"New York City FC have no current plan in place to change this affiliation." - New York City FC

A rumor surfaced this morning through @NYCFCWatch "from a source close to the situation," that New York City FC "are working very hard" to bring their second team closer to home and under the NYCFC identity when the current contract expires in January. The report said that "Nothing is set in stone but as of today NYCFC are making this a major goal for the upcoming season." 

In January of this year, NYCFC signed a one year contract with the Wilmington Hammerheads FC who compete in the American Division of the USL Professional Division. Based in North Carolina, the Hammerheads are a successful club who have defeated MLS franchises during the U.S. Open Cup in 2003 and 2009 and have qualified for the USL PRO playoffs in 13 of their 18 seasons as a club, including in 2014. The deal with NYCFC allows the free exchange of players as demonstrated when five NYCFC players gained experience with the team this past April when they were loaned for a 3-0 victory over the Red Bulls II.

It takes time to create professional partnerships and a lot of work went into the creation of the current relationship, which by all reports remains excellent. We have been working on this affiliation for a long time now; it was a very important decision for New York City FC. Claudio Reyna, said at the time of the agreement.

This writer reached out to the club this morning who responded about the possible shift in strategy. "We are currently happy with the affiliation that we have with the Wilmington Hammerheads. We have a strong relationship that allows some of our younger players to benefit from valuable first team experience and to continue their progression at a great club that shares our playing philosophy. New York City FC have no current plan in place to change this affiliation."

With the frenetic pace and demands of a first year club, top of the list being securing a soccer specific stadium within the five boroughs and fan expansion/retention, do we really think that a major goal of the off season is to develop another team from scratch, just so the brand can move into the local academy structure?

Don't get me wrong, yours truly believes in a robust local academy system. It’s all well and good to import designated players to increase awareness and the level of play, but all top-tier teams need to have a feeder system to bring talent up through the ranks in the philosophy of the club so that once they get to the club they are well versed in the style of play and what is expected of them as a player. And those teams should be local. They create awareness, they help create a local fan base of youth who want to grow up and play for the parent team and they create talent that go on to higher levels of play and generally raise the quality of the sport we love. But those systems take time and there are currently bigger issues where the club's focus is better spent. 

Now, if we could just get that stadium...

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About the author
John Harbour
John lives in New York with his wife and is the author of articles, short fiction, and novels. NYCFC founding member and lover of all things soccer, His column The Man in Seat 9 covers New York City FC for VAVEL USA from a definitely biased viewpoint. His opinions are his own.