Now in its 10th year, the Hudson River Derby isn't the glitzy affair that MLS had in mind, but fans of both clubs have kept rivalry alive
The waitress hadn't even heard of Major League Soccer.
GOAL called a run-of-the-mill sports bar in midtown Manhattan, asked if they were planning on showing the Hudson River Derby – long hailed as a flagship event in the MLS calendar – this weekend. The response?
"What's MLS?"
It was perhaps a microcosm of where the matchup between NYCFC and New York Red Bulls stands in the city's sports landscape. To fans of the clubs, what started as a forced campaign has developed into a friendly sort of animosity. Players are starting to embrace it. But outside of the immediate American soccer sphere, it hasn't really made a splash, failing to penetrate a crowded New York and New Jersey sports market that features over 20 professional teams – never mind the wider soccer consciousness.
But for those involved, it remains a date on the calendar to circle, the kind of game that can define a season – no matter how a campaign concludes.
"There is definitely a rivalry that is not manufactured. Like some people have actually picked up the torch and gone 'You know what? We are fighting for bragging rights in New York'," Victor Arroyo of the Red Bulls' Empire Supporters Club said.
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Context is everything here. When the New York Derby – as it was first dubbed – started, it all felt a bit forced. New York Red Bulls were one of the first teams in MLS, and already had stronger rivals in D.C. United.
"We've been around since the league started. We were the Metro Stars, we represented the New York, New Jersey metro area. Our biggest rival, and some fans will still agree, is actually D.C. United," Arroyo said.
That much is still clear today. The Red Bulls have three officially recognized Supporters' Groups. Many of them still break out anti-D.C. songs, even when the New Jersey-based side aren't playing against their rivals to the south.
There wasn't another team to hate, never mind an upstart that had no real history in the landscape of the league. But MLS pushed it all the same. In a way, it needed a New York clash. It's ubiquitous in every American sports, the idea of two teams in the tristate area that hate each other.
"To introduce NYCFC and initially ponder them up as, 'Hey, this is going to be your rival,' which was kind of the sentiment in the very beginning, there was a lot of pushback," Arroyo said.
At first, the animosity worked out. Red Bulls fans resented the fact that NYCFC were expensive transplants who relied on support from Yankee Enterprises and played their home soccer at Yankee Stadium. NYCFC fans often retorted with the fact that the New York Red Bulls do not, in fact, play in New York.
"The banter you hear, from some of our chants for New Jersey is sh*tting on New Jersey," Danny Chediak, VP of NYCFC's Third Rail Supporters' Group said. "From our end, it's very much us talking down. From their end, I don't think they really care."
Arroyo insisted that it's a tired rhetoric.
"I laugh it off. It definitely pisses a lot of people off. Every once in a while, it'll get under my skin too. I get it. We play in New Jersey, but we're not a New Jersey team. We encompass all of New York, which is one of the things that we're proud of," Arroyo said.
Advertisement'This game has always been the game to watch'
NYCFC, then, were willing to embrace the rivalry more so than their neighbors across the river at first. A new club with big-name signings, they needed a big game to latch onto.
"Every year since Year one, this game has always been the game to watch, no matter how good or bad either team is at any given moment," Chediak said. "For some reason, this ends up being the most intense game, the one that everybody gives a crap about."
The new faces had little to be excited about early on. The first fixture between the two sides ended in a 2-1 win for the Red Bulls, Bradley Wright-Phillips bagging the winner in front of a packed Red Bull Arena. They would go on to win the next three, a run capped off by a 7-0 victory over NYCFC at Yankee Stadium – a game known in Red Bull lore as "The Red Wedding" in a nod to Game of Thrones.
"We gave them a 7-0 spanking at their own house, which we loved. We had our own players making fun of them playing at a baseball stadium doing their goal celebrations," Arroyo said.
Over time, NYCFC found a foothold in the derby. Their fortunes were bolstered by the improvement of the team at large, David Villa leading the line to two straight MLS best XI appearances, and the 2016 MVP award. His first MLS hat-trick came against the Red Bulls, the Spaniard scoring all three in a 3-2 win in August 2017.
Getty'The derby exists independently'
But Villa's departure, along with the decline of the Red Bulls, and relative lack of star power on both sides, saw the game decline in viewership. What was once the high-profile matchup that featured Villa, Andrea Pirlo and Wright-Phillips was now an intriguing contest between two teams with little wider appeal.
So, the fans took over. In 2019, supporters from both teams came together to form a 501(c) to raise money for a trophy to be presented to the winner of every annual series between the two teams. The result was a three-foot, three-inch design that mimicked the torch of the Statue of Liberty. It was presented for the first time in 2023.
"The derby exists independently. And I'm thankful that it does, because a big portion of why we created the charity, because we wanted to trademark it and to make sure that [MLS] wasn't able to make money off of just the namesake or whatever," Chediak said. "It's a push to make sure that they're our clubs, as well as the league."
Make no mistake. These fans still dislike each other. But the trophy has brought about a strange togetherness in it all. And as long as this whole thing stops with words, then any sort of antagonism is just fine.
"We can be mad at each other. I can say 'f*ck the Red Bulls', then can say 'f*ck you City' as much as they want. Let it stay at words, and I don't give a sh*t. You could be animated about it, but if it stays without violence, that's fine," Chediak said.
IMAGN'That was a sensational game'
More recently, though, the game has been somewhat renewed – if only because the fixtures have had some weight. Last season might have been pivotal. The Red Bulls endured a rocky campaign, and after being thoroughly beaten by their rivals on Sept. 28, were within touching distance of failing to make the playoffs.
But they nudged their way into the conference semifinals after beating the Columbus Crew on penalties in the opening round. It all led to a matchup with an Eastern Conference Final spot on the line at Citi Field. And despite it being a NYCFC home game, the stadium was a sea of red. NYCFC fan groups. were fuming. The Red Bulls, meanwhile, were buzzing.
And that was clear on the pitch. NYCFC outshot the Red Bulls 25-9, had 71 percent of possession, and lost, 2-0. Red Bulls midfielder Daniel Edelman, an academy product, felt the energy of the game.
"That was a sensational game. We stepped up. I think we really defended for our lives in moments of that game, and really just put everything on the line," Edelman said.
Red Bulls fans, too, enjoyed it immensely.
"That was our turning point, taking over that stadium and that field, hearing how their supporters – which I felt bad for – turning on themselves and saying 'hey we sucked.' That was pretty fantastic," Arroyo said.