By Michael Lewis
FrontRowSoccer.com Editor
“Welcome to New York. Just wanted to know why the team hasn’t won any games yet. Like I said, welcome to New York.”
The question was posed by yours truly to New York City FC head coach Jason Kreis at his introductory press conference in Manhattan on Jan. 10, 2014.
With Thursday being the seventh anniversary of the introduction of NYCFC to the city and the planet, it was a good time to look at some of the early days of NYCFC. I looked for my first credential from the Major League Soccer club and could only find this one dated from April 21, 2014 and it was issued by the Yankees and not the soccer club.
So, what does one get for a seventh anniversary? Proper etiquette says its either cool or copper.
So, here we go, through the past lightly and darkly:
* On May 21, 2013, MLS introduced the team, owned by the City Football Group (80 percent) and New York Yankees (20 percent) to the world.
“This is a transformational development that will elevate the league to new heights in this country,” MLS commissioner Don Garber said in a statement. “The New York area is home to more than 19 million people and we look forward to an intense crosstown rivalry between New York City Football Club and the New York Red Bulls that will captivate this great city.”
* On May 22, 2013, former U.S. international captain Claudio Reyna, who played for the Red Bulls, was introduced as director of football and the club’s first employee.
The announcement took place at PS 72 (Lexington Academy) in East Harlem, which had at the time New York City’s only rooftop soccer field. That field was donated by Manchester City Football Club in 2010.
* On Jan. 10, 2014 Kreis met the press for the first time in downtown Manhattan. That’s when I uttered that question that was not only used in the documentary Win!, it was used in its trailer as well:
“Welcome to New York. Just wanted to know why the team hasn’t won any games yet. Like I said, welcome to New York.”
Kreis and many people at the press conference laughed. Then Kreis got serious.
“It’s not something I’ve shied away from, it’s not something that I’m nervous about — it is what it is,” he said. “And to be frank with you, anybody that knows me — I’m sure my parents could attest to this — knows that I put more pressure on myself than anybody could hope to.”
He later added: “We know that we’re expected to win and, frankly, we will win.”
* On April 21, 2014, NYCFC and the Yankees announced the soccer team would play at Yankee Stadium for the first year and likely several years after that as the team would look for a new stadium.
“We’re going to take whatever time is necessary to get it right,” said Tim Pernetti, who was the NYCFC Chief Business Officer said at a stadium press conference. “We’re not going to create artificial deadlines. We’re only going to get one shot to do it.”
FYI: 2020 is the sixth season at the ballpark with no new venue announced just yet. Given what it takes to build anything in New York City, let alone a stadium, expect at least two or three more years there.
With the COVID-19 pandemic throwing everything off track and changing priorities and financial solvency, a Yankee Stadium tenure could be even more of a wait.
