New York City Football Club is the first and only Major League Soccer team to play in the five boroughs of New York City.

Since the Club’s 2015 inaugural season, New York City Football Club (NYCFC) has cemented its status as a cornerstone in the landscape of one of the world's most competitive and proudest sporting cities.

Winners of the 2021 MLS Cup – and bringing a major league championship sports trophy to New York City for the first time in over a decade – NYCFC was created for the City, offering a world-class soccer experience and a deep commitment to give back to New Yorkers through beautiful football, trailblazing spirit and football citizenship.

NYCFC came into existence as Major League Soccer’s 20th franchise on 21 May 2013 and debuted against Orlando City SC on 8 March 2015. Six seasons later, the Club went on to be crowned 2021 MLS Cup Champions for the first time in Club history.

New Yorkers embraced their new Club with open arms from the start, with 20,000 season ticket holders in their inaugural season, as well as drawing an average attendance of 29,000 in their first year.

Majority owned by City Football Group, NYCFC plays the majority of home games at the iconic Yankee Stadium, which is also home to minority owner, the New York Yankees.

Spain’s record goal-scoring striker David Villa became NYCFC’s first-ever signing and captain on 2 June 2014, swiftly followed by Chelsea legend and former Manchester City midfielder Frank Lampard. A year later, in the midst of the Club’s inaugural season, FIFA World Cup-winning midfielder Andrea Pirlo became the third Designated Player in Club history.

Sporting Director, David Lee, has continued a legacy of beautiful football by building a roster that boasts MLS and international veterans, as well as some of the United States' rising stars. In February 2020, Nick Cushing joined the Club as an Assistant Coach – and in June 2022, Cushing was named NYCFC Interim Head Coach following a hugely successful six seasons in charge of Manchester City Women’s Football Club, where he led the side to multiple titles.

In the 2021 season, NYCFC won the biggest prize in US Soccer when they were crowned MLS Cup Champions after beating the Portland Timbers on penalties in the Club’s first ever MLS Cup Final appearance.

ACADEMY

Started in 2015, the New York City Football Club Academy has a goal of identifying, developing and producing the best local youth soccer players in the New York Metropolitan area. The Club’s youth system offers a professional and competitive pathway to the highest levels of the game for area local boys and girls.

The Boys Academy has seen unprecedented success across domestic competition winning back-to-back U-19 USSDA National Championships in 2018 and 2019 becoming the first Club to ever do so at that age group. With six Homegrown Players graduating to NYCFC’s First Team, and with three Academy products now playing for top teams in Europe, NYCFC’s Academy has a track record of developing young talent.  

The Girls Program helps develop female players through competitive teams and developmental programs across the region with opportunities to train and compete at the highest levels in partnership with World Class FC.

YOUTH PROGRAMS

NYCFC Youth Programs aims to support youth soccer players and organizations by assisting and complementing them by providing supplementary youth soccer programs in the form of Club Training Services, Camps, Talent Centers, Clinics, Special Events & Administration. The Youth Programs department focuses on player development and our curriculum has been created and administered by highly qualified and trained professional youth coaches.

COMMUNITY WORKS

City in the Community (CITC) NY is the 501 (c)(3) charity foundation proudly supported by New York City Football Club. Since 2014, CITC NY has served over 30,000 New York youth, established free programming in 60% of communities across the five boroughs, created 60 free spaces to play and helped donate 250,000 meals to the South Bronx community through an ongoing partnership with New York Common Pantry. This work builds on City Football Group’s long-standing tradition of community initiatives in NYC. In 2010, Manchester City FC and the UAE Embassy built a rooftop soccer pitch at PS72 (East Harlem’s Lexington Academy), and in 2013, New York City FC was officially launched on that same pitch. CITC NY uses the power of soccer to promote health, education and leadership development and create safe community spaces, where programming is free of charge. Core programming includes New York City Soccer Initiative (NYCSI) – a first-of-its-kind $3 million public-private partnership to build and maintain 50 mini-pitches across the City over five years – Soccer Bloc , Saturday Night Lights, Youth Leadership, and Healthy Hat-Trick and RoboSoccer. The impact of this community work has received national recognition. NYCFC has been named a finalist for the ESPN Sports Humanitarian Team of the Year Award four times, won the MLS Community Team of the Year Award twice, had two Young Leaders named as honorees for the ESPN Billie Jean King Award and was selected as a winner of the NYC Mayoral Service Recognition Partnership Impact Award for Excellence for work during COVID-19.