We got the stories of 5 New York City FC fans based here in the UK. From why and how they became fans to their thoughts on the rest of our second season in Major League Soccer. We're always looking for fans to share their stories with us so do get in touch if you'd like to feature in the future!
Kevin Quirke
In August 2014 I was happily getting drunk in legends bar manhattan wearing my Blackpool FC shirt. During the evening I got talking to a bunch of guys who had been playing in a supporters tournament that day representing NYCFC. Naturally curious as the team wasn't even due to play it's first game for another 6 months I asked questions expecting the stereotypical soccer responses. I was amazed by these guys knowledge of football and the fact they refused to use that daft word soccer! I decided then I would take an interest in this fledgling team and started reading all I could to understand the difference between English football and MLS. The rules have taken some getting used to! As my own team was in turmoil and being boycotted due to the owners I still needed football in my life and decided to adopt NYCFC as I couldn't bring myself to support another European team. I now regularly stay up until the early hours of the morning watching every game I can (apart from Vancouver away at 4am). A lot of my friends have found it odd that I now own more NYCFC merchandise than Blackpool FC and when asked who I support I automatically say the blues. They now understand my decision and a few of them are starting to watch MLS sporadically. Last season was a bit of finding our own feet in the league personally and as a club! This season with Vieira’s new systems being implemented it will again take time. In a few years I fully expect to be called a glory hunter when NYCFC are winning trophies but I've been here from the start and will be here for the foreseeable future.
Matthew Lawson
When I look back, I remember the day New York City FC were announced as the latest expansion team in Major League Soccer. It gave me the chance to fall in love with a team from day one & that is exactly what happened.
Since the first Pre-Season game of last year kicked off, my passion for New York City FC has just risen. Being a fan of the team is an incredible feeling, if you're on social networks, you really get a sense of community between the fans. You get to speak to so many fans that love the same thing you do & it is incredible.
I haven't missed a league game since the first season, I managed to get MLS Live to work & found myself dedicating late nights & early evenings to NYCFC. I fell out of love with the English Game, I find the Premier League boring to watch, MLS is different. MLS is much better than I first expected, its a lot quicker, much more physical & played with passion by every single player. People seem to think that MLS is a retirement league, many others don't understand & miss out on seeing players like Khiry Shelton & other young players making names for themselves. MLS is fast becoming one of the bigger leagues in world football. Will it ever dominate? I'm not sure, but a few changes need to be made if its to compete with some of the Euro Leagues.
This season, we’ve started okay. Nothing spectacular (except Tommy Mac). Vieira has us playing a much more attacking brand of football but sadly, we have not seen much in terms of points. The stand out player for me so far is Ronald Matarrita, he's looked incredibly composed defensively & hopefully that continues. Jason Hernandez seems to have become a different player since Vieira has arrived, he seems much more confident at the back, where as when Kries was in charge, he was far too inconsistent. One player that has also started brightly is Khiry Shelton, he has performed well playing out wide & hopefully he can score a few more. Overall, I'm proud of how far the team have come & things can only get better from here. Roll on the Philly game on the 11th of March which is Live on Sky Sports with a Midnight kick off! Thanks for reading my thoughts.
Since the first Pre-Season game of last year kicked off, my passion for New York City FC has just risen. Being a fan of the team is an incredible feeling, if you're on social networks, you really get a sense of community between the fans. You get to speak to so many fans that love the same thing you do & it is incredible.
I haven't missed a league game since the first season, I managed to get MLS Live to work & found myself dedicating late nights & early evenings to NYCFC. I fell out of love with the English Game, I find the Premier League boring to watch, MLS is different. MLS is much better than I first expected, its a lot quicker, much more physical & played with passion by every single player. People seem to think that MLS is a retirement league, many others don't understand & miss out on seeing players like Khiry Shelton & other young players making names for themselves. MLS is fast becoming one of the bigger leagues in world football. Will it ever dominate? I'm not sure, but a few changes need to be made if its to compete with some of the Euro Leagues.
This season, we’ve started okay. Nothing spectacular (except Tommy Mac). Vieira has us playing a much more attacking brand of football but sadly, we have not seen much in terms of points. The stand out player for me so far is Ronald Matarrita, he's looked incredibly composed defensively & hopefully that continues. Jason Hernandez seems to have become a different player since Vieira has arrived, he seems much more confident at the back, where as when Kries was in charge, he was far too inconsistent. One player that has also started brightly is Khiry Shelton, he has performed well playing out wide & hopefully he can score a few more. Overall, I'm proud of how far the team have come & things can only get better from here. Roll on the Philly game on the 11th of March which is Live on Sky Sports with a Midnight kick off! Thanks for reading my thoughts.
