MetroStars' logo 2002-2005

The MetroStars was the name of a soccer club based in New Jersey that participated in Major League Soccer between 1996 and 2005. On March 9, 2006, the club was purchased by Red Bull and re-branded as Red Bull New York with the playing team being known as the New York Red Bulls. This is a copyrighted and/or trademarked logo. ... Football (soccer) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Official language(s) None, English de facto Capital Trenton Largest city Newark Area  Ranked 47th  - Total 8,729 sq mi (22,608 km²)  - Width 70 miles (110 km)  - Length 150 miles (240 km)  - % water 14. ... Major League Soccer (MLS) is the top soccer league in the United States in the American Soccer Pyramid. ... March 9 is the 68th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (69th in Leap years). ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Red Bull is the brand name of an Austrian carbonated soft drink. ... Year founded 1995 (as NY/NJ MetroStars) League Major League Soccer Nickname New York Red Bulls, Metro Stadium Giants Stadium Coach Bruce Arena, 2006— Owner Red Bull First Game Los Angeles Galaxy 2–1 NY/NJ MetroStars (Rose Bowl; April 13, 1996) Largest Win Red Bull New York 6–0...

The club played its home matches at Giants Stadium located at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford; the headquarters were located in Secaucus. The team colors were red, black, and gold. During the team's first season, the Metrostars had solid black or solid white jerseys and during all other seasons, the home jerseys had red and black vertical stripes. The MetroStars were known as the New York/New Jersey MetroStars through 1997, after which the NY/NJ part of the name was gradualy phased out and then dropped altogether. Giants Stadium, also called The Meadowlands, is the home stadium for the New York Giants and New York Jets NFL football teams, and Red Bull New York (formerly MetroStars) of Major League Soccer. ... The Meadowlands Sports Complex is a sports and entertainment facility located in East Rutherford, New Jersey owned and operated by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority (NJSEA). ... Map highlighting East Rutherfords location within Bergen County. ... Secaucus is a town located in Hudson County, New Jersey, USA. As of the United States 2000 Census, the town had a total population of 15,931. ... Official language(s) English de facto Capital Albany Largest city New York City Area  Ranked 27th  - Total 54,520 sq mi (141,205 km²)  - Width 285 miles (455 km)  - Length 330 miles (530 km)  - % water 13. ...

Some of the high-profile international players that played for the Metros were Roberto Donadoni, Branco, Lothar Matthäus, Mohammad Khakpour, Adolfo Valencia, Amado Guevara, and Youri Djorkaeff. The team has had its share of famous coaches as well, including Carlos Queiroz, Carlos Alberto Parreira, and Bora Milutinovic, as well as Bob Bradley and Mo Johnston. American stars Tony Meola, Tab Ramos, Alexi Lalas, Tim Howard, Clint Mathis, Eddie Pope, and Eddie Gaven have all played in the red and black. At the time of the Red Bull purchase, the club's all-time leaders (regular season only) were: games, Mike Petke, 134; goals, Giovanni Savarese, 41; assists, Ramos, 36; shutouts, Meola, 20. Roberto Donadoni (born September 9, 1963 in Cisano Bergamasco, Province of Bergamo, Lombardy) is an Italian football (soccer) manager and former player. ... Branco, real name Claudio Ibrahim Vaz Leal, (born April 4, 1964 in Bage, Brazil) is a football (soccer) defender, a deadly free kick taker, and a World Champion for Brazil in the 1994 World Cup. ... Lothar Matthäus. ... Mohammad Khakpour (born 20 February 1969) is a retired Iranian football player. ... Adolfo Valencia (born February 6, 1968 in Buenaventura, Colombia) is a soccer striker who has played all over the world. ... Amado Guevara (born May 2, 1976 in Tegucigalpa) is a Honduran football (soccer) midfielder, who currently plays in Major League Soccer for Red Bull New York. ... Youri Djorkaeff (born March 9, 1968 in Lyon) is a French football (soccer) player, who usually plays as a forward or as an attacking midfielder. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Carlos Alberto Gomes Parreira (born February 27, 1943, in Rio de Janeiro) is a football manager. ... Velibor Bora Milutinović (Serbian Cyrillic: Велибор Бора Милутиновић) (born September 7, 1944 in Bajina BaÅ¡ta, Serbia) is a Serbian football (soccer) coach, and the only person to have coached five different teams at the World Cup: Mexico (1986), Costa Rica (1990), the United States (1994), Nigeria (1998), and China (2002). ... Bob Bradley (born March 3, 1958 in Montclair, New Jersey) is a soccer coach, the all-time winningest coach in Major League Soccer history. ... Mo Johnston Maurice Mo Johnston (born April 30, 1963 in Glasgow) is a former Scottish soccer forward, who made his name with Celtic before controversially playing with Rangers. ... Meola on the cover of Tony Meolas Sidekick Soccer Tony Meola (born February 21, 1969 in Belleville, New Jersey) is an American goalkeeper, who became one of the most famous soccer players in the United States after his play in the 1994 World Cup. ... Tab Ramos Tabare (Tab) Ramos (born September 21, 1966 in Montevideo, Uruguay) is an American soccer midfielder, considered one of the most skillful players to ever wear the US jersey. ... Alexi Lalas Panayotis Alexander (Alexi) Lalas (born June 1, 1970 in Birmingham, Michigan) is a former soccer defender, who became one of the most famous soccer players in the United States after his play in the 1994 World Cup. ... For other persons named Tim Howard, see Tim Howard (disambiguation). ... Clint Mathis (born November 25, 1976 in Conyers, Georgia) is a soccer forward/midfielder who currently plays for the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer after making his name with the MetroStars. ... George Edward Eddie Pope, December 24, 1973, in Greensboro, North Carolina is a soccer defender, who currently plays for Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer and is an important part of the United States national team. ... Eddie Gaven (born October 25, 1986 in Hamilton, New Jersey) is an American soccer player who plays for the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer. ... Mike Petke (born January 30, 1976 in Bohemia, New York) is an American soccer defender, who currently plays for D.C. United in Major League Soccer. ... Giovanni Savarese (born July 14, 1971 in Caracas, Venezuela) is a Venezuelan soccer player, the all-time leading goalscorer for the MetroStars of Major League Soccer. ...

