NYFC vs. Philadelphia Union

Philadelphia 5, NYFC 1

Soccer shouldn’t be played in baseball stadiums. It should be played in stadiums designed for the sport. The sightlines at this game were poor and the seating was weird as some people were right on top of the action and others were too far away. They did close the upper deck at Yankee stadium for this however which was the right call. The game wasn’t that crowded and I think the stadium might be why (getting to the Bronx on a weeknight can be a nightmare sometimes)

That out of the way lets talk about the game. Philly took it to NYFC they scored early and often and it seemed like they had no answers for Philly’s attack. Philly’s keeper was unreal stopping some amazing shots and Freese made so many mistakes gifting Philly goals.  I suspect my bad Yankees luck bled into this game as I was technically at Yankee stadium and for that I apologize to NYFC fans.

I did like the energy that the drum section brought to the game they were out there the entire game with chants and songs just pumping up the crowd – even when NYFC was down 5 goals. I was there with a Philly fan who was secretly cheering on their team and since I’m more of a Red Bull fan (if I had to pick an MLS team – my true fandom is SSC Napoli in Serie A)  I just enjoyed that is was a high scoring game with a lot of action. I got a chance to go to field level to watch warmups which was a really cool experience. The food was good (I mean it’s the same food as Yankee stadium) but nothing that was a signature item like some teams have. I think aside from the weird configuration of stuffing a soccer pitch in a baseball stadium they took pains to make it a good fan experience and I appreciated all the little touches they made to try to imprint their brand on a place that wasn’t really theirs.

I read that NYFC is creating a soccer only stadium (https://www.newyorkcityfc.com/stadiumgallery) in Willets Point which looks pretty fantastic. It’s three years out but once it opens I may make the trek to Queens to check it out! (Hopefully on a day the Queens night market is active!)