New York City FC - It's Official!

[Alex Sapphire]

love that

[Blue Since 76]

All in all though this is all part of the Sheikhs planes to make us a global brand by long term investment.

Not sure Sheikhs, planes and New York are a good mix...


Personally think this can only be good for City long term. I understand the complaints about the Yankees from those with a interest in American sports (wore a Yankees baseball cap on a trip to Florida a couple of years ago which I'd bought in Tesco's here - some American asked me about it, at which point I felt like a Malaysian rag). However they seem to be the right partners for raising the profile and allowing things to work in NY.

I can't believe football's not bigger in the US than it is due to the number of recent immigrants in a lot of states from either Europe or Central America where football is a big deal. It seems to have been the college and draft system which has affected it, plus the lack of money as an MLS player, as oppose to what you could earn here as a lower league player or there in netball, rounders and rugby (or whatever they call them).

With 13 million kids playing it, I think I saw, we only need to convince a small percentage to want a City shirt to start increasing our revenue (whatever Soriano claimed yesterday).

[Madcity]

This is great for City. Reyna is the perfect choice and while I hate the Yankees they will be a great partner. The Cosmos in the 70s was incredibly popular and this team could become the dominate force in the MLS.

[kinkylola]

Having briefly read some of the posts in this thread and having looked on Wiki (yeah I know but it was convenient) I can only see this as a good thing for us.

Football is currently the third most PLAYED team sport in the US with over 13 million playing.

It will give me something to keep an eye on follow over the summer months when our season is closed.

Potentially a lot of City fans worldwide will now take an interest in NYCFC & the MLS in general, which could raise the profile of the league?


If the current academy system is pay per play i.e no college grants like in the other major US sports?

Then this means it is only open to the financially secure families & assuming that City will actually fund the players through it's new academy this should open it up to those who could not afford to progress in football.

In 2010, there were 16.4 million kids who fell into the "poor" category according to national statisitcs, that's a lot of kids to pick from IMO. I thought we had already opened a series of academies in the US over the last 4 years??

I have no idea if it will also potentially open up routes from central American countries, Caribbean, Bahamas, Canada etc etc?? (might of just said American continent), not just for kids going to academies, it also be a get round on Visa's? NYCFC buy them and loan to us with out needing a European/Uk visa? OK, so this could be stretching the potentials too far!!

Yeah yeah, we all know "women's footie" is bigger in the US, so think about the potential for Manchester City Ladies team? Having just got themselves to the Women's Super League 1, would it not benefit the whole club to exploit the connection further with FIFA's top ranked ladies country?

OK so some of you have a downer on the MLS & to be honest I haven't bothered with until now BUT I can only see benefits from this and as I said earlier it would be nice if we can use it to fuck over Platini and his bent cartel the fookin then even better.

All in all though this is all part of the Sheikhs planes to make us a global brand by long term investment.

the problem with our system ... is that 90% of youth players do not encounter a professional coach until they are 18 and (possibly) playing on a college level team. Before that, you pay to play in Rec Leagues, or you pay to join a local club that travels around playing other clubs and joining regional tournaments. These clubs are generally better quality, but they are not able to make enough profit to have any kind of quality coaching staff. Even when you do encounter paid coaches, they are not of the quality that even a mediocre academy in europe would have ... there's no doubt about it. It's poor.

I also assume that City will NOT follow the pay to play for youth, and potentially have access to a much higher level of coaching, or at least offer some kind of coaching exchange. The advantage this will give NYCFC will be huge, but it will also begin to have a knock on effect for all of USA, and I could easily see it being a place were serious kids from all over want to be.

[Saul Goodman]

In retrospect, your comment about academies in USA/MLS sucking is not relevant to City and NYCFC, because City are creating something new, and they have the potential to decide how an academy will be structured.

Youre correct. Nor was I trying to relate the USA/MLS academies that suck to City.

My entire comment was about MLS pre-NYCFC. What City plans to do from now on has nothing to do with what i was talking about

Btw, youre comment right above mine here is basically what i was trying to say from the get go.

[kinkylola]

the US didn't 'more than hold their own' against England in 2010.

But we did beat spain 2-0 in the confed cup (same team who went on to win the WC 2010), that might count as holding our own against a big team. We also ran brazil close in the final, falling apart in the second half after leading 3-2 ... again, holding our own.

