How Many Sporting KC Players Played their Final Home Game?

For the Glory KC is back with the 102nd episode of the show.

Sporting Kansas City are one game away from the end of their 2024 season, but it’s effectively over. This past Saturday served as the final home game of the season. According to my colleague, Mike Kuhn, a statistically terrible one. We keep our conversation about the 3-0 loss to LAFC to a minimum, though Tim Melia and the debut of Joaquin Fernandez got some time.

Mostly, we focused on a few of the players who are out of contract after the 2024 season. First, Sheena’s favorite, Remi Walter. He was a surprise addition to the starting lineup after Khiry Shelton was a late scratch with a calf injury. He pushed Jake Davis to right back and took his spot in the midfield before coming off in the 60th minute. Was it his final appearance?

Then the attention turned to Johnny Russell. He wanted to score so bad, but it just wasn’t coming off for him. He ended the night with just 0.1 xG (per FBref) of the teams meager 0.7 xG. In 31 minutes, Erik Thommy accounted for 0.4 of that total. But we’re not talking about Thommy (this week).

Russell stared off into the distance, taking it all in for a while, after the final whistle blew. It was the look of a man who knew it may be his final time in a Sporting KC uniform. For his part, he wants to come back, though apparently, it’s not been discussed yet.

Russell has stood in the same spot after the final whistle for a bit… Possibly taking it all in for the last time. #SportingKC pic.twitter.com/QniJFdDm2V

— Chad Smith (@PlayFor90) October 6, 2024

Next week on the podcast, we’ll look closer at the whole roster, and all 16 guys that could potentially be gone, and make our roster decisions.

After the Sporting KC talk ended, things livened up with wins from the KC Current and SKC II. The Current pulled just one point out of second place in the NWSL standings with three games to go. Sporting KC II on the other hand were bounced from the playoffs despite their victorious efforts. Benny Feilhaber also confirmed he’s out of contract after the season and he’s “uncertain of his future.”

In the Digital Crawl, we touch on a few topics, including:

• Women’s College championship coming to CPKC Stadium
• Mary Long called up for US U-17 Women’s World Cup
• Josh Wolff fired from Austin FC
• Gianluca Busio gets the call-up
• Inter Miami to the 2025 Club World Cup

Here is a rundown of topics (and approximate start times):

• Sporting KC lose their final home game – 1:27
• The Future of Remi and Johnny (and Fontas a little) – 11:06
• Dany Rosero has surgery – 37:05
• KC Current keep winning! – 48:26
• SKC II and Benny Feilhaber Talk – 53:09
• Digital Crawl – 1:00:10

Upcoming Schedule:

• USMNT vs. Panama – Saturday, October 12th @ 8:00PM CDT
• KC Current at Bay FC – Saturday, October 12th @ 9:00PM
• Sporting KC on the international break
• SKC II’s season is over

We recently turned on “Listener Support.” Don’t feel obligated, but if you have a few spare bucks and are a fan of the pod, we’d appreciate your donation.

As a special gift to For the Glory KC listeners and KC Soccer Journal readers, Backheeled dot com is giving away 30 days of their amazing, independent American soccer coverage for free. If you decide you want to turn that into a paid membership, they’ll give you 10 percent off too. Just follow this link!

Big thanks to Splitter Conspiracy (listen to them here) for our theme music made with the permission of the KC Cauldron.

You can find For the Glory KC wherever you get your podcasts. Search “For the Glory KC” and be sure to subscribe! Here are some helpful links:

Spotify | Apple | Amazon | iHeartRadio | Castbox |

Be sure to like and subscribe to the podcast. Five-star ratings and reviews will help others find the pod. On Spotify you can review on the mobile app by clicking the three dots. On Apple Podcasts, it’s much easier. If it’s not quite five-star worthy yet, feel free to let us know in the comments or on Twitter (@PlayFor90 or @ForTheGloryKC). Sheena essentially runs our FTG Twitter, so that’s a great way to get her takes.

Also, you can find the podcast on all the social media platforms: @ForTheGloryKC on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook or you can email us at ForTheGloryKC at Gmail.

Transcript from Revoldiv available after about 24 hours. Click the link, then search “For the Glory KC” for a free transcription (or you can transcribe any podcast you’d like).