NEW YORK CITY FOOTBALL CLUB: COME ON CITY BOYS MAKE SOME NOISE. WE GO WILD, WILD, WILD

August 12, 2024

“Lucha libre masks, blue and orange smoke bombs, flags, and banners, the scene is set.”

FAR TOO ENTICING

When we associate New York City and high-level sport, we immediately think of the Knicks, the Yankees, even the Rangers or the Giants, but not at all of the Pigeons.

In British football, the names of birds are the Eagles, the Magpies, the Seagulls, the Owls, the Swans, the Ravens, the Throstles, the Robins, the Bantams, the Canaries or the Bluebirds, but no Pigeons on the horizon. Probably not majestic or gratifying enough. But no matter, the prospect of discovering Major League Soccer in a legendary baseball stadium located in the Bronx was far too enticing.

NYPD OFFICERS, JUNKIES SQUATTING IN THE MCDONALD’S PARKING LOT AND THE COSMOPOLITAN POPULATION RUB SHOULDERS

A few hours before the game between the New York City FC Pigeons and Charlotte FC, I head to Yankee Stadium with a few disposable cameras.

On-site, at the intersection of 161st Street and River Street, the environment is much less sanitised than in a large part of Manhattan; NYPD officers, junkies squatting in the McDonald’s parking lot and the cosmopolitan population rub shoulders in a fairly quiet atmosphere despite the deafening noise of the subway.

With less than two hours until kickoff, there is no indication that a football game will be played in the New York Yankees’ den.

WE AREN’T IN MONTERREY OR CALI, BUT INDEED IN THE BRONX

I soon set off again towards Macombs Dam Park where two teams made up of African immigrants challenge each other in a sort of local Africa Cup of Nations, on the worst synthetic pitch I have ever seen.

Alerted by the sound of percussion, I hurry towards the metro station. Below the lanes of Line 4, Los Templados 12, the barra brava of NYCFC, fully entered the pre-match. Songs in Spanglish, kitchen utensils used as a güiro, small cymbals, trumpets and drums of all kinds, Lucha libre masks, blue and orange smoke bombs, flags, and banners, the scene is set.

Before each home match, men, women and children bond in a festive and good-natured atmosphere. A barra brava without the violence inherent in its nature. We aren’t in Monterrey or Cali, but indeed in the Bronx.

COME ON CITY BOYS! MAKE SOME NOISE

The appetiser finished, and I hurried to enter Yankee Stadium. The passageways are colossal. Ubiquitous baseball imagery. NYCFC will have to wait until it moves to its future Queens stadium in 2027 to truly feel at home.

In the stands, the atmosphere is less exciting than outside the stadium. Considering the number of residents in NYC, the crowds are frankly disappointing. But the great advantage of Yankee Stadium is that it offers almost total accessibility to all its stands. You can easily go from South Charlotte, the Charlotte FC supporters group, to Los Templados 12. A dream when you want to photograph the entire experience.

The atmosphere is relaxed. The issue doesn’t seem to really concern the public. In their stand, Los Templados 12 put their heart into their work by tirelessly encouraging their team. No downtime despite the rain falling on the Bronx. We find the same ingredients as before the match, plus cans of beer and cannabis.

Then, to close the party in the 93rd minute, the song sung a few seconds earlier took on its full meaning with Alonso Martinez’s victorious goal: “Come on City Boys! Make some fucking noise! We go wild wild wild! We go wild wild wild!.”