer that has an asphalt surface. 

Michael Tanenbaum/PhillyVoice

Tip Top Playground currently has a small asphalt surface with a pair of soccer goals. The pitches being installed at the park will be ‘professional grade,’ a Bank of America spokesperson said.

For much of the last decade, the Friends of Tip Top Playground had pushed for a renovation of the space to create a more inviting atmosphere. The group regularly cleaned the site and drafted plans for upgrades, but lamented two years ago that the park remained stagnant.

“We carried out our community responsibility to the point of exhaustion and frustration,” the group wrote in a final post on their Facebook page in April 2024.

Street Soccer USA was founded in 2009 by brothers Lawrence and Rob Cann, who were working out of a soup kitchen in Charlotte. The nonprofit offers soccer programming and coaching to low-income families and now has a presence in 16 cities. In Philadelphia, the group has locations and programs in North Philly, Kensington, West Philly and Southwest Philly.

Last year, the Visa Street Soccer Parks partnership opened its first mini pitch in San Francisco, which includes a digital scoreboard and spectator seats. Other fields have since been installed in Denver, New York City and Kansas City. Additional parks are in the works in Houston, Miami, Dallas, Boston, Los Angeles and Tacoma, Washington.

Officials involved in creating the fields in Northern Liberties did not say how long they will remain there, although Bank of America spokesperson Veronica Mikitka said the pitches “will serve local communities well beyond the tournament itself.”

Philadelphia is hosting six World Cup matches at Lincoln Financial Field, including a knockout-round match that takes place on the Fourth of July as the city celebrates the nation’s 250th anniversary.