Queens has a new pro soccer club
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Superstar Spanish striker David Villa, seen here after scoring a goal for Atletico Madrid, is part-owner of the new Queensboro Football Club, which kicks off in 2021. Photo by Carlos Delgado via Wikimedia Commons
By David Brand
A brand new professional soccer club will kick off at York College in 2021, the team owners announced Tuesday — thirteen months after the Eagle first reported on the team’s likely arrival.
Queensboro FC will compete in the United Soccer League Championship division, a tier below Major League Soccer in the hierarchy of U.S. soccer leagues. The ownership group includes businessman Jonathan Krane, the CEO of KraneShares, and legendary Spanish striker David Villa.
"I lived and played in New York for four years. I know what a special place Queens is," said Villa, who played for NYCFC after starring for Valencia, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid at club level and winning the 2010 World Cup with Spain. "I love the cultures, the food, the people and their passion for life and, of course, soccer.”
“It's a dream to help build this football club in Queens and I couldn't choose a better location," he added.
The club will play its home games at York College, with a few matches taking place at Citi Field, the team said in a statement.
Councilmember Francisco Moya called the new club “exciting” and welcomed its arrival. In September 2018, Moya met with Villa and Borough President Melinda Katz at Borough Hall to discuss the team, and a potential new venue for the club.
The trio discussed a proposal “to build a 10,000 to 25,000-seat soccer stadium in the Willets Point redevelopment area that would serve as home for the Queensboro Football Club, a proposed new team that would play in the United Soccer League, a second division professional league,” read a statement provided by Katz’s office.
Katz and Moya did not respond to multiple requests for comment about the new team over the ensuring months, but details emerged through reporting by the Eagle and soccer writer Chris Kivlehan.
Kivlehan noticed in September 2018 that the domain name QueensboroFC.com had been purchased and registered. He also reported on rumors he had heard about the USL club.
In October 2018, a member of the New York Cosmos, which is based in Brooklyn and competes in the USL Championship division, told the Eagle he had also heard rumors about the team being established in the not-so-distant future. A member of Community Board 7 also told the Eagle he had heard rumblings about the new team last year.
It took a while for concrete information about the club to emerge, but USL CEO Alec Papadakis said he is excited to bring a club to fútbol fans in the world’s borough.
"Soccer is second nature to many who call this borough home, and with a strong sense of community in the most culturally diverse area in the world, a USL Championship club in Queens is the perfect fit,” Papadakis said.
