They’ve handed out all the hardware. The expansion teams have had their draft. 2017 is only a few days away. So it’s the perfect time to look back on the year we’ve just experienced and ask what stood out. Not what was “the best”, whatever that means, or “the most important”. But instead what, looking back years from now, are the three things we will remember about the 2016 season. Here are mine.
What to Remember About the NYCFC 2016 season
New York City FC beat the New York Red Bulls
Anybody who witnessed the excitement of the historic first derby on Mother’s Day 2015, who endured the pain of letting the second slip through our fingers at home, who watched the Red Bulls sweep the series in a third straight derby loss, and then who watched this season begin with the brutal May beatdown at Yankee Stadium, will remember for decades to come when the team finally – finally – got the Red Bull monkey off their back. At least a little.
Sure, the Red Bulls were coming off of a tough road trip and they looked tired and disorganized. And sure, NYCFC celebrated in a way that might have been a bit over the top. But years from now, as the matches pile up, and we’re all greyed and weakened by age and are trotted out to relate what it was like when the rivalry was young, we’ll point to this match, when NYCFC played as a team, when they held fast, when they won. When it was a great day in the Bronx.
Jack Harrison’s Debut
I actually missed the debut of NYCFC’s first round draft pick (and thus blissfully missed the entire “May Massacre”) but every person who I asked about the match, from supporters to players to press and beyond were in agreement. The only bright spot was Deb Harrison’s little boy. He hustled, created, and above all was a supremely talented breath of fresh air on the pitch, even as the rest of the team looked as if they had given up.
When we look back on what many of us think will be a very successful career, we will point to this start – inauspicious as it may have been for the team – as the day it all began. Sure, it wasn’t Lebron against Sacramento or Mario Lemieux against the Bruins, but it was the start.
After the Montreal Win
Maybe you forgot this tilt from the middle of July, when NYCFC won 3-1 against an Impact de Montreal side who hadn’t lost in five matches. But I haven’t.
Because at the time, I was beginning to think, in spite of NYCFC’s run of success on the road (they were 6-3-1 and 19 of their 33 points were taken away from Yankee Stadium), that I was bad luck. They lost in Harrison and I was there. And they lost in Philadelphia and I was there. And they lost in DC and I was there.
But I’ve always loved Montreal, and the Stade Saputo is a beautiful old place. So I made the long drive through the Adirondacks anyway. And talking with the NYCFC fans who also made the trek and chatting with Claudio Reyna and Mix Diskerud in the owner’s box, reminded me this was the right thing to do. But that’s not why it’s one of the things I’ll remember about the 2016 season
For what was memorable for me was after the match. You could feel that this was a side that felt relaxed and confident and cheerful about what the future held. Relaxed enough that Frank Lampard could spare a few minutes to answer a few of my questions. Confident enough that Patrick Vieira let me button-hole him in the Stadium lobby. Cheerful enough that Tommy McNamara actually looked happy to see me.
For that match, for me personally, I felt part of something bigger than myself. And what is soccer if not a personal business?
And what will you remember about the 2016 season?
To be clear, I’m not saying that there weren’t other great moments. The victory over the LA Galaxy was huge. Lampard’s hat-trick was great. The final game of the season when our place in the playoffs was secure. The first home game of the season when we reconnected with friends we hadn’t seen in months. The first match on the road in Chicago when the team started the season with an important three points. All great.
But not what will stand out for me. 2-nil on July 3rd against our red brothers. The beginning of a great career. Conversations with generous players after an important win.
That’s what I’ll remember about the 2016 season.
What about you?
