New York City FC II

New York City FC II
Nickname(s)Young Pigeons
The Baby Blues
Short nameNYCFC II
FoundedDecember 6, 2021; 2 years ago (2021-12-06)
StadiumBelson Stadium
Queens, New York City
Capacity2,168
OwnersNew York City FC
(City Football Group)
Head coachMatt Pilkington
LeagueMLS Next Pro
20238th, Eastern Conference
Playoffs: Did not qualify
Websitehttps://www.nycfc.com/nycfcii
Current season

New York City FC II is an American professional soccer team based in New York City. It is the reserve team and minor league affiliate of New York City FC, and plays in MLS Next Pro, the third tier of the United States soccer league system.

History

When NYCFC entered MLS in 2015, the league had no reserve competition. For their first few seasons NYCFC affiliated with Wilmington Hammerheads FC[1] and then with San Antonio FC[2] but these partnerships were little used and the club continued with no minor league affiliate for several seasons afterwards.

MLS Next Pro

On December 6, 2021, Major League Soccer announced the formation of a new league, MLS Next Pro, which would be a competitive development league for reserves and younger players. It would be placed in the third tier of the United States soccer league system below the USL Championship, which had previously hosted affiliated and reserve teams.[3] NYCFC was among the first teams to announce their participation in MLS Next Pro.[3] The name of the team—New York City FC II (abbreviated as "NYCFC II")—was announced in January 2022 alongside the signing of the first three homegrown players to stock the nascent team's roster.[4]

Players and staff

Roster

As of June 28, 2024[5]
No. Pos. Player Nation
1 GK Luis Barraza ([A])  United States
2 DF Rio Hope-Gund ([A])  United States
18 DF Christian McFarlane ([A])  England
20 MF Jacob Arroyave  United States
29 MF Máximo Carrizo ([A])  United States
30 GK Tomás Romero ([A])  El Salvador
31 MF Samuel Owusu  Ghana
32 MF Jonny Shore ([A])  United States
36 FW Zidane Yanez ([B])  United States
37 MF Stevo Bednarsky  United States
38 MF Drew Baiera ([A])  United States
41 FW Julián Gómez  United States
42 MF Piero Elias  United States
44 GK Alex Rando ([A])  United States
45 MF Brian Flores  Puerto Rico
47 DF Klevis Haxhari  Albania
50 GK Kofi Hope-Gund  United States
57 FW Nicholas Kapanadze  United States
61 DF Alexander Hauschild ([B])  United States
62 GK Anthony Suarez ([B])  Uruguay
63 DF Matthew Leong  United States
64 FW Julien Lacher ([B])  United States
67 DF Adam Basse ([B])  United States
68 MF Christopher Tiao  Chinese Taipei
70 MF Jake Rozhansky  United States
71 MF Peter Molinari  United States
74 FW Ronald Arévalo  El Salvador
75 GK Will Meyer  United States
77 FW Jonathan Jimenez  Mexico
81 DF Jonathan Lopez ([B])  United States
82 MF Sammy Ramirez ([B])  United States
83 FW Camil Ruiz ([B])  Spain
88 FW Malachi Jones ([A])  Sierra Leone
91 MF David Duque ([B])  United States
99 FW Taylor Calheira  United States
  1. ^
    New York City FC MLS roster player
    2.
  2. ^
    New York City FC academy player
    3.

Technical Staff

Position Name
Head coach Matt Pilkington
Assistant coach Danny Cepero
Analyst Marina Schachowskoj

Records

Year-by-year

Season MLS Next Pro Playoffs Top Scorer
P W D L GF GA Pts Conference Overall Player Goals
2022 24 9 6 9 49 35 37 5th, Eastern 10th Did not qualify United States John Denis 14
2023 28 12 4 12 60 55 41 8th, Eastern 16th Did not qualify United States MD Myers 19

Head coaches record

As of September 24, 2023
Name Nationality From To P W D L GF GA Win%
Matt Pilkington[6]  England February 9, 2022 present 52 21 10 21 109 90 040.38

Stadium

On February 24, 2022, it was announced that NYCFC II would play its home matches at Belson Stadium on the campus of St. John's University.[7]

On July 15, 2024, NYCFC II announced that would play a portion of its schedule at Icahn Stadium on on Randalls Island in Manhattan.[8] The club made a $3 million donation to fund upgrades to bring the pitch up to professional soccer standards.

References

  1. ^ "NYCFC Announce Affiliation with Wilmington Hammerheads". nycfc.com. January 16, 2015. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
  2. ^ "NYCFC Announce Affiliation with San Antonio FC". nycfc.com. February 9, 2017. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
  3. ^ a b Straus, Brian (December 6, 2021). "MLS Next Pro Adds Another Element to U.S. Soccer's Ever-Evolving Lower Club Tier". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved December 6, 2021.
  4. ^ "New York City Football Club Sign Three Players to Homegrown Contracts". nycfc.com. January 19, 2022. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
  5. ^ NYCFC II -Roster
  6. ^ "New York City Football Club Name Matt Pilkington and Danny Cepero Head Coach and Assistant Coach for NYCFC II". nycfc.com. February 9, 2022. Retrieved September 18, 2022.
  7. ^ "New York City FC Announces Venue & Schedule for NYCFC II, Expands Partnership with St. John's University". NYCFC.com. New York City FC. February 24, 2022. Retrieved July 16, 2024.
  8. ^ O'Brien, Shane (July 15, 2024). "Randall's Island to host professional soccer, NYCFC reserves after state-of-the-art field installed at Icahn Stadium". amNY.com. Retrieved July 16, 2024.