New York City FC

New York City Football Club, often called NYCFC, is a professional soccer team based in New York City. They play in Major League Soccer and are part of the Eastern Conference. The team is owned by City Football Group, a big company that also owns other teams around the world.

NYCFC started playing in 2015, becoming the first soccer team based in New York City and the second in the New York metropolitan area, joining the New York Red Bulls. Most of their home games are played at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, but they also play some games at Citi Field in Queens. In the future, they will move to a new stadium called Etihad Park, which will open in 2027.

After several years of doing well but not winning big prizes, NYCFC won the 2021 MLS Cup. They then won their first international trophy in 2022 by beating Atlas in the 2022 Campeones Cup. Today, NYCFC is one of the most popular and valuable teams in the league, worth about $1 billion.

Clubs owned by CFG

Listed in order of acquisition/foundation.
Bold indicates the club was founded by CFG.
* indicates the club was acquired by CFG.
§ indicates the club is co-owned.
† indicates the club is no longer owned by CFG.

2008	Manchester City*
2009–2012
2013	New York City FC§
2014	Melbourne City*
	Yokohama F. Marinos*§
2015–2016
2017	Montevideo City*
	Girona*§
2018
2019	Shenzhen Peng City*§
	Mumbai City†
2020	Lommel*
	Troyes*
2021
2022	Palermo*§
2023	Bahia*§

History

Foundation

In 2006, Major League Soccer wanted to add a second team in the New York City area. By 2007, they talked with several groups, including the owners of the New York Mets, but their interest faded. In 2010, the league announced plans for a 20th team in New York. In 2012, after a failed bid for a Miami expansion team, the league reached out to Manchester City. In December 2012, it was reported that Manchester City might become the new owners.

Manchester City, with the New York Yankees, paid the expansion fee to join the league. The team was officially announced as the 20th Major League Soccer franchise on May 21, 2013. Former United States and Manchester City player Claudio Reyna was named director of football operations. Jason Kreis was announced as the first head coach in December 2013. In June 2014, Spanish striker David Villa became the first player, followed by Frank Lampard and Andrea Pirlo.

2015–2020: Inaugural season and initial MLS Playoffs failure

The team's first season had ups and downs. They played their first game against Orlando City SC and later had a long winless streak. They finished 8th in the Eastern Conference and missed the playoffs. After the season, Kreis was replaced by Patrick Vieira.

Under Vieira, the team had a great season in 2016, qualifying for the playoffs for the first time but losing in the semi-finals. The 2017 season saw similar success, finishing as runners-up for the Supporters' Shield but again losing in the semi-finals. The team made several changes before the 2018 season, but still lost in the second round of the playoffs. Vieira left to coach in France, and Domènec Torrent took over. Despite a good start, the team only had six more wins that season and lost in the second round of the playoffs again.

2021: MLS Cup winners

In 2021, after some changes, the team finished fourth in the Eastern Conference and made a strong playoff run. They beat Atlanta United FC, New England Revolution, and Philadelphia Union to reach the MLS Cup. They faced Portland Timbers and won in a penalty shootout to claim their first MLS championship.

2022–present: Campeones Cup winners and struggles for form

In 2022, the team played in the CONCACAF Champions League and won the Campeones Cup. However, many players left, and the team struggled. They reached the conference finals but lost. In 2023, the team had one of its worst seasons, missing the playoffs for the first time. In 2024, they returned to the playoffs but lost in the conference semifinals. In 2025, despite injuries, they reached the conference finals but lost again.

Colors and badge

When New York City FC started in 2013, they didn’t have official colors or a badge yet. Instead, they used a simple blue circle with the team’s name on it. Later, fans helped choose the team’s badge. Two designs were made, and fans voted for their favorite. The winning design looked like a subway token from New York City.

The team’s colors are navy blue, sky blue, and orange. The orange color reminds us of New York’s history with the Dutch. In 2024, the team updated its look with new colors and designs, but the badge still keeps the subway token idea.

Kits

New York City showed its first jersey at an event on November 13, 2014. The away jersey, shown later on November 24, was black with sky blue and orange details and had five stripes to represent the five parts of the city.

For the second season, the away uniform was all navy blue with orange edges. The shirt had lighter-blue circles coming out from the logo to show the energy of New York City. The home uniform stayed mostly the same, but the socks changed from white to sky blue. In 2017, the club showed a new home uniform with a sky blue shirt and navy blue shorts. A small New York City flag is on the front of the shirt. The third away uniform, shown in 2018, was mostly gray with sky blue details, inspired by the city’s concrete look.

City Football Group sponsor Etihad Airways was announced as the team’s first jersey sponsor at the first kit-reveal event on November 13, 2014.

