Welcome back to MLS fellow RBNY fans. I’ve seen some questions around about Philly tomorrow night. I thought I’d give you some answers.

1) Where is the away supporters section?
The top 2 rows of Section 133.

2) How many people are going?
The official number is around 28, which is a lot for a Wednesday game.

3) Can I still buy tickets for the supporters section?
Nope, the deadline has passed. Joining an SG is the best way to get away tickets.

4) Where do I park?
Lot A. It’s $30. There will likely be other Philly fans but no one should give you trouble.

5) Is there a tailgate?
Nope. Nothing planned. BYOB and BYOCheesesteak.

6) What about security?
Security will bring you in at 6:45pm SHARP. You will enter through the River gate. If you are not there at 6:45, go through a regular gate. The river gate will be closed after 6:45. Report any harassment… don’t do anything stupid.

7) How long are we being held?
20 minutes after the final whistle. It’s a Wednesday, so hopefully they’ll have everyone out faster than 20 minutes.

Any other questions, comment and I’ll do my best to answer.

Tips and tricks:

- There are a lot of great local spots in Philly to pick up food on the way. None are in Chester. If not, Wawa.
- The Sons of Ben are very close to the away section. Don’t do anything stupid.
- Philly security is tight. Everyone’s got a dumb story about CSC. Listen to security the first time and be respectful.

A big show! A reallllly big show!

if you’re in those, what are your general impressions? should I join one or the other or both?

Give me all the red and green flags!

Hello everyone!

Going to my first away game and just wanted to know a couple of things

1. What’s the away section? I am going lots of conflicting answers when searching

2. What’s usually the turnout? I see on the Apple TV broadcast that it looks like a lot of people is wondering that’s true

3. Hostile? I’m bringing and kid and some other people have told me the Philly fans are up there with nycfc fans in terms of aggression after a game.

Thanks a lot if anyone can answer these questions! Hope see some of you on wendsday!

NOTE: A lot of the format this is taken from a post I have done before other big events (the Miami game in 2023, MLS cup 2024, etc.). I feel like it's good to throw this out there every once and a while, updated, for anyone who may be joining us this week.

Who are Red Bull New York?

Red Bull New York are a soccer team that operates out of Sports Illustrated Stadium (Red Bull Arena) in Harrison, New Jersey, with a recently opened new training complex in Morris Township.

One of the charter members of Major League Soccer, the club's founding technically dates back to the league's 1994 founding.

The club has won the MLS Supporters Shield for top regular season record three times. They have been an MLS Cup finalist twice, a US Open Cup (the US equivalent of the FA Cup) finalist twice and a CONCACAF Champions League (now CONCACAF Champions Cup, the Champions League of the region) semifinalist once.

Were they always known as Red Bull New York?

They were not. At their founding, the club was known as the New York/New Jersey MetroStars. Throughout the first 10 years of the club's existence, the "New York/New Jersey' part was largely shunted out and the club just known as MetroStars.

In 2006, Red Bull GmbH (indeed, the soda company) purchased the MetroStars and renamed them the New York Red Bulls, beginning an attempt to branch into sporting exploits. Red Bull also owns clubs in Salzburg, Leipzig and Bragantino.

In 2026, the team began to rebrand its social channels and press materials as 'Red Bull New York' but made no official statement on the change, in addition to a slightly updated version of the club crest. It doesn't seem like they're insistent on fully going one way or the other with the name.

RBNY maintains the MetroStars' (mixed) history, though we are unclear on whether they still own the colors and logo.

Does the club have any nicknames?

Generally, the club is referred to as either the Red Bulls, RBNY (short for Red Bull New York, hilariously adopted as the club's hashtag in order to differentiate from the New York Review of Books) or among older school fans as just "Metro," sort of in the way that Everton are the Toffees or Arsenal are the Gunners.

How do you guys feel about being owned by Red Bull?

I don't speak for everyone here but I think most people tend to be ambivalent about it at best. When times are good, the play on the field and good vibes have largely allowed us to kind of ignore the Extremely Modern Football aspect of the club. When times are bad, it's hard not to see the ownership as bloodless and incompetent.

