The 2015 New York City FC season was the club's first season of existence, their first season in the top tier of American soccer, and their first season in

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...

New York City FC New York City Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in New York City that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), the highest level of American soccer, as a member of the league's Eastern Conference. The club is co-owned b ...

played their home games at

Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx, New York City. It is the home field of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. Opened in April 2009, the stadium replaced the orig ...

in the New York City borough of

The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...

Background

MLS commissioner

Don Garber Donald P. Garber (born October 9, 1957) is an American sports executive who has served as the Commissioner of Major League Soccer since 1999. Garber is also the CEO of Soccer United Marketing and a member of the United States Soccer Federation ...

announced the league's intent to award a second team in the New York area in 2010, with the new team originally aimed to begin operations by 2013. Initially, the league held talks with

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major lea ...

owner Fred Wilpon about a second NY club and with owners of the rebooted

New York Cosmos New York Cosmos may refer to * New York Cosmos (1970–1985), a team in the North American Soccer League (then the top-tier soccer league in the United States and Canada) * New York Cosmos (2010), a team playing since 2020 in the National Independ ...

. The Wilpons' interest in MLS reportedly faded following the family's losses in the

Madoff investment scandal The Madoff investment scandal was a major case of stock and securities fraud discovered in late 2008. In December of that year, Bernie Madoff, the former NASDAQ chairman and founder of the Wall Street firm Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities ...

, while the Cosmos began playing in the second-tier

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league ba ...

in 2013. Garber had previously cultivated an interest in acquiring investment from a major European soccer team to be owners of a future franchise, and in December 2008, he announced a bid for a Miami expansion team led by

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Found ...

that was to begin play in 2010, though the bid eventually fell through (Garber also briefly discussed Barcelona investing in a New York franchise before moving the focus to Miami). But when Ferran Soriano, Barcelona's vice president at the time of the Miami bid, was appointed

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

CEO in August 2012, Garber reached out to him about a New York City team. In December 2012, unnamed sources told the media that Manchester City were close to being announced as the new owners of the 20th team of MLS, and the brand name "New York City Football Club" was trademarked, although the club quickly denied the report. However, Garber announced in March 2013 that he was almost ready to unveil the new expansion team, New York City Football Club, LLC was registered with the New York State Department on May 7, 2013, and on May 21 the team was officially announced as the 20th Major League Soccer franchise. The team announced an English-language radio deal with

WFAN WFAN (660 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to New York, New York, carrying a sports radio format known as "Sports Radio 66 AM and 101.9 FM" or "The Fan". Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station serves the New York metropolitan area while ...

on October 3, 2013.

Non-competitive

Pre-season

Manchester training camp

N.B. The friendly against St Mirren deemed the club's first ever match according to the club itself.

Carolina Challenge Cup

Post-season

Puerto Rico tour

Competitions

Major League Soccer

League tables

= Eastern Conference

= Overall

Results summary

Results by matchday

Matches

U.S. Open Cup

New York City FC entered the 2015 U.S. Open Cup with all other

teams in the fourth round.

Squad information

Statistics

Appearances and goals

Honors

Major League Soccer ''Player of the Week'' award

Major League Soccer ''Team of the Week'' selection

Major League Soccer ''Goal of the Week'' award

Etihad Airways ''Player of the Month'' award

''Awarded to the player who receives the most votes in a poll conducted each month on the NYCFC website''

Transfers

In

Out

Loan in

Loan out

Non-player transfers

References

{{2015 in American soccer New York City FC seasons

New York City Fc New York City Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in New York City that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), the highest level of American soccer, as a member of the league's Eastern Conference. The club is co-owned b ...