This Thanksgiving, the New York Red Bulls are thankful for the dedicated supporters that make this club what it is. This series will call attention to three aspects in particular that help shape the unique identity of this fanbase that has been through thick and thin, hot and cold all for the team.
The team proved it once, twice, three times against NYCFC: the Red Bulls are kings of New York. And that’s just as true off the field.
The Red Bulls’ faithful fans made the sweet sweep even sweeter. In person, the sellout traveling contingent of 1,500 Red Bulls fans constituted the largest one in MLS history; on Twitter, the #NYisRED hashtag exploded. (The hashtag, the fans’ celebration of both the team’s accomplishments and their pride in taking part, also stuck beyond the derby. The fans made sure it stayed true as they kept a close – and very vocal – watch on the Eastern Conference climb and the push through the playoffs as they turned Red as well.) Both home games versus NYCFC featured unbelievable tifos – “20 Years Late and a Stadium Short: Man City Lite” and “City Retirement Home” – that the South Ward always spends so much time planning and executing. When the tifos went down, the voices came out: 270 minutes of nonstop chanting, singing, and a whole lot of celebrating. And, because faithfulness means not just loyalty but also belief – in the team, with the unwavering belief that they would take that game – they came prepared with a “3 Games, 9 Points #NYisRED” banner to hang before the final derby whistle.
That supporter-created atmosphere is what makes a rivalry what it is, and Dax McCarty took note of the fans making the inaugural Hudson River Derby “that loud, that vibrant, that electric.” “It felt like MLS Cup to be honest,” he added. “It was unbelievable, it truly was. …We had to win this game for the fans.”
And the crowd went wild.
But the fans still had plenty of energy leftover to also make sure the “DC Hate” was indeed “20 Years and counting,” from the rousing around the three regular season matches to the 600+ fans that made the trip to RFK Stadium for the Eastern Conference semifinal with only three days to plan for it. They probably would have with even just one. And at this derby match on August 20, Twist and Shout rung through the stands so loudly the TV broadcast picked it up and continued through the players’ postgame celebration.
And if all this doesn’t prove enough just how deeply this color runs, #REDTogether will. It’s togetherness, a give-and-take from the irreplaceable love and energy the fans bring – or try to bring even when it snows – that makes a team into a community; the team plays for the fans and, in return, the fans “will be singing a song.”
So in that song, in chant, on Twitter, in TIFOS, in numbers: it’s thanks to the fans that the Big Apple has been, and will always stay, “Red to the Core.”
