New York City FC II

New York City FC II

Nickname(s)	Young Pigeons The Baby Blues
Short name	NYCFC II
Founded	December 6, 2021;3 years ago (2021-12-06)
Stadium	Belson Stadium Queens, New York City
Capacity	2,168
Owners	New York City FC (City Football Group)
Head coach	Matt Pilkington
League	MLS Next Pro
2023	8th, Eastern Conference Playoffs: Did not qualify
Website	www.nycfc.com/nycfcii
Home colors Away colors
Current season

New York City FC II is an American professional soccer team based in New York City. It is the reserve team and minor league affiliate of New York City FC, and plays in MLS Next Pro, the third tier of the United States soccer league system.

History

When NYCFC entered MLS in 2015, the league had no reserve competition. For their first few seasons NYCFC affiliated with Wilmington Hammerheads FC ^[1] and then with San Antonio FC ^[2] but these partnerships were little used and the club continued with no minor league affiliate for several seasons afterwards.

MLS Next Pro

On December 6, 2021, Major League Soccer announced the formation of a new league, MLS Next Pro, which would be a competitive development league for reserves and younger players. It would be placed in the third tier of the United States soccer league system below the USL Championship, which had previously hosted affiliated and reserve teams. ^[3] NYCFC was among the first teams to announce their participation in MLS Next Pro. ^[3] The name of the team—New York City FC II (abbreviated as "NYCFC II")—was announced in January 2022 alongside the signing of the first three homegrown players to stock the nascent team's roster. ^[4]

Players and staff

Roster

As of June 28, 2024 ^[5]

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
2	DF	USA	Nico Cavallo ( [A] )
8	MF	USA	Andrés Perea ( [A] )
23	DF	USA	Max Murray ( [A] )
24	DF	JAM	Tayvon Gray ( [A] )
29	MF	USA	Máximo Carrizo ( [A] )
31	MF	GHA	Samuel Owusu
33	DF	USA	Prince Amponsah ( [A] )
36	FW	CHI	Zidane Yañez ( [A] )
37	MF	USA	Stevo Bednarsky
38	DF	USA	Drew Baiera ( [A] )
42	MF	USA	Piero Elias
44	GK	USA	Alex Rando ( [A] )
47	MF	USA	Jacob Arroyave ( [A] )
50	GK	USA	Kofi Hope-Gund
56	FW	USA	James Bilden ( [B] )
57	FW	USA	Nicholas Kapanadze
58	DF	USA	Pierce Infuso
62	GK	URU	Anthony Suarez ( [B] )
63	DF	USA	Matthew Leong
64	FW	USA	Julien Lacher ( [B] )
68	MF	TPE	Christopher Tiao
70	GK	USA	Mac Learned
71	MF	USA	Peter Molinari
72	MF	USA	Luka Sunjic ( [B] )
73	MF	USA	Collin McCamy
74	FW	JAM	Seymour Reid ( [A] )
75	MF	USA	Leo Guarino
77	DF	USA	Jonny Lopez ( [B] )
78	DF	USA	Evan Lim ( [B] )
80	GK	USA	Brennan Klein
81	FW	ITA	Sebastiano Musu
82	DF	SLV	Adonis Campos ( [B] )
83	MF	USA	Camilo Ponce
85	MF	USA	Gianluca Rizzo ( [B] )
87	MF	USA	Jack Loura
89	FW	USA	Dylan Thomas ( [B] )
90	GK	USA	Dylan McDermott
91	MF	USA	David Duque ( [B] )
92	FW	USA	Lucas De Pinho ( [B] )
99	FW	USA	Uriel Zeitz

1. ^
   New York City FC MLS roster player
2. ^
   New York City FC academy player

Technical Staff

Position	Name
Head coach	Matt Pilkington
Assistant coach	Michael Dal Pra
Goalkeeper coach	Santiago Restrepo
Analyst	Gustavo Mahana
Athletic Trainer	Camilo Hurtado-Cortes
Performance Coach	Casey Colon

Records

Year-by-year

Season	MLS Next Pro									Playoffs	Top Scorer
	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts	Conference	Overall		Player	Goals
2022	24	9	6	9	49	35	37	5th, Eastern	10th	Did not qualify	John Denis	14
2023	28	12	4	12	60	55	41	8th, Eastern	16th	Did not qualify	MD Myers	19

Head coaches record

As of September 24, 2023

Name	Nationality	From	To	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	Win%
Matt Pilkington [6]	England	February 9, 2022	present	52	21	10	21	109	90	040.38

Stadium

On February 24, 2022, it was announced that NYCFC II would play its home matches at Belson Stadium on the campus of St. John's University. ^[7]

On July 15, 2024, NYCFC II announced that would play a portion of its schedule at Icahn Stadium on Randalls Island in Manhattan. ^[8] The club made a $3 million donation to fund upgrades to bring the pitch up to professional soccer standards.

References

1. "NYCFC Announce Affiliation with Wilmington Hammerheads". nycfc.com. January 16, 2015. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
2. "NYCFC Announce Affiliation with San Antonio FC". nycfc.com. February 9, 2017. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
3. Straus, Brian (December 6, 2021). "MLS Next Pro Adds Another Element to U.S. Soccer's Ever-Evolving Lower Club Tier". Sports Illustrated . Retrieved December 6, 2021.
4. "New York City Football Club Sign Three Players to Homegrown Contracts". nycfc.com. January 19, 2022. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
5. NYCFC II -Roster
6. "New York City Football Club Name Matt Pilkington and Danny Cepero Head Coach and Assistant Coach for NYCFC II". nycfc.com. February 9, 2022. Retrieved September 18, 2022.
7. "New York City FC Announces Venue & Schedule for NYCFC II, Expands Partnership with St. John's University". NYCFC.com. New York City FC. February 24, 2022. Retrieved July 16, 2024.
8. O'Brien, Shane (July 15, 2024). "Randall's Island to host professional soccer, NYCFC reserves after state-of-the-art field installed at Icahn Stadium". amNY.com. Retrieved July 16, 2024.

External links

• Official website