March 8, 2015, 10 years ago: New York City Football Club, an expansion team in Major League Soccer, play their 1st competitive match. They play Orlando City Soccer Club at the Citrus Bowl (now named Camping World Stadium) in Orlando, Florida. Mix Diskerud scores the franchise's 1st goal in the 76th minute, but Brazilian legend Kaká equalizes in stoppage time, and the game ends, 1-1.
On March 15, they played their 1st home game, at Yankee Stadium, and beat the New England Revolution, 2-0.
NYCFC was founded in a joint partnership between City Football Group (80 percent) and the New York Yankees (20 percent). City Football Group also owns Manchester City FC in England, Melbourne City (formerly Melbourne Heart) in Australia, Montevideo City Torque in Uruguay, Yokohama F. Marinos in Japan, Girona FC in Spain, ES Troyes in France, Lommel SK in Belgium, Sichuan Jiuniu in China, and Mumbai City FC in India (in the city formerly known as Bombay).
The owner of 70 percent of City Football Group, and thus of 56 percent of NYCFC, is Mansour bin Zayed bin Sultan bin Zayed bin Khalifa Al Nahyan. Better known as Sheik Mansour, he is the Deputy Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, and the brother of Khalifa bin Zayed. the President of the UAE and the Emir of one of the Emirates, Abu Dhabi.
So, for all intents and purposes, these teams are owned by an entire country. Not just any country: One of the richest countries in the world, with an economy based on oil and, let us tell the truth, slave labor.
To make matters worse, in that 1st season of 2015, some NYCFC fans were caught chanting neo-Nazi slogans. Worse still, on August 9, the 1st time NYCFC went to New Jersey to play the nearby New York Red Bulls, they started a fight outside Bello's Pub in Newark, the main Red Bull fan bar. They got the hell beaten out of them. And the Red Bulls won, 2-0.
Because of their blue shirts, Red Bull fans called NYCFC the Smurfs. City fans pointed out that at least they actually played in New York City, calling the Red Bulls "the Jersey team." Fans of the team once known as the New York/New Jersey MetroStars, and who still called themselves "Metro," taunted them with the song: "Fuck off, N-Y-C-F-C! You ain't got no history!" And "Shit club, no home!" The word "plastic" was bandied about as well.
NYCFC finished that 1st season with 10 wins, 17 losses and 7 draws, 8th in the Eastern Conference, not good enough for the MLS Cup Playoffs.
In 2016, they improved to 2nd in the East, but on May 21, the Red Bulls went into Yankee Stadium and slaughtered them, 7-0. City were eliminated in the Conference Semifinals by Toronto FC. In 2017, they were knocked out of the Conference Semifinals by the Columbus Crew. And, because the Yankees needed Yankee Stadium for their Playoffs, NYCFC were forced to play their last 2 "home games" elsewhere. One was at the New York Mets' ballpark, Citi Field.
The other was at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Connecticut. That's 118 miles from Midtown Manhattan. That broke the record forced on the 1973 and '74 New York Giants, who had to play at the Yale Bowl in New Haven, Connecticut, 76 miles away. Compare that to Yankee Stadium (6 miles away), Citi Field (10) and Red Bull Arena (12). Their fans' right to mock the Red Bulls and their fans for not playing their home games in New York City had completely dissolved.
At their next home game, the Red Bulls' ultras held up a banner combining the logos of NYCFC and the long-gone Hartford Whalers hockey team, reading "EAST HARTFORD FC," and even invited the man who played the Whalers' mascot, Pucky the Whale, who entertained the crowd.
In 2018, they got to a restructured MLS Cup Semifinal, before losing to Atlanta United. In 2019, they lost to Toronto FC in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Because the Yankees got to the American League Championship Series again, NYCFC had to play what turned out to be their only Playoff game and one U.S. Open Cup game at Citi Field.
The COVID epidemic, and the Orlando-area "bubble" it forced on MLS for the 1st 3 weeks of resumption resulted in "home games" away from Yankee Stadium that were none of NYCFC's fault. And then came, to NYCFC's most ardent fans, the ultimate indignity: They had to play home games at Red Bull Arena. They even had to play another game in East Hartford, although that also wasn't their fault: Canada's COVID restrictions kept Toronto FC from playing at home, so they played NYCFC at Rentschler Field. NYCFC got knocked out of the Playoffs in the 1st round, by Orlando City.
It had been 6 seasons, with all the resources that come from the Emirati royal family, and with all the resources that come from being in the world's biggest market. They'd had some legendary players: Frank Lampard from England, Patrick Vieira from France, Andrea Pirlo from Italy, David Villa from Spain. And yet, they hadn't even gotten to an MLS Cup Final. True, the Red Bulls had been around for 25 years, and had only been to 1 Final, and lost it. Which is disgraceful. But they didn't have the kind of expectations that City did.
In 2021, they pretty much split their schedule between Yankee Stadium and Red Bull Arena, and finally put it all together: They made the Playoffs as the 8th and last seed in the Eastern Conference, but eliminated Atlanta United, the New England Revolution and the Philadelphia Union, before going to Portland, Oregon for the MLS Cup Final. After extra time ended 1-1, they beat the Portland Timbers on penalties, 4-2.
It was the greatest day in NYCFC history, and the most embarrassing day in Red Bulls history -- and they weren't even playing.
In 2022, NYCFC got to the Semifinals. In 2023, they did not qualify for the Playoffs. In 2024, they reached the Conference Semifinals.
Through the end of the 2024 season, they have played 131 "home games" at Yankee Stadium, 29 at Red Bull Arena, 24 at Citi Field, 3 in East Hartford, 3 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex outside Orlando, and 2 at Belson Stadium on the campus of St. John's University in Queens, both of those being U.S. Open Cup matches, which tend to have attendance so small that even a college soccer stadium might not sell out. That's only counting competitive games, not preseason games or friendlies. In other words, 32 percent, nearly one-third, of their "home games" have not been at their intended stadium. And 18 percent, one-sixth, have been outside the City they claim as not just their home, but their name.
