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NYCFC announce partnership with Wilmington Hammerheads

NYCFCWilmingtonHammerheads1 (NYCFC)

By DAN KARELL

As New York City FC gets their inaugural MLS season underway, they’ll be sending some of their young stars down to Wilmington, North Carolina, for extra seasoning.

NYCFC announced on Friday that they have agreed to a one-year partnership with the Wilmington Hammerheads of USL Pro. The agreement will allow coaches from both teams to attend and observe training sessions, and NYCFC will likely loan players to Wilmington this season.

“We are proud to announce our affiliation with Wilmington Hammerheads,” NYCFC sporting director Claudio Reyna said in a statement. “We have the opportunity here to develop a strong partnership for the mutual benefit of both clubs, including sharing technical and soccer experience.”

The Hammerheads partnered with Toronto FC last season, but Toronto is launching its own USL Pro side this year.

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What do you think of this news? Do you see NYCFC starting their own USL Pro team next year?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. as we all know, mls requires all teams to either field a usl pro team or partner
    with an existing team. This could be viewed as a temporary measure, just to meet league
    requirements. I think they’ll probably want their own usl pro team in the future.
    Just taking things one step at a time is my guess here.

    Reply
    • I think you got it right. They probably need a full season of their own before jumping into full second team. We all know they have the cash to make it happen.

      Reply
      • “pretty much a joke”

        Not really. More “a collection of jokes along with smart moves.” The stadium, logo, Lampard, etc. are all jokes. But consider that they have one of the best coaches in the league (possibly; this remains to be proven) and a solid roster (with or without Frank).

      • Not sure I’d go that far although I like Villa and Kreis. What will be truly hilarious is when they move to Westchester and still insist they are the true NYC team.

      • Not go that far regarding Kreis or the roster? or both? If either of the latter, then where do you see the holes in the roster (that are worse holes than every other MLS roster)?

        What I think will be truly hilarious is when they move to Westchester, dominate the East, and still insist they are the true NYC team 😉

  2. The list of potential NYCFC jokes grows ever larger. I want to want this team to fail, but I still hope it is wildly successful for three reasons:

    Kreis
    Diskerud
    Villa

    I like those guys.

    Reply
  3. Question: is NY still planning on acquiring players from Manchester?

    I couldce sworn they said they were planning on doing that, just haven’t heard any reports.

    Reply
  4. Wilmington Hammerheads are owned by George Altirs, the guy that started and owns Cedar Stars Academy…that bought and merged with Tab’s acdademy. I believe I came across a tryout of sorts in NJ for the Wilmington team. Not sure what this all means but there you go.

    Reply
  5. As an avid supporter of Wilmington Hammerheads! I’m excited to get to see Frank Lampard play in our stadium! Huge win by the Hammers.

    Reply
    • dega,

      In North Carolina they have these things called airplanes. These guys, the Wright brothers, started flying them , in Kitty Hawk NC. After that they just kind of took off.

      They cut down travel time.

      Reply

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