Broadcasting

New York City FC made an early announcement on October 3, 2013, signing a deal with WFAN to broadcast games on the radio in English for listeners in the New York area. This station also became the main station for the 'New York City FC Radio Network', supported by CBS.

A year later, on December 18, 2014, the club announced a television agreement with the YES Network to show all home and away games. This deal also allowed fans to watch games for free online through the Fox Sports Go website.

In the team's first season, games were broadcast on radio by WFAN and WNYM. For the next two seasons, games could be heard online. In 2018, broadcasting returned to regular radio with WNYE as the main station. In 2019, Spanish-language station WEPN began broadcasting the games.

Starting in 2023, every New York City FC match is available through MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app.

Stadium

Main articles: Yankee Stadium, Citi Field, and Etihad Park (New York City)

In 2014, New York City FC started playing their home games at Yankee Stadium while planning a new stadium of their own. First, they wanted to build in a park in Queens, but that plan was stopped. Later, they looked at other places, like near Yankee Stadium and Belmont Park, but those didn’t work out either.

Sometimes, they had to play games in other stadiums, like in East Hartford or at Red Bull Arena, because of scheduling problems. In 2022, they agreed to build a new stadium called Etihad Park in Queens. Building started in 2024, and it should be ready for games by the 2027 season.

Culture

Supporters

New York City's main fan group, The Third Rail, started forming after the club announced its creation in May 2013. Fans connected through social media and watched 2014 FIFA World Cup games together. Before the team's first game, the group had over 1,600 members. Even though they work separately from the club, they were named the official fan group and got special access to a part of Yankee Stadium. The group's president, Chance Michaels, chose the name to show how they wanted to help power NYCFC, just like the third rail powers the New York City Subway.

Before the club played its first game in March 2015, over 14,000 people had already signed up to watch every home game. By April 2015, that number grew to 16,000. In October 2015, the club announced they had sold 20,000 season tickets for their first season. In February 2022, the club named Los Templados #12 as its second official fan group.

Rivalries

Main article: Hudson River Derby

In May 2015, New York City FC played its first game against the New York Red Bulls, marking the first time the New York metropolitan area had a local rivalry in MLS. At first, people thought this rivalry wasn’t very exciting, but the games between the two teams quickly became intense. The Red Bulls won the first game on May 10, 2015. Fans from both sides sometimes got into arguments before and after the games. Supporters named this rivalry the Hudson River Derby.

NYCFC also has a rivalry with the Philadelphia Union, similar to other sports rivalries between New York and Philadelphia. The rivalry grew stronger after New York City beat the Union in the 2021 Eastern Conference Final. The next year, in the 2022 Eastern Conference Final, the Union won instead. In 2025, the Union won a big award but NYCFC got back at them a month later by beating them in the playoffs.

Social media campaigns

In 2015, MLS let New York City and New York Red Bulls compete to see who could get more votes. The team with the most votes would have the Empire State Building lit in their colors. New York City, with over one million Facebook followers, started a campaign called 'WINNYCFC' and won. In 2016, the club began a 'We Are One' campaign on social media, and later that year, they started 'Support Your City' during the playoffs.

Players and staff

Roster

As of April 25, 2026

Note: Flags show the national team each player is eligible for under FIFA eligibility rules. Some players may have more than one nationality that is not under FIFA rules.

Out on loan

Note: Flags show the national team each player is eligible for under FIFA eligibility rules. Some players may have more than one nationality that is not under FIFA rules.

Current technical staff

Last updated: November 9, 2022
Source:

Executives

No. Pos. Nation Player 6 MF  USA James Sands (at FC St. Pauli until June 30, 2026) 9 FW  SRB Jovan Mijatović (at Eintracht Braunschweig until July 13, 2026) 14 MF  ARG Julián Fernández (at Rosario Central until December 31, 2026) 35 DF  SVN Mitja Ilenič (at Raków Częstochowa until December 31, 2026)

Affiliates and club academy

New York City FC has a team called New York City FC II that plays in a lower league called the MLS Next Pro. This team plays its home games at Belson Stadium in Queens and will also play at Icahn Stadium on Randalls Island starting in 2024.

The club started a youth program in 2014 by working with local soccer clubs. In 2015, they created an academy for younger players, and in 2017, their U-16 team won a big tournament called the Generation Adidas Cup.

Because New York City FC is part of a bigger group called City Football Group, it has many affiliate clubs around the world, including Manchester City, Girona, Lommel, Troyes, Palermo, Montevideo City, Bahia, Bolívar, Melbourne City, Yokohama F. Marinos, Peng City, Mumbai City, Geylang International, İstanbul Başakşehir, and Vannes OC.

