Rivalries between teams have always been a big part of any sport. The passion, emotions and history make up for the biggest games, and everything that goes off the field in the hearts and minds of fans, players and coaches adds a whole new dimension to the meeting between the two sides competing on the pitch.
Major League Soccer is no different, and being the fastest-growing major sport in the country, heated battles in MLS clubs are becoming part of the leagues history. The New York Metropolitan area has one of the biggest and most fascinating MLS rivalries to date. And although it is relatively young, the history between the Red side New York Red Bulls and Sky Blue NYCFC is one of the most interesting fights in Major League Soccer – The Hudson River Derby.
The New York Metropolitan area has a long history of top-flight soccer in the US, including the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League, and the NY/NJ MetroStars which were established in 1994 and began to play in 1996 in the MLS inaugural season. Austrian energy-drink giant Red Bull purchased the franchise in 2006 and renamed the team to be the New York Red Bulls.
In 2010 the Red Bulls signed French national, now MLS Montreal Impact head coach, Thierry Henry who transferred from Barcelona FC, and marked the beginning of the Red Bulls becoming one of the dominant teams in the Major League Soccer’s Eastern Conference. Since 2010 they finished top of the Eastern Conference table five times in a row, and previously in 2008 they appeared in the MLS Cup.
In 2015 the international City Football Group, owner of English Premier League Manchester City and other teams around the world have set foot in New York, and New York City Football Club played its inaugural season as the 20th franchise in Major League Soccer – NYCFC. The club came with deep pockets, and signed international soccer superstars like David Villa, Frank Lampard and Andrea Pirlo. And then, there were two…
The first-ever match between the two sides, dubbed the Hudson River Derby, or New York Derby, took place in May, 2015 at Red Bull Arena, where the Red Bulls won 2-1 in front of 25,217 fans. Fast forward 15 games, and the last Hudson River Derby to date was played in August, 2019 in NYCFC’s Yankee Stadium. Where the hosts, this time in sky blue won at the same score of 2-1 in front of 28,895 fans.
And what happened in-between? Of the 16 games between the two New York sides, 9 were won by the Red Bulls, 5 by NYCFC and the two sides produced 2 ties. The largest attendance was on the second Hudson River Derby in June 2015 in front of a crowd of 48,047 in Yankee Stadium. The biggest defeat to NYCFC was 0-7 at home (ouch!) in May 2016.
The top scorer of the Hudson River Derby is Bradley Wright-Phillips with 12 goals. Phillips, who played for the New York Red Bulls for seven seasons between 2013 and 2019 registered 195 appearances and scored 108 goals for the club before transferring to MLS Western Conference LA Galaxy on February 2020. Another interesting fact about Phillips is that he started his professional soccer career at English Premier Club Manchester City, NYCFC’s big-brother club.
