Red Bull New York is an American professional soccer club based in New Jersey that currently fields a team in Major League Soccer called the New York Red Bulls. The team play their home matches at Giants Stadium located at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey but is currently constructing a new stadium named Red Bull Park. The team's headquarters are located in Secaucus, New Jersey. The team colors are red, white, and blue.
Although the team has been in the league since its inaugural season (1996), it has gone through several name changes. The team was originally known as the New York/New Jersey Metro Stars through 1997. From the 1998 season until right before the 2006 season, the team was known as simply the Metro Stars. On March 9, 2006, it was sold to Red Bull GmbH, and the name changed to Red Bull New York. The sale of the team has been controversial among some fans of the Metro Stars, similar to the situation in Austria, where Red Bull bought SV Austria Salzburg and renamed it FC Red Bull Salzburg.
The team plays its home matches at Giants Stadium located at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford; the headquarters are located in Secaucus. During the team's first season, the Metro Stars had solid black or solid white jerseys and during all other seasons, the home jerseys had red and black vertical stripes. The Metro Stars were known as the New York/New Jersey Metro Stars through 1997, after which the NY/NJ part of the name was gradually phased out and then dropped altogether.
The team's best result in MLS play was the MLS Cup semifinals in 2000. In the US Open Cup, the Metro Stars reached three semifinals (1997, 1998, 2000), before finally reaching their first final in 2003, losing 1-0 to the Chicago Fire. On August 26, 2000, the Metros' Clint Mathis set an MLS record by scoring five goals in a game against the Dallas Burn.
The team's main and bitter rival is D.C. United, with whom they compete annually for the Atlantic Cup, a minor title instituted by the two teams' management that DC United has won four out of five times. During one match in 2006, former DC United player Alecko Eskandarian went to the extent of drinking Red Bull after a goal and spitting it onto the field as an intentional slight on the recently renamed Red Bulls. He was then fined by the Major League Soccer Disciplinary Committee $250. The DC United and Red Bull New York rivalry is perhaps the most embittered rivalry in all of MLS. Other rivals are the New England Revolution and the Chicago Fire. Red Bull New York is also developing a rivalry with the new MLS expansion side Toronto FC due to the little distance between the teams.
The team was sold to Austrian energy drink producer Red Bull and then was renamed Red Bull New York in 2006. The team currently is building a new stadium named Red Bull Park in Harrison, New Jersey. The team colors are red, white, and blue.
The yearly cost to run this team is estimated to be over $200 million. This exceeds many other MLS soccer teams. This may seem like a lot of money but compared to the New York Yankees, who spend 5 times that amount in players salaries and coaching a staff, the cost of a MLS soccer team seems minuscule. Some of the high-profile international players that played for the team were Roberto Donadoni, Branco, Lothar Matthäus, Adolfo Valencia, Youri Djorkaeff, and Amado Guevara. Some of these players’ salaries ranged from $1,000,000 up to $17.5 million. The team has had its share of famous coaches as well, including Carlos Queiroz, Carlos Alberto Parreira, Bora Milutinovi, as well as Bob Bradley, Mo Johnston, and Bruce Arena. American stars Tony Meola, Tab Ramos, Tim Howard, Alexi Lalas (who was also the team's General Manager, for a brief time), Clint Mathis, and Eddie Pope have all played for the team.
The club's original name was Empire Soccer Club, which gave birth to the name of the team's largest supporters' group, Empire Supporters Club. Team owners John Kluge and Stuart Subotnick were executives at the company MetroMedia, leading to the inclusion of "Metro" as part of the soccer team's name. Nike wanted the full name to be MetroFlash, but a more sensible Metro Stars was selected.
Tab Ramos, the first player to sign with MLS, became the first Metro Star, and was soon joined by 1994 World Cup teammate Tony Meola and A.C. Milan star midfielder Roberto Donadoni. 1990 World Cup player Peter Vermes was named the first team captain, but it was the previously unknown Venezuelan Giovanni Savarese who became the Metros' first breakthrough star. The team's first coach was Eddie Firmani of New York Cosmos fame.
