A rainy June complicated workers' ability to pour cement. A shaken Wall Street meant it took longer to sell construction bonds.
That squeezed the built-in cushion out of an already tight schedule that aimed to ensure the 18,500-seat home of the Philadelphia Union would be ready to open in the spring.
Last week, the soccer team bowed to soggy, economic reality, announcing that it would play its first home game - and maybe its first few - at Lincoln Financial Field.
"It's a daily thing, where we're at: Are we a day behind, a week behind, a month behind?" said Nick Sakiewicz, the team chief executive and operating partner. "It's a very fluid situation."
At the same time the team is building a $115 million stadium on the Chester waterfront, its representatives are traveling the world to identify potential Union players. And its ticket agents are handling steady requests: The team has taken deposits for 9,100 season tickets, roughly half the capacity of the Chester stadium.
The stadium's steel skeleton is rising just south of the Commodore Barry Bridge, cranes and crews working counter-clockwise around an oval pattern. Red brick covers parts of the exterior. Ticket windows are installed.
Sakiewicz said the stadium still could be finished before the opening home game, April 10 against D.C. United, but the team could not guarantee that as the Major League Soccer schedule was being finalized.
At most, he said, the Union will play three or four games in its temporary home.
The Union, the league's 16th team, will play its first-ever game on the road, against the Seattle Sounders at Qwest Field on March 25. That's the opening game of the MLS season. Teams selected for that annual showcase typically are picked to highlight MLS success stories.
In this case, the game will feature the league's newest team, the Union, and its runaway attendance leader, the Sounders.
The good news about moving to the Linc, fans and team officials said, was that more people could attend the historic opener. The Linc will seat 37,500 for the game, double the size of Chester.
The move also allows the Union to host a second "opening day," with all the attendant pomp and media attention, when the team plays its first game in Chester.
"We're going get a two-for-one," said Bryan James, president of the Sons of Ben supporters club.
He predicts the game at the Linc will sell out, forcing additional sections of the stadium to be opened to accommodate demand.
Even people who don't love soccer love events, and this will be a big event, he said.
Hundreds of fans will travel here from the Washington area to support D.C. United, which is backed by three major supporters clubs. They'll be welcomed by the Sons of Ben, 5,200 strong.
By playing at the Linc, "you double the people exposed to live soccer on the very first day you're in the market," James said.
Plainly, people want to see the Union. About 7,000 fans have fully paid for their season tickets, which cost $275 to $1,100 depending on location, and 2,100 are paying in installments.
Who will they see on the field? Nobody yet knows. Team officials have identified an interest in about 100 players around the world.
Union coach Peter Nowak spends much of his time traveling, scouting players, or in an office in Chester outfitted with TV equipment that allows him to watch virtually any game, anywhere.