The cludgy New York/New Jersey part of the club's name was most likely the result of both New York (Long Island) and New Jersey being granted original MLS franchises.^[1] Eventually, the New York plan was dropped, and the New Jersey group, led by John Kluge and Stuart Subotnick, emerged, with the two supposed franchises combined into one. The club's original name was Empire Soccer Club, which gave birth to the name of the team's largerst supporters' group, Empire Supporters Club. Kludge's company MetroMedia gave the team the Metro part of its name; Nike wanted the full name to be MetroFlash, but a more sensible MetroStars was selected. Mercator projection of Long Island Long Island is an island in New York, USA. It has an area of 1,377 square miles (3567 km²) and a population of 7. ... John Werner Kluge (born September 21, 1914) is an entrepreneur who was born in Chemnitz, Germany, best known as a television industry mogul in the United States. ... The ESC Skunk The Empire Supporters Club, or ESC, is the oldest and largest supporters club dedicated to the MetroStars of Major League Soccer. ... Metromedia (also often MetroMedia) was a conglomeration of radio and television stations in the United States that existed from the demise of the DuMont Television Network in the 1950s until the formation of the Fox Network in the 1980s. ... Nike, Inc. ...

The MetroStars adopted the colors of Italian superclub A.C. Milan, making a statement that it intended to one day rival A.C. Milan as the predominant U.S. club. The team made the comparisons even more obvious when it signed A.C. Milan star midfielder Roberto Donadoni. With the addition of several other talented players, several of whom had just played for the recent 1994 FIFA World Cup United States national men's soccer team which lost to Brazil in the second round. Altogether, the MetroStars had Tab Ramos, Giovanni Savarese, Peter Vermes, previously mentioned Donadoni, U.S. national team goalkeeper Tony Meola and coach Eddie Firmani of New York Cosmos fame.^[2] Associazione Calcio Milan is an Italian football club based in Milan. ... Roberto Donadoni (born September 9, 1963 in Cisano Bergamasco, Province of Bergamo, Lombardy) is an Italian football (soccer) manager and former player. ... Qualifying countries The 1994 FIFA World Cup, the 16th staging of the World Cup, was held in the United States from June 17 to July 17. ... First international Unofficial: USA 0 - 1 Canada (Newark, NJ, USA; November 28, 1885) Official: Sweden 2 - 3 USA (Stockholm, Sweden; August 20, 1916) Largest win USA 8 - 1 Cayman Islands (Mission Viejo, CA, USA; November 14, 1993) USA 7 - 0 El Salvador (Los Angeles, CA, USA; December 5, 1993) USA... Tab Ramos Tabare (Tab) Ramos (born September 21, 1966 in Montevideo, Uruguay) is an American soccer midfielder, considered one of the most skillful players to ever wear the US jersey. ... Giovanni Savarese (born July 14, 1971 in Caracas, Venezuela) is a Venezuelan soccer player, the all-time leading goalscorer for the MetroStars of Major League Soccer. ... Peter Vermes (born January 21, 1966 in Willingboro, New Jersey) is an American soccer player, who played for the US national team in the 1990 World Cup as a forward and later became one of the best defenders in Major League Soccer. ... Meola on the cover of Tony Meolas Sidekick Soccer Tony Meola (born February 21, 1969 in Belleville, New Jersey) is an American goalkeeper, who became one of the most famous soccer players in the United States after his play in the 1994 World Cup. ... Eddie Firmani was a south african born centre-forward with italian ancestry which earned him caps for italy, who in two spells at charlton athletic made 177 appearances and scored 89 goals. ... For the South African club, see Jomo Cosmos The New York Cosmos (1971-1985), known simply as the Cosmos for the 1977 and 1978 seasons, was a franchise in the North American Soccer League, based in New York City and its suburbs. ...

