New Year’s Day means it’s now the year of the Red Bulls’ 2016 season. And as with the arrival of a new season, New Year’s Day also means reflecting on the previous year and setting goals – or resolutions – for the one just beginning. Therefore, with the first kickoff just over three months away, here are three Red Bulls resolutions for the MLS “New Year” – whether they’re on your resolutions list for the first or twenty-first time.
Browse the BULLevard
Getting to the seats early means not missing any 7-second strikes, but getting to the Arena early means not missing any of what the BULLevard has to offer. For an entire three hours leading up to the game, the area surrounding Red Bull Arena is packed with activities for all ages. Regularly, there’s Race the Red Bulls in a dribbling course, Street Team freestyle performances and demos, opportunities to play 3v3 soccer or FIFA versus friends, and a customized photo booth. On Supporters’ Day last season, there was also a live band in the biergarten.
And the Supporters’ Shield also made an appearance to greet the fans after the team brought it home in October.
Between the weekly activities and the unique interactions, like with the Shield, the BULLevard makes the match into that much more of an experience. And because it closes 30 minutes before kickoff, there’s plenty of time to enjoy the whole experience without missing any goals.
Hit The Road
Red Bull Arena might be the Red Bulls’ favorite stadium in which to play, but it’s not the only place they do. The Red Bulls played in 17 away matches last year, and a traveling contingency of fans was there at every single one.
Pat Glodkowski has been one of them, having watched the team play in Philly, D.C., and Columbus. He goes “because supporting your team on the road is as if not more important than at home, where they have the comforts of familiar surrounding. It’s a great time to hang out, meet new people, and just enjoy the experience.”
“It gives you a chance to…give your boys the push they need. I feel like bringing a little home field advantage is up to us,” says Monica Rita. “And the team responds.”
They certainly do. Overall, the Red Bulls were 6-7-4 in away matches in 2015, for the joint-lowest away loss percentage in the league (41%). Fans who made away trips last year were also rewarded with 27 away goals, the most of any team in the league, as well as the most possession (52.37%), the 4th most amount of shots (158), and the 3rd-highest shot conversion rate (17.09%). Away matches were also where Luis Robles’ spectacular double save against Portland took place, where the team got to raise the Supporters’ Shield after a dramatic first win at Toyota Park, and where Matt Miazga got to do his famed baseball-style celebration.
The closest away matches are those against NYCFC, D.C. United, and the Philadelphia Union. With two of those as rival teams, it always makes for an exciting trip. Last season, the Red Bulls took that leg of the Hudson River Derby 3-1, won 3-1 against Philadelphia as well, and tied D.C. during the regular season and beat them 1-0 in the postseason. The full 2016 schedule, with this season’s dates for these clashes, will be released soon.
But whether the distance to the away matches is small or large, the fans feel the reward is almost always the latter. An away day means the chance to explore a new city, get closer to other fans, dance under a disco ball on a 10-hour bus ride to Columbus, and, of course, support the team.
“What makes the trip worth it is the overall experience,” Andrew Timoni says. “Obviously a win by the team is [just] the cherry on top.”
See the New York Red Bulls II
2015 was the inaugural season for the New York Red Bulls’ USL franchise, New York Red Bulls II, and it was a good one: a strong season run that took them all the way to the Eastern Conference Semifinals. This strength and success of NYRBII means an exciting future for the first team – but it’s also something to be enjoyed in the present.
Red bulls II “allows fans to be up close and personal with some of the academy’s prized prospects,” according to match attendee Josh Gabriel. “It’s really cool to have a second team to watch all these up and coming players.”
They’re up and coming fast. One of the first team’s newest signings, Homegrown player Derrick Etienne, played with Red Bulls II just last summer. Anatole Abang, who saw 392 minutes for the first team in 2015, scored the first goal in RBII history on an assist from another player who featured for the first team, Sean Davis. And in the playoff match against Pittsburgh, Juancarlos Aponte remembers “[Karl] Ouimette put[ting] the team on his back in extra time, scoring twice to get the win.”
Attending Red Bulls II matches means getting to watch these and every other player on the team grow, achieve, and advance. But don’t forget to bring your shades to the game, because #TheFutureIsBright.