Prior affiliates

Earlier, New York City FC worked with teams like the Wilmington Hammerheads and the Long Island Rough Riders. Later, they also partnered with San Antonio.

Team records

Main article: List of New York City FC records and statistics

Main article: List of New York City FC seasons

For the full season-by-season history, see List of New York City FC seasons.

**^**1. Avg. attendance include statistics from league matches only.
**^**2. Top goalscorer(s) includes all goals scored in League, MLS Cup Playoffs, U.S. Open Cup, CONCACAF Champions League, MLS is Back Tournament, FIFA Club World Cup, and other competitive continental matches.

International competition

Scores and results list New York City FC's goal tally first.

Head coaches

• Across all competitions, including regular season, playoff, Leagues Cup, CONCACAF Champions League, U.S. Open Cup, and MLS is Back Tournament games.

As of November 26, 2024.

Captains

Average attendance

As of 2024 season.

Season	League										Position		Playoffs	USOC	Continental / Other		Average attendance	Top goalscorer(s)
	League	Pld	W	L	D	GF	GA	GD	Pts	PPG	Conf.	Overall						Name(s)	Goals
2015	MLS	34	10	17	7	49	58	–9	37	1.09	8th	17th	DNQ	R4	DNE		29,016	David Villa	18
2016	MLS	34	15	10	9	62	57	+5	54	1.59	2nd	4th	QF	R4	DNQ		27,196	David Villa	23
2017	MLS	34	16	9	9	56	43	+13	57	1.68	2nd	2nd	QF	R4			22,177	David Villa	24
2018	MLS	34	16	10	8	59	45	+14	56	1.65	3rd	7th	QF	R4			23,211	David Villa	15
2019	MLS	34	18	6	10	63	42	+21	64	1.88	1st	2nd	QF	QF			21,107	Héber	15
2020	MLS	23	12	8	3	37	25	+12	39	1.70	5th	7th	R1	NH	CONCACAF Champions LeagueMLS is Back Tournament	QFQF	N/A	Valentín Castellanos Jesús Medina	7
2021	MLS	34	14	11	9	56	36	+20	51	1.50	4th	8th	W	NH	Leagues Cup	QF	5,937	Valentín Castellanos	23
2022	MLS	34	16	11	7	57	41	+16	55	1.62	3rd	5th	SF	QF	Campeones Cup	W	17,180	Valentín Castellanos	13
2023	MLS	34	9	11	14	35	39	-4	41	1.21	11th	22nd	DNQ	RO32	Leagues Cup	RO32	19,816	Gabriel Pereira	6
2024	MLS	34	14	12	8	54	49	+5	50	1.47	6th	13th	QF	DNE	Leagues Cup	QF	21,765	Alonso Martínez	16
2025	MLS	34	17	12	5	50	44	+6	56	1.65	5th	9th	SF	RO32	Leagues Cup	GS	21,971	Alonso Martínez	17
Total		363	157	117	89	578	479	+99	560	1.54	—	—	—	—	—		—	David Villa	80

Year	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
2020	CONCACAF Champions League	Round of 16	San Carlos	1–0	5–3	6–3
		Quarterfinals	UANL	0–1	0–4	0–5
2022		Round of 16	Santos de Guápiles	4–0	2–0	6–0
		Quarterfinals	Comunicaciones	3–1	2–4	5–5 (A)
		Semifinals	Seattle Sounders FC	1–1	1-3	2-4

All-Time New York City Coaching Stats

Coach	Nationality	Tenure	Games	Win	Loss	Draw	Win %
Jason Kreis	United States	December 11, 2013 – November 2, 2015	35	10	18	7	028.57
Patrick Vieira	France	January 1, 2016 – June 11, 2018	90	40	28	22	044.44
Domènec Torrent	Spain	June 12, 2018 – November 8, 2019	60	29	16	15	048.33
Ronny Deila	Norway	January 6, 2020 – June 13, 2022	90	44	27	19	048.89
Nick Cushing	England	June 13, 2022 – November 26, 2024	107	37	39	31	034.58
Pascal Jansen	Netherlands	November 26, 2024 – present	0	0	0	0	!—

Name	Nationality	Years
David Villa	Spain	2015–2019
Alexander Ring	Finland	2019–2021
Sean Johnson	United States	2021–2023
Thiago Martins	Brazil	2023–

Honors

Domestic

New York City FC has won several important titles in the United States. They won the MLS Cup in 2021 and were runners-up for the Supporters' Shield in 2017 and 2019. They also won the Eastern Conference (Playoff) in 2021 and were runners-up in 2022 and 2025. In the regular season, they were Eastern Conference champions in 2019 and runners-up in 2016 and 2017.

International

The team also won the Campeones Cup in 2022.