Queens is getting another team to root for.<\/p>\n
Gotham FC, the two-time reigning champion of the National Women\u2019s Soccer League, will depart New Jersey and make Etihad Park in Willets Point its permanent home starting in 2028, the club announced July 7.<\/p>\n
The stadium, also the home of the New York City FC, is set to open in 2027. It will be the city\u2019s first soccer-specific stadium, and the country\u2019s first all-electric outdoor sports venue.<\/p>\n
The move marks a defining moment in Gotham FC\u2019s evolution, the club said in a press release, giving one of the world\u2019s leading women\u2019s clubs a matchday environment that reflects its ambitions and provides supporters with a world-class experience.<\/p>\n
Mayor Mamdani, Gov. Hochul, Borough President Donovan Richards Jr., soccer executives and players gathered at City Hall to celebrate the announcement.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom Sam Kerr\u2019s legendary four-goal comeback to Midge Purce\u2019s championship-clinching heroics, Gotham FC has given us some of the greatest moments in women\u2019s soccer,\u201d Mamdani said in a statement. \u201cNow the next electrifying chapter of that story will be written in New York City.\u201d<\/p>\n
He continued, \u201cBringing Gotham FC to Queens means that the young girl kicking a ball around Jackson Heights, Jamaica or the South Bronx will be able to take the train and watch some of the best players in the world in her own city. It means more customers for neighborhood restaurants, more visitors filling our hotels and, most importantly, a permanent home for world-class women\u2019s soccer in the greatest city in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hochul said the state is home to some of the world\u2019s greatest sports teams, and now Gotham FC will join its ranks.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow residents and visitors alike will be able to experience our premier women\u2019s soccer team right here in New York City at our first-ever soccer specific stadium \u2014 giving players and fans the world-class experience they deserve,\u201d Hochul said.<\/p>\n
Carolyn Tisch Blodgett, the governor of Gotham FC, said the team\u2019s ambition is bigger than championships.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are building one of the world\u2019s most iconic clubs and helping define the future of women\u2019s sports,\u201d Tisch Blodgett said. \u201cOur move to Etihad Park reflects that ambition, and we are deeply grateful to New York City FC for their vision and commitment to helping make this historic moment possible. World-class athletes deserve world-class environments, and this move allows us to keep raising the standard for our players, supporters and the game itself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brad Sims, the CEO of NYCFC, said the club is thrilled to welcome Gotham FC to Etihad Park.<\/p>\n
\u201cNew York City FC and Gotham FC share a belief in what soccer can mean to this city, and with Gotham FC making their home alongside us in what will be a truly world-class soccer stadium in Queens, we have an extraordinary platform to help shape the future of the game in New York City together,\u201d Sims said. \u201cEtihad Park will be a place where the world\u2019s game comes to life in the world\u2019s city for our players, our supporters, our communities, and the next generation of fans.\u201d<\/p>\n
Richards said, \u201cTo the reigning NWSL champions, welcome home. We couldn\u2019t be prouder to call Gotham FC our newest neighbors here in Queens, as we continue to bring world-class soccer to The World\u2019s Borough and its families who maintain an unmatched passion for the beautiful game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gotham FC will play in the borough on July 15 during The Queens Classic at Citi Field, just across the street from the club\u2019s future home. The team will face the Washington Spirit in a rematch of the NWSL Championship.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Queens is getting another team to root for. Gotham FC, the two-time reigning champion of the National Women\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":291381,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[64112,19202,27809,9,24,19203,63,122,124,123,27660,400,319,24333],"class_list":["post-291380","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-etihad-park","tag-gotham-fc","tag-national-womens-soccer-league","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nwsl","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news","tag-rose-lavelle","tag-soccer","tag-sports","tag-willets-point"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=291380"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291380\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/291381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=291380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=291380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=291380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}