Open question: how many chances does a new NYC sports franchise get before one can write them off?
We shrugged it off when NYCFC said they would play in a baseball stadium. We rolled our eyes when their jerseys looked just like Manchester City's. But Wednesday's news that star signing Frank Lampard is staying at Manchester City and will miss the start of the inaugural NYCFC season? It's been enough to trigger a fan revolt two months before the team first takes the field.
We've gone down a weirdly complicated path to get here, so bear with us. On July 24th, NYCFC held a press conference that Frank Lampard was at, announcing they had "signed" Frank Lampard to a contract starting August 1st. (More on those quote marks in a bit.) They issued a press release, with quotes from Lampard like "It is a privilege to be able to help make history here in New York City—I just can’t wait to get started and be part of it." Photo ops were held. T-shirts were immediately made available. Billboards went up with Lampard's face, advertising season tickets.
Happier times in NYCFC-land. (photo via NYCFC)
Since the "signing" was in late July, and NYCFC wouldn't take the field until March, it made sense to send Lampard out on loan to stay fit. Two weeks later, out came the announcement: Lampard was joining "sister club" Manchester City. In hindsight, perhaps we should've noticed that the word "loan" was absent from that announcement. Still: NYCFC officials kept insisting Lampard would return to NYC in time for the MLS preseason in January.
Lampard, who is still a very good player, became a strong contributor off the bench for Manchester City: seven goals in eighteen appearances, including yesterday's game winner over Sunderland. His performance started a constant drumbeat of praise from Manchester City coach Manuel Pellegrini about how great he is. That praise morphed into tempered musings about how it was possible to extend the loan, which then twisted into open lobbying to extend his stay. Lampard remained tight lipped as Pellegrini started making weird claims, like that NYCFC wouldn't be upset if he stayed longer.
The club in the Bronx, meanwhile, said little. Head coach Jason Kreis said there was "no truth to the rumor" the loan would be extended, and Claudio Reyna told media the club expected him in time for pre-season. Fans started noticing little things, like Lampard being included less and less in marketing materials, and his salary information not included in the MLS Player Union's regular data dumps. Even Comissioner Don Garber, a man rarely afraid to speak about player contract status, refused to intervene.
The announcement that Lampard's stay was being extended through the end of the European season (depending on MCFC's performance, that's either late May or early June) was spiked at 3:30 PM ET on New Year's Eve. (It was also only released on the club's website: no email, no conference call with club officials, nor any other media outreach has been offered as of Friday morning.)
But wait: why does the announcement refer to his "contract with Manchester City"?
As we've now learned thanks to both SI's Grant Wahl and the BBC's David Ornstein, Frank Lampard's contract is with Manchester City, not with NYCFC. It was not a "loan" that was extended, but a pre-inserted "break" clause in his contract being removed. Has he ever actually been registered as an MLS player? We can't be sure. What was the "contract" he "signed" back in July? We don't know.
NYCFC may well end up performing on the field without Lampard. Not having him till mid-year (if at all) shouldn't destroy Kreis' game plan. But the news has crippled perceptions of both the club and the league that had hoped it would be a cornerstone.
"Farm team" wrote Vice. "A joke of NY soccer expansion" declared Capital NY. "A lack of regard for NYC fans" from SI's perspective. SB Nation considered whether they were "Chivas USA Jr.", in comparison to the recent contracted abomination of an MLS franchise in Los Angeles.
The conflict with NYCFC's aspirations and its actual place in the sporting world may be impossible to reconcile. New Yorkers want to support teams that are capable of being the best in the world (even if they frequently aren't). Soccer's global center lives in Europe, so NYCFC - and MLS - was always going to have an uphill climb to prove itself. Being under the umbrella of a global club brand like Manchester City can certainly have benefits, but all local fans have to grasp for now is that the "sister club" "stole" their star player.
Those fans have lashed out, largely on social media. NYCFC blithely tweeted out news of Lampard's game winner Thursday, and the replies went about as poorly as they could. And the Third Rail SC, the club's only recognized Supporter's Group, denounced Lampard and City Football Group in a statement:
Many fans, including our members, decided to support the team, committed to season tickets, and bought merchandise under the impression that Frank Lampard would be playing for New York City Football Club, not Manchester City. Many of those fans are rightly outraged by this decision, and we support any course of action they take to voice their discontent over this decision.
Our support for our ownership group has been unwavering until now, but this we cannot support. We reject out of hand any suggestion that NYCFC is in any way secondary to Manchester City FC, regardless of the source, and are disappointed that City Football Group would give such an appearance.
Will Lampard face the same sort of treatment that David Beckham famously did as his MLS career started poorly? Hard to tell - Pellegrini is already hinting about Lampard staying beyond this season.
New York City FC kicks off their inaugural season on Sunday, March 8th on the road at this year's other new MLS club, Orlando City. They open at home at Yankee Stadium on March 15th against the New England Revolution.