Anyway, that's all off on a huge tangent now.

I feel really good about having reyna involved at NYCFC, great to have him back working with the club in a way.

Boom! Get in! http://majorleaguesoccertalk.com/files/2008/07/39468084_reynagoal_get.jpg

[Florida Blue]

look ... obviously US soccer is no where near as developed as England. Congrats, we've had a serious pro league since 94-95.

But if your metric for a successful program is that England put us under intense pressure and "should have" won, then I don't think you're having the right conversation.

The USA is no powerhouse, we have a horrible youth system, mediocre league at best and as you say only around 30 players that could/would/do make a difference in the prem. Still, we can hang with the big boys.

I wouldn't get all high and mighty about England's "PL quality players" ... after all, I'd take quite a few off the US squad depth chart before calling up Danny Welbeck, and your last competitive result was 1 - 1 Montengro.

Now, I can imagine City coming in and developing something really special that will be good for City ... and it will be good for US talent development in general. Exciting times.

You also have 300 million people compared to about 50 million, so would stand a chance if kids took it seriously. That said, China and India could be the best if they did.

England as a team are pretty poor and that's got less to do with the academies and more to do with what happens to kids up to 11. The academies are starting to produce some good players, but a lot aren't English - just look at City's.

English football is in a state because the FA preferred to spend £800m on a shiny stadium on an industrial estate than give the money to youth teams so that they could play on grass rather than boggy marshes covered in dog shit.

This is the contention that never made any sense to me. Yes we have over 300 million people (313 million actually), but you have to realize that while it is way down in the pecking order, there are many other sports to pull attention away. That said it is probably played by more American kids than any sport, save maybe basketball. Girls do not play American football or baseball (though they play softball) or ice hockey (though some play field), but a lot of boys and girls are playing soccer at young ages. The exposure is there the system is not. When I was in high school I played with, and now I have coached, some very talented kids, and as they got older they either chose other sports or didn't feel challenged by football, and that is where the system breaks down.

Lacrosse is rapidly growing in popularity in this country, and that could be another detractor too. Things like this can only help as the sport will flounder even further if the MLS cannot keep up interest.

[Ted Hughes]

The players, stood at the back of that room watching the Mayor of New York, the Yankees owners, Soriano etc, looked like reality was starting to dawn on them.
In The Hitchikers Guide To The Galaxy, there was mention of a thing called the Total Perspective Vortex, definition: the most horrible torture device to which a sentient being can be subjected. When you are put into the Vortex you are given just one momentary glimpse of the entire unimaginable infinity of creation, and somewhere in it a tiny little mark, a microscopic dot on a microscopic dot, which says, "You are here."

[CTID Hants]

All in all though this is all part of the Sheikhs planes to make us a global brand by long term investment.

Not sure Sheikhs, planes and New York are a good mix...


Personally think this can only be good for City long term. I understand the complaints about the Yankees from those with a interest in American sports (wore a Yankees baseball cap on a trip to Florida a couple of years ago which I'd bought in Tesco's here - some American asked me about it, at which point I felt like a Malaysian rag). However they seem to be the right partners for raising the profile and allowing things to work in NY.

I can't believe football's not bigger in the US than it is due to the number of recent immigrants in a lot of states from either Europe or Central America where football is a big deal. It seems to have been the college and draft system which has affected it, plus the lack of money as an MLS player, as oppose to what you could earn here as a lower league player or there in netball, rounders and rugby (or whatever they call them).

With 13 million kids playing it, I think I saw, we only need to convince a small percentage to want a City shirt to start increasing our revenue (whatever Soriano claimed yesterday).

Ha Ha thanks for pulling me up on my spelling mistake LOL.

YES 13 Million are playing football, there has to be some gems to be found in that number. If we can get a few of them to buy shirts then all the better.

There are so many benefits to us on so many levels, it really does seem to be a massive coup, one that many other clubs will be kicking themselves for not making an effort to really tap into the US market.

Assuming it does all work I have visions of Sheikh Mansour and his mates sitting at home pissing themselves that they got one over on the Glazers in their own back yard :-)

[Alioune DVToure]

But we did beat spain 2-0 in the confed cup (same team who went on to win the WC 2010), that might count as holding our own against a big team. We also ran brazil close in the final, falling apart in the second half after leading 3-2 ... again, holding our own.