I think a lot of the criticism is couched in "yeah, okay, we're owned by Red Bull... so can we at least be run competently by Red Bull?"

There has, in recent years, been some muttering regarding the club's refusal to advertise to the New York market in itself, ceding the territory to NYCFC, rather seeking out what's often derisively thought of as 'Suburban Jersey Families' which many agree is a huge blunder but that's less a soda problem than an executive problem.

Why do they play in New Jersey?

There's very little room to build things within the five boroughs and if there were, the Giants and Jets would probably be there already.

The other team in the region staked their entire identity on the fact that they would play home games only in New York City and have ended up having to relocate home games to Connecticut, Los Angeles... and our own stadium, including later this season. It will not be until mid-2027 until they get a home of their own.

What is the club's history like?

Here's part of where the Red Bull takeover has seen some popularity, or at least been able to make the fans shrug it off: things on the pitch were not particularly great when we were the MetroStars.

The club missed an extremely hard-to-miss playoff system in three of the first 10 seasons of its existence as MetroStars. For comparison, RBNY have missed the playoffs just three times in 21 seasons as Red Bulls.

The MetroStars never won a trophy. Arguably their best season was 2000, when they finished first in the Eastern Conference, third in the Supporters Shield race and reached the MLS Cup Playoffs semi-finals and US Open Cup semifinals.

But the closest Metro ever came to winning a trophy was when they hosted the 2003 Open Cup Final at Giants Stadium, losing to Chicago Fire.

In the Red Bull era, until about 2019, the club became one of the classes of the league, winning three trophies - the Supporters Shield (winner of the regular season table) in 2013 with Thierry Henry, 2015 under coach Jesse Marsch and 2018 when the team set a then-single season points record.

The 2013-2018 era (which is really more two separate eras, with Henry retiring after 2014 and Marsch taking the head coaching reins in 2015) also saw RBNY make the US Open Cup Final in 2017, the CONCACAF Champions League Semifinal in 2018 and three MLS Cup Playoffs Semifinals.

The club also has both produced and been able to keep internationals on the roster. Except for 2006, every World Cup since the club's inception has featured a current Metro/Red Bull player or an RBNY academy product (shout out to New Zealand backup GK Andrew Boyens in 2010!), including the 2018 tournament that the US didn't qualify for.

While no current RBNY player participated in the 2026 World Cup, academy graduate Derrick Etienne did play for Haiti, along with Tyler Adams. This doesn't count, but the second ever coach of the MetroStars, Carlos Quieroz, was the coach of Ghana.

What has happened since those glory years you mentioned?

During the 2018 season, Marsch bolted for the European adventure that ended with him taking the Canada job in 2024 (If you're a World Cup viewers and you'd like to ask... yeah, he was kinda always like that back then, too).

Marsch left assistant Chris Armas (Premier League viewers may remember him from wearing earbuds as a temporary assistant at Manchester United and Leeds United) in charge. Armas - and sporting director Dennis Hamlett, also a Marsch assistant at one point - allowed the team to atrophy.

While there had been a pretty regular selling of often popular, high-profile players who were headed toward the wrong side of 30, from 2019 to 2023, RBNY largely operated on trying to find young talent and often paying high prices for them.

New York's academy is absolutely something to be proud of. It produced Adams and has littered dozens of players across America's top two divisions in the past decade. You could argue that currently, the team's two best players are young academy grads. But at some point, the club became almost an Under-23 side.

To their credit, the team still continued to make the playoffs under Armas, interim coach Bradley Carnell and controversial manager Gerhard Struber (who coined the phrase that he was coaching a U-23 team), who lasted between two sporting directors, and made the semifinals of the 2022 US Open Cup.

2023 started with one victory in 11 games that led Struber to "part ways" with the club (only to be hired as manager of Red Bull Salzburg and getting fired from that job, too). It was also marred by a scandal after striker Dante Vanzeir was caught uttering an inappropriate word at a referee (his claim), leading to a six game suspension and a home match that saw a mass walkout from the club's supporters groups.