Shane Holland
Hi, my name is Shane and I'm from the UK and from the north of England and I live near a town called Bolton, I usually say Manchester generally as it more recognisable to people throughout the world. I will start by saying I'm a Manchester United fan as well which may cause some raised eyebrows by fans as to why I'm supporting NYCFC in the first place (Obviously the CFG link).
I would like to start by explaining how I got into MLS in the first place. It started that I would watch the odd MLS game on ESPN UK (later becoming BT Sports) when David Beckham was playing with the LA Galaxy. It was more to do with seeing how Beckham was playing in the league and also to watch and see if one of my favourite players still had the ability. The coverage was very poor back then, their wasn't much chance to watch MLS at all, it's only when Sky Sports got the rights last year and started to showcase the league with live games and highlights packages I started to take more notice and obviously following a team helps.
Right now I would say MLS is the league I watch the most with the English Premier League. I find the league very competitive, underrated and enjoyable to watch. Also I’d like to mention a YouTube show called The MLS Show which is a fantastic YouTube channel broadcasting MLS through British eyes. I remember reading an article by them and remember them mentioning that it was one of the few leagues today that isn't corrupt, which I absolutely 100% agree with and this is one of the main reasons I follow the league now. MLS is also generally very accessible through social media which will help the fan base increase long term in the States and globally.
My interest in NYCFC started when they announced they were joining MLS for the 2015 season. I would like to state that New York is one of the few places I have always wanted to visit and is on my to do list, in fact I'm planning on going next year with my missus! I would read articles on the projection and when they announced the signing of David Villa (probably my all time favourite non-United player with Gigi Buffon) my interest for the club increased. Last season I watched the majority of their games when they were on Sky Sports, this may be due to being interested in seeing the level of MLS, or to see how a brand new team would do from scratch, or to see if David Villa still had the ability to play at a good level following his bad injury 2 years before. I quickly adopted NYCFC as my 2nd team throughout the season.
So it comes to the now part, I decided I would become more active in following the club this season in social interaction in following them via Facebook, Twitter etc.... I've recently joined the Facebook and Twitter UK Supporters Group (Sixth Borough Blues) and the NYCFC Forum (check it out). I'm planning on buying the NYCFC away shirt in the next few weeks which could be the start of becoming a full time fan. So far I have really enjoyed the interaction with the NYCFC supporters and it's little things like this which have and will increase my passion towards the club. The NYCFC YouTube page is worth a look and is a fantastic page which give the fans the chance to be closer to the action ever than before.
Will they become my first team, time will tell. I would like to say supporting NYCFC is a pleasure so far and from being a casual (development stages and last year) to being a follower (this year) to possibly become a supporter it going to be a exciting ride.
Thanks for reading, thanks for being my audience.
I would like to start by explaining how I got into MLS in the first place. It started that I would watch the odd MLS game on ESPN UK (later becoming BT Sports) when David Beckham was playing with the LA Galaxy. It was more to do with seeing how Beckham was playing in the league and also to watch and see if one of my favourite players still had the ability. The coverage was very poor back then, their wasn't much chance to watch MLS at all, it's only when Sky Sports got the rights last year and started to showcase the league with live games and highlights packages I started to take more notice and obviously following a team helps.
Right now I would say MLS is the league I watch the most with the English Premier League. I find the league very competitive, underrated and enjoyable to watch. Also I’d like to mention a YouTube show called The MLS Show which is a fantastic YouTube channel broadcasting MLS through British eyes. I remember reading an article by them and remember them mentioning that it was one of the few leagues today that isn't corrupt, which I absolutely 100% agree with and this is one of the main reasons I follow the league now. MLS is also generally very accessible through social media which will help the fan base increase long term in the States and globally.
My interest in NYCFC started when they announced they were joining MLS for the 2015 season. I would like to state that New York is one of the few places I have always wanted to visit and is on my to do list, in fact I'm planning on going next year with my missus! I would read articles on the projection and when they announced the signing of David Villa (probably my all time favourite non-United player with Gigi Buffon) my interest for the club increased. Last season I watched the majority of their games when they were on Sky Sports, this may be due to being interested in seeing the level of MLS, or to see how a brand new team would do from scratch, or to see if David Villa still had the ability to play at a good level following his bad injury 2 years before. I quickly adopted NYCFC as my 2nd team throughout the season.
