New York Red Bulls Club History
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 MetroStars was selected.Tab Ramos, the first player to sign with MLS, became the first MetroStar, and was soon joined by 1994 FIFA World Cup teammate Tony Meola and AC 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.
In 1996, the MetroStars made news when they selected Juninho and Túlio in the 1996 MLS Supplemental Draft.This report set off an immediately positive reaction which was quickly crushed after the MetroStars revealed that they had not actually drafted Juninho and Tulio.The MetroStars waived both on March 25, 1996.While the identity of "Juninho" was later discovered, the true name and club history of "Tulio" remains unknown. This bizarre episode has entered MetroStars folk lore.
When the league began play in 1996, it was expected that the MetroStars would quickly become the league's dominant team. This expectation never materialized. Despite famous players and high-profile coach, the team never seemed to click together. In the team's first home game against the New England Revolution, former Juventus defender Nicola Caricola inadvertently flipped a cross into his own net in the dying minutes to hand New England a 1-0 win in front of 46,000 fans. The resulting play would later be dubbed the "Curse of Caricola" by fans to explain the team's inability to come through with a domestic trophy in their history. Firmani left after eight games and was replaced by former Portugal coach Carlos Queiróz, who did no better than even the rest of the season. The team made it into the playoffs, only to lose to eventual champions D.C. United.
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 MetroStars, with no city or state attached to it, a rarity in American sports.
In 2000, MetroStars dropped a bombshell by acquiring German international player Lothar Matthäus from Bayern Munich. Matthäus played in only 16 MLS games during the season and his tenure in the U.S. is considered a disappointment.
Read the recent club transfer history here
Read about the history of the MLS League here
Information : wikipedia
