New York
Forget what you’ve read, the Big Apple is big on ‘soccer’, from parks to pubs to stadiums. And as you’d expect, it’s a football experience unlike any other...
New York is a massive football town without a massive football team to support. Unless you include the New York Giants which, of course, we don’t.
There are scores of leagues and hundreds of clubs, many of them ethnically based and some of them dating back to the 1920s and earlier. Think Hackney Marshes crossed with the Tower of Babel.
Looking for a game yourself? No problem. Like all big American cities, a bustling ‘scrimmage’ (park football) scene has all but driven other ball games out of existence. Male chauvinist pigs be warned though – many of New York’s ‘pick-up’ games are ‘co-ed’. It is therefore entirely likely you’ll be humiliated by a superior female player. Get over it.
New York also has more youth soccer than you would believe. Seriously – they are fanatical about the game. Anybody who thinks Americans don’t ‘get’ football is going to be stunned if they travel out to the suburbs.
Back in the 1970s – they heyday of the New York Cosmos – the Big Apple was the soccer capital of the world. No, seriously. The movie about the team, Once In A Lifetime, came out just as the New York/New Jersey MetroStars faithful were waking up to the fact that they are now supporting an MLS team called New York Red Bulls – a disaster in the opinion of some hardcore fans.
One enormous difference the limey soccer tourist will notice is that while New Yorkers have bought into football big time – they haven’t quite mastered the tribalism yet. I’ve seen a Dutch-American Arsenal fan wearing a Manchester United Ruud van Nistelrooy top (although even he may have ditched it by now). I’ve watched in awe as a Liverpool shirt-wearing Yank blithely walked into a bog full of pissing (and gaping) English Manchester United fans at Giants Stadium (where Liverpool weren’t even playing). D’oh!
At games, however, the atmosphere is entirely laid back – and not just because Giants Stadium is a quarter full at best (Pele’s last game for the Cosmos in 1977 was an 80,000 sell-out). The truth is, New York soccer fans are far more interested in what unites them. Visits by big European teams are like the gathering of the soccer clans with fans clad in a dazzling array of shirts bearing the names of thousands of different grassroots teams/clubs/leagues/soccer bars, etc.
Be warned though, football fans are still routinely stereotyped – by soccer sceptics, at least – as “hooligans”. Especially if they’re English.
Fortunately, when it comes to dedicated football pubs, New York puts most European cities to shame. There are dozens to choose from, all packed with knowledgeable, passionate fans. Miquel Almeida, New York’s top soccer blogger, recommends Nevada Smiths (74 Third Avenue): “The best soccer bar in America, full of life, atmosphere, TV screens, stale air, club chants and 20 beers on tap. The only downside is the bar manager supports Man United.”
Others to check out (especially if you’re a Liverpool fan) are Clancys, McCormacks and the 11th Street Bar. Also recommended is the Spanish soccer oasis at (the Real Madrid-obsessed) La Nacional. Just don’t expect any aggravation if you get there and they’re full of US fans...