When the league began play in 1996, it was expected that the MetroStars would quickly become the league's dominant team. Despite the team colors, famous players and high-profile coach, the team never seemed to gell. 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. Something which became an unfortunate club tradition in the year to come. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Year founded 1995 League Major League Soccer Nickname Black and Red Stadium RFK Stadium Coach Peter Nowak, 2004— Owner AEG First Game San Jose Clash 1–0 D.C. United (Spartan Stadium; April 6, 1996) Largest Win 6–1, once; 5–0, 4 times Worst Defeat Kansas City Wizards 6...

The team continued to flounder seaso 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 MetroStars.^[3] Soccer America Magazine is a weekly magazine devoted to soccer founded in the early 1970s and still being published. ...

Over the years, the MLS front office has attempted to help this club, 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 club.^[4] Some of these players, such as Clint Mathis experienced cosiderable success with the club. Despite this, the team slowly lost fans. Clint Mathis (born November 25, 1976 in Conyers, Georgia) is a soccer forward/midfielder who currently plays for the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer after making his name with the MetroStars. ...

MetroStars' logo 1996-2001

Starting in 1998, the club 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. Image File history File links Metrostars1. ...

When the company, Red Bull, purchased the MetroStars 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 MetroStars, 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. Other fans have welcomed the change, in light of the MetroStars' lack of succes on the field, and waning support in the stands; it is anticipated that Red Bull will provide enough cash for the club to be competitive and increase its advertising revenue. Red Bull Salzburg is an Austrian football (soccer) club, based in Salzburg. ...

Red Bull is comitted to the club's success and recently hired former national team, and D.C. United, coach Bruce Arena. It will remain to be seen if Arena can turn around the team's on-field performance. Bruce Arena was a winning college soccer coach at the University of Virginia for 18 years, ultimately achieving five NCAA Championships there (in 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, and 1994). ...

Although most MetroStar supporters decided to follow the re-branded team, a number claim they have abandoned the team altogether. Some fans who are staying with the team would like to keep Metro tradition going, whether it is by singing tradition chants, or continuing to refer to the team as Metro or Metros. Some are attempting to start a new team called AFC Metro, possibly to play in the Premier Developmental League, similar to AFC Wimbledon or FC United of Manchester. The USL Premier Development League (PDL) is the amateur league of the United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada. ... Wimbledon (full name AFC Wimbledon) is a semi-professional English football club, affiliated to both the London and Surrey FAs, and representing the area of Wimbledon in south London. ... Football Club United of Manchester (FC United of Manchester, FC United or FCUM for short) is an English football club, created by Manchester United supporters opposed to the purchase of their club by Malcolm Glazer. ...

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" ^[5]. Whether that new team will be known as the MetroStars, and whether it would inherit the club's pre-2006 history from the New York Red Bulls, is not known. Although that seems unlikely since Red Bull has announced that it will acknowledge Metro history from the team's inception, regarding the New York Red Bulls as a continuation of that history and not a separate franchise. Don Garber (born October 9, 1957) is the commissioner of Major League Soccer succeeding Doug Logan in 1999. ...

See also

• Complete history of the franchise: Red Bull New York
• MetroStars players

Year founded 1995 (as NY/NJ MetroStars) League Major League Soccer Nickname New York Red Bulls, Metro Stadium Giants Stadium Coach Bruce Arena, 2006— Owner Red Bull First Game Los Angeles Galaxy 2–1 NY/NJ MetroStars (Rose Bowl; April 13, 1996) Largest Win Red Bull New York 6–0...

External links

• History of the team at MetroFanatic.com