MLS Preview: New York City FC

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Hooligan Soccer

·18 febbraio 2025

MLS Preview: New York City FC

Club History

New York City FC (NYCFC) were announced to the public as the second MLS franchise in the greater New York metropolitan area, and the 20th franchise in the league, in May 2013. The expansion fee was $100M, a drop in the bucket for the UAE-backed City Football Group. They wasted no time in following that tried-and-true MLS strategy of signing ageing stars to be the jewels in their crown, in this case: David Villa, Frank Lampard and Andrea Pirlo.

Their 2015 season was disappointing on many levels. Frank Lampard kept suffering injury. Overall, the team didn’t quite gel and they failed to make the playoffs. Head coach Jason Kreis was fired and they brought in Patrick Viera. The next two years saw them become a force in the league, though they would struggle in the postseason. Cycles of excellence, postseason disappointment and major personnel changes would follow for the next few years. Then in 2021, the team went on a dramatic run through the playoffs, defeating the Portland Timbers 4-2 in penalties after a 1-1 draw. They followed this up with a Campeones Cup win in 2022.

OneFootball Video

Since this peak, the team has usually performed well but failed to advance past the semi-finals in the MLS Cup.

Ownership

The club’s ownership is split between the City Football Group (80%), Yankee Global Enterprises (10%) and private investor Marcelo Claure (10%). The City Football group is a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi United Group, an investment arm of the United Arab Emirates government. They own Manchester City, plus other global soccer clubs like Mumbai City, Melbourne City, and eight others. See a theme there?

Significant Players

David Villa (Spain) – Midfielder First Designated Player and team captain. All-time leading scorer (80 goals).
Andrea Pirlo (Italy) – Midfielder Legendary player who spent two years at the club before retirement.
Maximiliano Moralez (Argentina) – Midfielder Replaced Lampard in 2017 and is still with the club. Has 105 contributions (38 goals; 67 assists) in 224 games (also a club record).
Jack Harrison (England) – Winger Drafted in 2016, Harrison sparked some of NYCFC’s best seasons before being transferred to Manchester City for a then-record $6M fee.
Sean Johnson (United States) – Goalkeeper Spent six years with NYCFC (2017-2022). Recorded 25 clean sheets and was team captain from 2019-2021.

Other Facts

Mix Diskerud scored their first-ever MLS goal in their debut match against fellow expansion team Orlando City SC.
Have only missed the postseason twice since 2015.
They are commonly known as The Pigeons.
They have two official supporters groups: The Third Rail and Los Templados #12.
Unsurprisingly, they have a local rivalry with the New York Red Bulls called the Hudson River Derby
Their home field is in Yankee Stadium, the Bronx. The pitch dimensions are only 110 yards by 70 yards, the smallest in the MLS. Due to conflicts with the baseball season, they have used a half-dozen other locations over the years. The club is constructing a new, 25,000 seat soccer-specific complex called Etihad Park in Queens, scheduled to open by 2027.

2024 Season Recap

14W – 8D – 12L for 50 points. Finished 6th in the Eastern Conference, 13th overall.
Lost the conference semifinal to the lower ranked New York Red Bulls 2-0.

Who to Watch 2025

NYCFC were pretty solid last year, and haven’t made that many moves in the offseason. They do have a new coach, former AZ Alkmaar chief Pascal Jansen, but he has yet to really stamp his vision on the club yet (at least via personnel shifts).

Thiago Martins (Brazil) – Defender [DP] Current team captain.
Alonzo Martínez (Costa Rica) – Forward Has 17 goals in the past 34 games.
Matt Freese (United States) – Goalkeeper Rumored to be a target for many European clubs.
Julián Fernández (Argentina) – Forward Only 21 years old, this striker didn’t quite have the impact last season fans expected.