Struber was replaced by his assistant Troy Lesesne, a young South Carolina native who made his "name" as head coach of second-division New Mexico United before joining Struber's staff in 2022. He righted the ship, got the team to the playoffs and won a Wild Card game (the MLS playoffs are long and ever-expanding) before bouncing out and not being retained for 2024.

Lesense was replaced by German Sandro Schwarz, a likable fellow who tried to play with the ball a bit more, with Head of Sport Jochen Schneider bringing RB Leipzig attacking midfielder Emil Forsberg over to join him.

Despite a summer swoon that saw the club win just three of its final 20 matches, the team rebounded in the playoffs, knocking out reigning MLS Cup Champions Columbus, archrivals New York City and Orlando City to make MLS Cup Final for the second time in its history.

In front of 2,300 RBNY supporters who made the trip from New York to LA on six days notice (with the help of the club, who offered tickets and a not insignificant travel voucher to anyone who could just get there), the team lost the final 2-1 to LA Galaxy.

In 2025, Schneider doubled down on Schwarz and more veteran talent, acquiring Cameroon international Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, formerly of PSG, Bayern Munich and of course, Stoke City.

While Choupo-Moting and Forsberg both had excellent seasons (and stayed remarkably healthy for their ages), about halfway through the season, RBNY stopped getting production from anyone else, started leaking goals and eventually missed the playoffs for the first time since 2009.

That's quite a lot, what are things like in 2026?

For the first time in ages, it feels like RBNY have completely gutted the place and started over.

Schneider, who had long become a figure of disdain among the fanbase, resigned due to a family illness and Schwarz was dismissed alongside him. Julian de Guzman, a former Canada international who had spent the previous 18 months as Schneider's number two, was named as replacement.

As for the man to coach this bunch, de Guzman has bet big on American soccer legend (and former MetroStar) Michael Bradley. The ex-US captain's first coaching job was as the manager of Red Bulls 2, the finishing school for the club's young prospects and project players from around the globe.

Bradley led that RB2 team to a championship in MLS NextPro (the league's top development circuit) last season.

The coach graduated two players - Staten Island native Adri Mehmeti and Connecticut native Matty Dos Santos - to join long-touted academy product Julian Hall to form the crux of his new team.

Hall beat out Choupo-Moting to become the team's regular number nine and spent the first half of the season bagging goals for fun, with 12 in 17 games across all comps. Mehmeti has served as the midfield's metronome, with both drawing high praise and calls to tie them to the United States team as soon as possible (Hall could theoretically play for Poland or the US, while Mehmeti could play for Albania).

Bradley has mandated a 4-3-3 that surrounds Hall with wingers Jorge Ruvalcaba (a DP signing from Pumas in Liga MX) and former US international Cade Cowell (a loan signing from Chivas). Forsberg, Mehmeti and Ghanian Ronald Donkor anchor the midfield. The team plays decent passing football that relies heavily on sharp crosses by Cowell or Ruvalcaba to find a streakin Hall, and scores lots of goals.

However, injury to new CB signing Justin Che, bad set piece defending and some poor decisions to play it out of the back by new GK Ethan Horvath has led to a wildly inconsistent defense that has flat out cost the team points in the first half. The club is 5th in the East despite a -7 goal differential. Che returned for the end of the first half, with the defense looking statistically more stout with him around.

While there was a bit of a swoon midway through the first half, the team went unbeaten in its last four - including three victories and a credible derby draw against New York City - that left it in 5th in the East, fully in the mix for home field in the postseason and potentially a Champions Cup berth.

Who are the kinds of people who support Red Bull New York?

There are three significant supporters groups that dedicate themselves to organizing around the club at home and away.

Empire Supporters Club is the original, founded back in 1995 before the team and league technically existed.

Viking Army was founded in 2010 when the team had a heavy Nordic influence and Torcida 96 (Ultras-style, wear all black, etc.) is a more recent addition.