Anyway, that's all off on a huge tangent now.

I feel really good about having reyna involved at NYCFC, great to have him back working with the club in a way.

Boom! Get in! [url="http://majorleaguesoccertalk.com/files/2008/07/39468084_reynagoal_get.jpg"]http://majorleaguesoccertalk.com/files/2008/07/39468084_reynagoal_get.jpg[/url]

I'm going to have to wait to see how Cityish it all feels. I already have a team (Philadelphia Union), who are very much my local team in an American sense (my mother-in-law lives five minutes away) and I've been to watch them a couple of times. Unless both teams end up hating NYRB, it's going to be difficult to choose.

[kinkylola]

Philedelphia can be a pretty cool city ... but New York is an amazing place. I'll certainly follow this team in the MLS. Closest team to me right now would be DC United, but I don't have any special love for DC either. Baltimore doesn't have a team UNLESS YOU COUNT THE BALTIMORE BLAST, MAJOR INDOOR SOCCER LEAGUE CHAMPIONS 12-13!!! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM BLAST YA!

[Exiled]

Being the owner of Colorado Rapids, I suspect that Stan Kroenke is watching all this eagerly.

[phips]

Being the owner of Colorado Rapids, I suspect that Stan Kroenke is watching all this eagerly.

I hate that guy....

Majority holder of Arsenal
Full owner of St. Louis Rams
For now, full owner of the Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche
Owner of Colorado Rapids.

[Beefymcfc]

Has anybody mentioned that we've curtailed Beckhams dreams of owning a MLS side?

[Alioune DVToure]

Has anybody mentioned that we've curtailed Beckhams dreams of owning a MLS side?

Apparently the agreement he has in place excludes NYC.

[Ted Hughes]

Has anybody mentioned that we've curtailed Beckhams dreams of owning a MLS side?

Apparently the agreement he has in place excludes NYC.

He can get on the sunbed, have his teeth extra whitened & start his own religion now, & get a PPV channel going, where he can accept donations & heal people of various ailments, with the help of his 'lovely wife'...

[Beefymcfc]

Has anybody mentioned that we've curtailed Beckhams dreams of owning a MLS side?

Apparently the agreement he has in place excludes NYC.

I noticed it was a big thing with some of the media, including the BBC. Big-Bad City stop Beckhams love affair with the MLS coming true.

With us gaining the 20th franchise then he'll have to wait out. Hopefully he can start a lesser league, something like the Unibond or something.

Just for you Ted ;-)


Shit Spice in all here glory!

[Alioune DVToure]

He can get on the sunbed, have his teeth extra whitened & start his own religion now, & get a PPV channel going, where he can accept donations & heal people of various ailments, with the help of his 'lovely wife'...

It'd be quality if all the unusual 'religions' in America each set up a team: The Scientologist Thetans, The Latterday Saints and The Christian Scientists. I suppose the Mormon and CS games would be boring to go to, though, with no stimulants being allowed. You could also have a Jehovahs' team with a physio who refuses to treat injured players.

[Ted Hughes]

He can get on the sunbed, have his teeth extra whitened & start his own religion now, & get a PPV channel going, where he can accept donations & heal people of various ailments, with the help of his 'lovely wife'...

It'd be quality if all the unusual 'religions' in America each set up a team: The Scientologist Thetans, The Latterday Saints and The Christian Scientists. I suppose the Mormon and CS games would be boring to go to, though, with no stimulants being allowed. You could also have a Jehovahs' team with a physio who refuses to treat injured players.

The evangelists team physio would just stick his hand on the player's heads & they'd shake a bit, then be up and running again as if nothing had happened, after initially writhing in agony as if they had been shot...

Come to think of it, I think he already works for Liverpool.

[john68]

It'd be quality if all the unusual 'religions' in America each set up a team: The Scientologist Thetans, The Latterday Saints and The Christian Scientists. I suppose the Mormon and CS games would be boring to go to, though, with no stimulants being allowed. You could also have a Jehovahs' team with a physio who refuses to treat injured players.

Can you imagine trying to convince a ref that a passive Buddhist just kicked you?
Or the concern of the political far right on reading a report that a muslim fundamentalist referee had just blown up and it had kicked off?
Or the sight of 1,000 away Jehova's fans, banging on the home fans' gates to convince them they were supporting the wrong team.

Chants anyone?