The Hudson River Derby between the New York Red Bulls and New York F.C. offers several intriguing plot lines, including a sharp contrast in stadiums.
The Hudson River Derby features two teams in remarkably different stadium situations. New York F.C. plays its games at Yankee Stadium, where it has found some success despite several problems, including a narrow pitch.
Looking for a stadium that is more conducive to the MLS, New York F.C. has been searching for a new stadium site throughout the city, having previously been connected to proposals in locations such as Manhattan, Flushing Meadows, Queens, the Bronx, and Columbia University. Despite the wide search and the solid fan base the team has built, club officials said recently that there is no news on their search.
The Red Bulls, meanwhile, play across the Hudson River at Red Bull Arena, a soccer-specific stadium that opened in 2010. Red Bull Arena has hosted two of the five matchups between the Red Bulls and New York F.C. since last year, with the Red Bulls winning both. New York F.C. won the most recent battle between the two teams, which was played at Yankee Stadium on July 3.
Though the Red Bulls are 2-1 overall at Yankee Stadium, their players will concede that playing at Yankee Stadium presents certain challenges. More from Metro.com:
It’s better for us because playing in Yankee Stadium is very complicated. They are a very good team that likes to play with the ball so they’re going to have more space to play with it so it’s good for them to so we have to be prepared,” Red Bulls central defender Aurélien Collin said.
“But you know, being home and playing [with] a full stadium, we’re going to have all the fans behind us. It’s going to be amazing.”
It has been said can that New York F.C. can leverage some of Yankee Stadium’s quirks to create a certain home field advantage. That seems to be on the minds of other teams in the league, no matter how capably they perform in the Bronx.