So it comes to the now part, I decided I would become more active in following the club this season in social interaction in following them via Facebook, Twitter etc.... I've recently joined the Facebook and Twitter UK Supporters Group (Sixth Borough Blues) and the NYCFC Forum (check it out). I'm planning on buying the NYCFC away shirt in the next few weeks which could be the start of becoming a full time fan. So far I have really enjoyed the interaction with the NYCFC supporters and it's little things like this which have and will increase my passion towards the club. The NYCFC YouTube page is worth a look and is a fantastic page which give the fans the chance to be closer to the action ever than before.
Will they become my first team, time will tell. I would like to say supporting NYCFC is a pleasure so far and from being a casual (development stages and last year) to being a follower (this year) to possibly become a supporter it going to be a exciting ride.
Thanks for reading, thanks for being my audience.
Dylan Walsh
Back in 2014 I became a fan of MLS. I was originally a follower of the New York Red Bulls, but this was simply because of Thierry Henry who is my favourite player of all time. After that season ended, I knew that for the 2015 season I would have to become a fan of a team, but for me this was an easy choice, and New York City FC became my MLS team. I chose the blues instead of their Jersey rivals because the club were brand-spanking new, which I found pretty cool, I would become a fan of a new club like everybody else would who had adopted NYCFC. They also had the likes of David Villa and Frank Lampard amongst their roster, who were both two players I adored growing up as a football fan. I started to watch as many NYCFC games as possible in the 2015 season, and thankfully with the players the club had, New York City games were shown a lot in the UK. The introduction of NYCFC has also made MLS a more popular league worldwide. The team is full of players of worldwide pedigree, and the home support of the team is very impressive for a team only beginning their second season.
Did I make the right choice? Absolutely!
Did I make the right choice? Absolutely!
Jake Ashton
So New York City FC came into my life as soon as I knew that the club had taken over. I'd seen rumours floating around forums for a good year or so before the takeover was confirmed but I never could have imagined it would happen.
New York City is my second favourite city in the world, behind only Manchester of course! Everything about it seems perfect, the weather, the sights, the whole feel of it.. The city never sleeps of course..
What better than to create a football team actually IN the city (as opposed to the Red Bulls). I love MLS, the league pretty much got me through my university degree. I never really followed a team before New York, there wasn't much MLS on over here in the UK with ESPN UK only showing the odd game, but those were exciting with plenty of goals and you were always entertained.
It offers a new dimension watching NYCFC because we've seen it grow from the off. Of course there were a few people unhappy with the sacking of Jason Kreis but what's done is done, the changes since Kreis left up until now is almost as huge as the 12 months prior! This season I think realistically we should be aiming for the play-offs. Having seen the first few games though I'm not as confident as I was prior to the season started, as I feel that the defence just isn't up to scratch with the rest of the team. Vieira has a specific playing style that he wants his teams to have, and I'm not sure if the whole playing from the back style will work as well in MLS.. One other thing is I'm unhappy that NYCFC hasn't used the MCFC academy this season. I feel Angelino and even further Shay Facey were both great players for NYCFC last season. The club’s academy should be utilised even further, but whether that's MCFC's decision or NYCFC's remains to be seen. I feel that Pep might have a say in more players coming..? NYCFC is now in the blood and no matter what we'll be up at stupid o'clock watching. Come on City.
New York City is my second favourite city in the world, behind only Manchester of course! Everything about it seems perfect, the weather, the sights, the whole feel of it.. The city never sleeps of course..
What better than to create a football team actually IN the city (as opposed to the Red Bulls). I love MLS, the league pretty much got me through my university degree. I never really followed a team before New York, there wasn't much MLS on over here in the UK with ESPN UK only showing the odd game, but those were exciting with plenty of goals and you were always entertained.
It offers a new dimension watching NYCFC because we've seen it grow from the off. Of course there were a few people unhappy with the sacking of Jason Kreis but what's done is done, the changes since Kreis left up until now is almost as huge as the 12 months prior! This season I think realistically we should be aiming for the play-offs. Having seen the first few games though I'm not as confident as I was prior to the season started, as I feel that the defence just isn't up to scratch with the rest of the team. Vieira has a specific playing style that he wants his teams to have, and I'm not sure if the whole playing from the back style will work as well in MLS.. One other thing is I'm unhappy that NYCFC hasn't used the MCFC academy this season. I feel Angelino and even further Shay Facey were both great players for NYCFC last season. The club’s academy should be utilised even further, but whether that's MCFC's decision or NYCFC's remains to be seen. I feel that Pep might have a say in more players coming..? NYCFC is now in the blood and no matter what we'll be up at stupid o'clock watching. Come on City.