By Five Boro Sports
They don’t have a coach or a single player, but F.C. New York was officially introduced as New York’s newest professional soccer team at a press conference at the Yale Club on Wednesday morning.
And while the club will play at Hofstra’s 13,000-seat Shuart Stadium for at least the first year, plans are in the works for the team to call a soccer-specific stadium in Queens home in the not so distant future.
“Our colors come out of the flag of Queens because that’s where I was born and the demographics and concentration of footy fans is great,” said Doug Petersen, who makes up the ownership group with Jo-Ellen Treiber. “We really honor Queens with our crest.”
F.C. New York will play in the United Soccer League’s First Division, a second-tier league below Major League Soccer, according to the U.S. Soccer Federation, beginning in the 2010 season. It will become the league’s 13th team.
F.C. New York will be the first area team to play in the USL’s highest level since the Long Island Rough Riders and Staten Island Vipers in the late 1990s. Ironically, the Rough Riders also called Hofstra home during their heyday, when future MLS stars Tony Meola, Chris Armas and Giovanni Savarese were on the team.
“We are thrilled to welcome F.C. New York as the newest addition to the USL First Division,” said Tim Holt, executive vice president and chief operating officer of the USL. “Their ownership group’s impressive and ambitious plans to develop a complete soccer club with a strong international partner and privately financed future stadium will boost the profile of our league in one of the world’s largest and most diverse markets.”
One possible area is near John F. Kennedy International Airport and Aqueduct Racetrack, according to sources. The team is likely to use other venues inside the five boroughs, including Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island and Columbia University’s renovated Baker Field for a handful of games next season.
“We need to be in our facility in order to be profitable,” Petersen said. “We’re not putting all this money in and in two years say it isn’t working. We need to get our own place.”
The next step for F.C. New York will be forming a partnership with a European-based club, an ongoing trend in the USL. Sources indicate the club is likely in England and could have at least part of its name as part of the team’s official name. According to Petersen, the USL has a rule that says each team must have a nickname, using F.C. Miami Blues as an example.
“I shouldn’t say the name is not for sale because everything has a price, but a partnership is just that,” Petersen said. “There’s certain things they’ll learn from us and we’ll learn from them.”
Petersen also poked fun at the New York Red Bulls, the other professional team to call New York home, and already issued a challenge to the Major League Soccer side, showcasing a trophy he said was commissioned in Queens for what he hopes is an annual “Grapple for the Apple” exhibition game.
“We’re throwing down the gauntlet to our brothers from the other side of the river and over there in that other state,” Petersen said.
And Petersen said he’s got the perfect location for such a game.
“Let’s have it on the Great Lawn in Central Park,” he said.
While the organization is still very much in the planning stages, Petersen has a vision for where he’d like to see F.C. New York in five years.
“In five years, our plan is to be in our own place, have a productive team that’s competing in CONCACAF [Champions League] and winning championships,” Petersen said.
Season ticket deposits of $50 are now being accepted. For more information, e-mail yourteam@fcnyemail.com or call 1-866-827-0154.
