F.C. New York was an American professional soccer team based first in

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, and then Long Island, New York. The team played two seasons, starting in 2011 in the National Division of the USL Professional Division, the third tier of the American Soccer Pyramid and then moving to the

National Premier Soccer League The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is an American men's soccer league. The NPSL is a semi-professional league, comprising some teams that have paid players and some that are entirely amateur. The league is officially affiliated to the Uni ...

for 2012. The club did not finish its 2012 schedule before folding. The team played its home games at

Belson Stadium Belson Stadium is a 2,168-seat soccer-specific stadium located at Utopia Parkway and Union Turnpike in Queens, New York City, on the campus of St. John's University. It is the home of the St. John's Red Storm men's and women's soccer teams. T ...

on the grounds of St. John's University in Jamaica, Queens. The club's colors were yellow and sky blue, and it was coached by former Arsenal player Paul Shaw, following the resignation of manager Matt Weston partway through the club's inaugural season.

History

F.C. New York was initially set to begin play in 2010 as an expansion member of the

USL First Division The USL First Division (usually referred to as USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States and Canada from 2005 to 2010. During its existence, it formed the second tier of soccer in the United States soccer league system ...

, the second tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The team announced that it would not play in 2010 due to the majority of other USL clubs forming the new NASL (North American Soccer League) and leaving USL. The United States Soccer Federation refused to sanction the new league. In January 2010, the USSF elected to operate an interim USSF Division 2 Professional League for the 2010 season, comprising twelve teams from both the NASL and USL-1. As USL did not have enough of its own clubs, F.C.New York utilized a contract clause to sit out a year. The team played its first match in the newly formed

USL Pro The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

on April 9, 2011, a 3–0 loss to Orlando City. They also lost to the same Orlando team 2–1 in their home opener at Belson on April 30, 2011 in front of 2,011 fans. The team won its first competitive game on May 13, 1–0 away to

Charleston Battery The Charleston Battery are an American professional soccer club based in Charleston, South Carolina, and member of the USL Championship. Founded in 1993, the Battery are one of the oldest continuously operating professional soccer clubs in th ...

with a 35th-minute goal by Graciano Brito. The team finished 5th in the National Division with a 6-11-7 record.

Jhonny Arteaga Jhonny Alexandre Arteaga (born 24 November 1986) is a Colombian former footballer and current football coach. Career Youth and College Arteaga grew up in Stamford, Connecticut, where he attended Westhill High School before playing college socce ...

was the team and league scoring champion with 13 goals.

Tadeu Terra Tadeu Souza Terra (born October 30, 1986 in Rio de Janeiro) is a Brazilian footballer who is currently without a club. Career College and amateur Terra came to the United States from his native Brazil in 2006 after being offered a college soc ...

lead the league with 8 assists. They did not return for the 2012 USL Pro season. In February 2012, the team announced that it would be joining the NPSL. After a 2-8-4 season, including the cancellation of many of its home matches, F.C. New York left the NPSL and disappeared soon after.

Colors and badge

According to an official press release, the F.C. New York shield was representative of the flag of the borough of

. The blue background with a horizontal white stripe was symbolic of Queens's first Dutch governor

Willem Kieft Willem Kieft (September 1597 – September 27, 1647) was a Dutch merchant and the Director of New Netherland (of which New Amsterdam was the capital) from 1638 to 1647. Life and career Willem Kieft was appointed to the rank of director ...

, who acquired the area from the Native Americans. The first settlers of Queens were represented by the two flowers — the

tulip Tulips (''Tulipa'') are a genus of spring-blooming perennial herbaceous bulbiferous geophytes (having bulbs as storage organs). The flowers are usually large, showy and brightly coloured, generally red, pink, yellow, or white (usually in warm ...

, emblematic of the Dutch, and the

Tudor rose The Tudor rose (sometimes called the Union rose) is the traditional floral heraldic emblem of England and takes its name and origins from the House of Tudor, which united the House of Lancaster and the House of York. The Tudor rose consists o ...

of the English. The Queen's crown signified the name of the county and borough of Queens.

Sponsorship controversy

During the

2012 Presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2012 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2012 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *3–4 January ...

, an anonymous donor paid to put Mitt Romney's campaign logo and slogan across the front of the team's jerseys. The deal was scrapped before they could wear the jerseys in a game, as FIFA regulations prohibit "political, religious or personal statements" on uniforms.

Stadium

F.C. New York originally had a commitment with Hofstra University to use

James M. Shuart Stadium The James M. Shuart Stadium is an 11,929-seat multi-purpose stadium and sports facility, the facility serves as the home to Hofstra's lacrosse teams on the campus of Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York. First opened in 1963, and remodeled in ...

and their state-of-the-art training facilities. The 13,000 seat stadium was planned to host league and international exhibition matches. In January 2011 the club announced that

on the grounds of St. John's University in Jamaica, Queens would be the team's home. Following the 2011 season, the university decided to replace Belson's artificial turf, forcing F.C. New York to schedule its home games at a variety of venues on Long Island. In June 2012, the visiting

Brooklyn Italians Brooklyn Italians is an American soccer team based in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, United States. Founded in 1949, the team last played in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), a national amateur league at the fourth tier of the Americ ...

complained about the venue and were awarded a default win. Venue issues continued, and F.C. New York canceled the rest of their home matches starting in July.

Record

Year-by-year

Average attendance

Attendance stats are calculated by averaging each team's self-reported home attendances from the historical match archive at uslsoccer.com * 2011: 819

References

External links

Official website
{{New York Sports Former USL Championship teams Association football clubs established in 2009 2009 establishments in New York City Men's soccer clubs in New York (state) Association football clubs disestablished in 2013 2013 disestablishments in New York (state) Sports in Queens, New York