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QUEENS WEEKLY, NOVEMBER 17, 2019
Queens scores a professional men’s soccer franchise
BY BILL PARRY
Queens will soon have its
own professional men’s soccer
team.
The United Soccer
League announced Tuesday
that it awarded a franchise
to the Queensboro Football
Club starting in 2021, when
the team will play in the
USL Championship, the
top tier of the league which
is one level below Major
League Soccer.
“The deep, diverse fanbase
here in Queens has
long desired a professional
soccer team to call our own,”
Queens Borough President
Melinda Katz said. “The creation
of the QBFC is a major
milestone that benefits
this borough of 2.4 million
residents. As we first envisioned
several years ago
on elevating professional
soccer here in Queens, the
QBFC will further cement
the borough’s reputation
and standing as a global destination.
Our families and
communities are thrilled,
for The World’s Game now
has a home in The World’s
Borough.”
One of the international
soccer’s biggest stars,
David Villa, is the lead investor
in Queensboro FC,
which will play most of its
home games at York College
in Jamaica, as well as
a few games at Citi Field.
Villa is a World Cup champion
and all-time leading
Spanish national team
goal scorer who starred
with Barcelona and Real
Madrid at club level before
joining the New York City
Football Club that plays at
Yankee Stadium.
“I lived and played in
New York for four years. I
know what a special place
Queens is,” Villa said. “I
love the cultures, the food,
the people and their passion
for life and, of course,
soccer. There is no other
place like it in the world. It’s
a dream to help build this
football club in Queens, and
I couldn’t choose a better
location.”
The club plans to operate
a youth academy which
Villa will work closely with.
Villa is close friends with
City Councilman Francisco
Moya who has advocated for
a professional soccer team
in the borough for years.
“As a passionate soccer
fan who has also played my
entire life, I know how the
game gives back,” Moya
said. “Soccer teaches so
many great lifelong lessons,
the value of teamwork,
hard work and perseverance,
to name a few. These
are qualities that embody
the Queens community and
having a team of our own is
very exciting.”
QBFC will look to build
its foundation with local talent
and partner with local
businesses and officials to
promote the diverse culture
and identity of the borough.
QBFC’s ownership group is
led by asset manager Jonathan
Krane, founder and
CEO of KraneShares.
“We are excited to bring
a USL Championship club
to Queens,” Krane said.
“Queens has a large, passionate
and knowledgeable
community of soccer supporters
and players from all
over the world and deserves
a club to call its own. We
look forward to working
closely with the community
to establish Queensboro FC
as not just a leading organization
in professional soccer
but also as a proud ambassador
of Queens. Together we
will accomplish great things
on and off the pitch.”
United Soccer League
CEO Alec Papadakis is
thrilled to bring a professional
soccer franchise to
Queens.
“Soccer is second nature
to many who call this
borough home, and with a
strong sense of community
in the most culturally diverse
area in the world, a
USL Championship club in
Queens is the perfect fit,”
Papadakis said.
For Moya, landing
Queensboro FC truly is a
dream come true.
“I can’t remember a time
when I wasn’t dreaming
about a pro football team coming
to Queens. Clearly I’m
not the only one,” Moya said.
“Every patch of grass across
this borough has someone
dribbling a ball across it or
wishing they were. This is
what unites us — there are
over 100 languages spoken
here but we all speak soccer.
It’s the world’s game and
it’s about time it came to the
world’s borough.”
Reach reporter Bill Parry
by e-mail at bparry@schnepsmedia.
com or by phone
at (718) 260–4538.
International soccer star David Villa will be a lead investor in
Queensboro FC, a professional men’s squad that begins play
in 2021. Photo via Wikipedia Commons
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