New York derby: 'A spectacle unlike anything we've seen'

[Shuggie]

Any talk of an MLS franchise in the San Diego area? One of my favourite US cities, loved it over there

Not a sniff. Football was last seen in these parts the same year we reached the FA Cup Final. MLS expansion plans are (courtesy of Wikipedia):

• 2017 Atlanta
• 2018 Los Angeles
  
• tba Minnesota
• tba Miami
  
• under consideration San Antonio
• under consideration Sacramento
• under consideration Las Vegas
• under consideration St Louis

The locals are more exercised about finding a new stadium for the Chargers. The current one is the oldest in the NFL (1967) and its replacement becomes ever more pressing as the years pass. It's likely to be a longer-running saga than Falmer so I doubt we'll hear anything more about sock-er anytime soon.

San Diego is indeed a great place ... but I will be glad when I go back home.

 

[Mr Bridger]

"Can you invent a derby - as Major League Soccer has done with Sunday's match between the New York Red Bulls and New York City FC? The former - founding members of the league in 1995 (albeit under the name of the MetroStars) already have sworn enemies in DC United, but now have a new derby to contest, with Manchester City-owned NYC FC moving onto their patch this season.

Most footballing rivalries are based on decades - sometimes even centuries - of animosity, so can the New York derby be described as a rivalry at all?

"Not really," says Bradley Wright-Phillips, the Red Bulls' top scorer last season. "DC United are our rivals. There's no history between the Red Bulls and New York City, it's just that we share the same city.

Wright-Phillips, the former Manchester City striker, might not feel the tension that comes with a traditional derby, but the rivalry is already fierce between the two sets of supporters.

"The fans don't like each other," says Nick Chavez, a NYC FC fan and blogger. "NYC FC fans have taken a lot of abuse, not just from Red Bull fans but from fans around MLS. It should be a spectacle unlike anything else ever seen in an MLS match."

For all that MLS has undeniably grown over the past decade or so, the division has struggled to cultivate the sort of rivalry that drives almost every other division around the world. The league is counting on the New York derby to become North American football's defining contest.

However, the introduction of New York City FC has fluttered a red rag at the Red Bulls - with both clubs now scrambling for ticket sales and supporters. The two teams might not have played their first derby, but the battle has long been raging off the field - with billboards and adverts promoting the clubs commonplace across the Big Apple; overlooking freeways, on the subway and even in Times Square."

Good times for American 'soccer' and the growth of the MLS

Looks like the fans are getting into the swing of things.

http://https://mobile.twitter.com/RobHarris/status/630488065014951940

 

[Lyndhurst 14]

Looks like the fans are getting into the swing of things.

http://https://mobile.twitter.com/RobHarris/status/630488065014951940

MLS has come of age. Not that long ago Red Bulls were offering their fans money to stop swearing

 

[Wozza]

I replied to the thread title - and stand by my comments

Yes, that was a misquote too.

 

[Lyndhurst 14]

Yes, that was a misquote too.

No - I replied to the thread title, you are just nit-picking. My comments stand. Nice try though

 

[TomandJerry]

Looks like the fans are getting into the swing of things.

http://https://mobile.twitter.com/RobHarris/status/630488065014951940

Indeed!

 

[BiffyBoy]

Well the match I saw was very poor, Clint Dempsey looked as interested as Leon Best, maybe I was unlucky. Best bit about it was being able to drink in my seat and it was quite amusing hearing the Whitecap fans singing build a bonfire.

I would agree with league one standard. I have been to most New England Revolution games this season and the standard is pretty poor. There is no way players like Andy Dorman would make it in the Championship this season, league two at best.

 

[Lyndhurst 14]

And we gubbed them 7-0 this afternoon. Admittedly the standard of football was nothing special but it was interesting to hear the NYCFC fans slagging off their erstwhile hero Lampard. What with the $6M salary, persistent calf injury and his signing up with the BBC as a pundit for the Euros it has turned into a PR disaster

 

[GreersElbow]

Poyet's new team kicks in on the two minute mark...

Which slowly evolves into Croydon circa 2011.