When the league began play in 1996, it was expected that the Metro Stars would quickly become the league's dominant team. Despite famous players and high-profile coach, the team never seemed to gel. Firmani left after eight games (3-5) and was replaced by former Portugal coach Carlos Queiroz who did no better than even (12-12) the rest of the season. The team made it into the playoffs, only to lose to eventual champions D.C. United.
The team continued to flounder season after season. The combination of talented players and insipid play earned the team the sobriquet, RotMasters, from Paul Gardner, a curmudgeonly columnist at SoccerAmerica. Gardner coined the name by rearranging the letters spelling Metro Stars.
Starting in 1998, the team stopped referring to itself NY/NJ, but it took a few years for the media and fans to catch up. The team went by just Metro Stars, with no city or state attached to it, a rarity in American sports.
In 2000 Metro Stars dropped the bombshell by acquiring German International player Lothar Matthäus from Bayern München. Matthäus played in 16 MLS fixtures during the season and his tenure in USA is considered a disappointment.
Over the years, the MLS front office has attempted to help this team, which sits in the middle of the nation's media center of New York City by bending the rules to move high-profile names to the team. However, that practice was abandoned since the sale of the team in 2001 to the Anschutz Entertainment Group; in fact, AEG President Tim Leiweke commented on neglect towards the franchise under its previous owners.
Despite their poor domestic record, the Metro Stars became the first (and at this point, only) MLS team to win a trophy outside of North American soil, a 2004 victory in La Manga Cup. The Metro Stars defeated Ukraine's Dynamo Kyiv 3–2 in the semifinals before edging Norway's Viking FK 1–0 in the final.
Late in 2005, after the firing of Bob Bradley, assistant Mo Johnston was named interim head coach and guided the team to seven points in its last three games, with wins at DC United and then at Chivas USA the Metro Stars made it to the playoffs. Unfortunately it was just another season to end in disappointment after they were knocked out of the playoffs with a 3-2 loss to the New England Revolution.
When Red Bull purchased the Metro Stars in 2006, it decided to completely re-brand the franchise, changing the name, colors, and logo. The team's purchase by Red Bull generated controversy among some fans of the Metro Stars, 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. Some fans even went to the extent of leaving the team. Letters to the Red Bulls ownership show their indifference to what former fans thought of the name change. Other fans have accepted the change, in light of the Metro Stars' lack of success on the field, and waning support in the stands. In 2006 the Red Bulls managed to defeat German powerhouse Bayern Munich 4–2 in a friendly game in Giants Stadium which was a sign of progress.
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." Whether that new team will be known as the Metro Stars, and whether it would inherit the team's pre-2006 history from the New York Red Bulls, is not known, but seems unlikely since Red Bull has announced that it will acknowledge Metro Stars history from the team's inception, regarding the New York Red Bulls as a continuation of that history and not a separate franchise.
After a disappointing world-cup run, Bruce Arena immediately helped the new Red Bulls. They made it to the playoffs and after a late goal by Jozy Altidore seemed they could go further. Unfortunately a late goal was scored by DC United ending the playoff run and dreams of players and fans.
On November 5, 2007, Bruce Arena resigned as coach of the Red Bulls. The move came two days after the team was eliminated from the 2007 MLS playoffs by the New England Revolution.
Former Chicago Fire and Millonarios coach Juan Carlos Osorio was announced as the new coach of the Red Bulls. He has wanted to come back to New York because of his family and friends located in New York. "This is without a doubt one of the most proud moments for me, to be back in New York with all my family and friends," Osorio said. "Since 2001, when I left for Manchester City I always made it my goal to come back to MLS as head coach of the New York Red Bulls. Today, I've been given that opportunity, and I'm extremely proud and extremely pleased."
Juan Carlos Osorio got the Red Bulls off to a good start in the 2008 season despite various injuries. South African midfielder Danleigh Borman has made an early push for Rookie of the Year after scoring two goals in two games. Borman was drafted in the first round of the 2008 MLS Supplemental Draft. Jeff Parke has led the defense in Osorio's 3-5-2 formation.
Superstar forward Jozy Altidore leaves the Red Bulls to sign a six year deal with La Liga club Villarreal CF.
