MetroStars
For the South Australian football (soccer) club see, North Eastern MetroStars.
The MetroStars was the name of a soccer club based in New Jersey that participated in Major League Soccer between 1996 and 2005. On March 9, 2006, the club was purchased by Red Bull and re-branded as Red Bull New York with the playing team being known as the New York Red Bulls.
The club played its home matches at Giants Stadium located at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford; the headquarters were located in Secaucus. The team colors were red, black, and gold. During the team's first season, the Metrostars had solid black or solid white jerseys and during all other seasons, the home jerseys had red and black vertical stripes. The MetroStars were known as the New York/New Jersey MetroStars through 1997, after which the NY/NJ part of the name was gradualy phased out and then dropped altogether.
Some of the high-profile international players that played for the Metros were Roberto Donadoni, Branco, Lothar Matthäus, Adolfo Valencia, Amado Guevara, and Youri Djorkaeff. The team has had its share of famous coaches as well, including Carlos Queiroz, Carlos Alberto Parreira, and Bora Milutinovic, as well as Bob Bradley and Mo Johnston. American stars Tony Meola, Tab Ramos, Alexi Lalas, Tim Howard, Clint Mathis, Eddie Pope, and Eddie Gaven have all played in the red and black. At the time of the Red Bull purchase, the club's all-time leaders (regular season only) were: games, Mike Petke, 134; goals, Giovanni Savarese, 41; assists, Ramos, 36; shutouts, Meola, 20.
The cludgy New York/New Jersey part of the club's name was most likely the result of both New York (Long Island) and New Jersey being granted original MLS franchises.[1] Eventually, the New York plan was dropped, and the New Jersey group, led by John Kluge and Stuart Subotnick, emerged, with the two supposed franchises combined into one. The club's original name was Empire Soccer Club, which gave birth to the name of the team's largerst supporters' group, Empire Supporters Club. Kludge's company MetroMedia gave the team the Metro part of its name; Nike wanted the full name to be MetroFlash, but a more sensible MetroStars was selected.
Starting in 1998, the club stopped referring to itself NY/NJ, but it took a few years for a lot of the media (and even fans) to catch up. The team went by just MetroStars, with no city or state attached to it, a rarity in American sport.
When Red Bull purchased the MetroStars in 2006, it decided to completely re-brand the franchise, changing the name, colors, and logo. The sale of the team has been controversial among some fans of the MetroStars, not dissimilar to the situation in Austria, where Red Bull bought SV Austria Salzburg and renamed it Red Bull Salzburg. While some fans were disappointed with the loss of Metro identity, others found fault in corporate branding, or with labeling the franchise as New York, when it plays and is headquartered in New Jersey. Other fans have welcomed the change, as the MetroStars franchise had never been particularly successful on the field, and has suffered waning support in the stands; it is anticipated that Red Bull will provide enough cash for the club to be competitive and increase its advertising revenue.
Although most MetroStar supporters decided to follow the re-branded team, a number claim they have abandoned the team altogether. Some fans who are staying with the team would like to keep Metro tradition going, whether it is by singing tradition chants, or continuing to refer to the team as Metro or Metros. Some are attempting to start a new team called AFC Metro, possibly to play in the Premier Developmental League, similar to AFC Wimbledon or FC United of Manchester.
Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber has stated that a second franchise in the New York area can come "as early as 2010, but not before that" [2]. Whether that new team will be known as the MetroStars, and whether it would inherit the club's pre-2006 history from the New York Red Bulls, is not known. Although that seems unlikely since Red Bull has announced that it will acknowledge Metro history from the team's inception, regarding the New York Red Bulls as a continuation of that history and not a separate franchise.
See also
- Complete history of the franchise: Red Bull New York
- MetroStars players
External links
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