Those groups can get you tickets straight up for the supporters sections - also known as the South Ward, sections 133, 101 and 102 at RBA - and they organize away day trips to every road game, from the Bronx all the way out to Vancouver (as well as the few times RBNY has played outside the US and Canada).

The supporters groups stand and sing together for 90 minutes. If you're going to the match and would like to know what they're singing, here's a handy lyrics guide: https://www.empiresupportersclub.com/songs

There are also a few podcasts devoted to the club.

Seeing Red is the definitive podcast for RBNY fans, as Mark Fishkin (a regular poster on this subreddit) often scores interviews with players, executives and media figures connected to the team. Red Bull Rant is also a long-running show that discusses the club.

Any other content creators with podcasts, please drop them in the comments, I know a couple have started earlier this year!

Some writers to follow covering the team include AM New York's Joe Pantorno, South Ward Central's Sean Hartnett, The New York Post's Christian Arnold, Michael Battista (who posts here and is a great resource on the Open Cup and lower leagues) and Daniel Rebain. The account Mostly Bull NY (another poster in this subreddit) on Twitter is also an invaluable resource for rumors. Again, other content creators and writers, drop your info in the comments!

For historical purposes, MetroFanatic.com is both a wild website to look at in 2026 and a terrific, acidic record of the club dating back to the late 90s. If you get into this team, this will be the rabbit hole that cements your fandom.

At this subreddit, we try to curate everything being written and spoken about the team, which often isn't much. We also run post-match discussion threads (in a format that asks fans to name their three best players of the match) that can be lively.

The club also has an official Discord page. Feel free to ask if you'd like a link.

Sports, if nothing else, is a chance to "Remember Some Guys." Name some guys I might know who played for your club.

The team has employed many famous players who enjoyed great European careers - Roberto Donadoni, Tim Cahill, Lothar Mattheus (not great), Rafa Marquez (reeeeeally not great), Youri Djorkaeff and most successfully, Thierry Henry.

Bradley Wright-Phillips - the son of Ian Wright, brother of (fellow ex-Metro) Shaun - made his name in New York, signing on a tryout contract to eventually becoming the club's best-ever player, shattering its scoring record and becoming the fastest player in MLS history to score 100 goals.

As previously mentioned, there's a very long and proud history of local products either coming through the academy/draft/homegrown process (Tim Howard, Michael Bradley, Jozy Altidore, Juan Agudelo, Matt Miazga, Tyler Adams, John Tolkin) or being brought in from elsewhere to represent their hometown club (Tab Ramos, Tony Meola, Tim Parker, Sean and Dylan Nealis). At one point in 2018, we were capable of fielding a team of entirely players from New York, New Jersey or Connecticut.

The club's reserve team, Red Bulls 2, out of Montclair State University, that is considered finishing school for the club’s academy prospects and often a place where the club tries out young players from South America, Asia and Africa. Tickets to their games are free to all season ticket holders.

Who are some of your current guys to watch out for?

Forsberg's pace has decreased but he can still bang in a set piece.

Much is expected for the money spent out of Jorge Ruvalcaba, who starred for Pumas in Liga MX, as well as Cade Cowell, trying to play his way back from the fringes of the national team in a World Cup year. Justin Che came back from a couple lost years in Europe and appears to be a fine center back.

When he gets on the pitch, even at his "advanced" age, Choupo-Moting is a pleasure to watch on the ball and maintains his good finishing instincts. He is also just an excellent vibes man to have around.

As mentioned, RBNY will lean on young academy talent when it can. A name to keep an eye on in 2026: Adri Mehmeti. The Staten Islander ran the midfield for Bradley's 2025 championship-winning second team.

Who are your rivals?

RBNY's historical rival is DC United which dates back to the earliest years of the league but has cooled quite a bit.

Nowadays, things are a little hotter with New York City and Philadelphia Union, with a minor rivalry against New England Revolution, with the Hudson River Derby always circled on the calendar every year as a massive day.

There is almost always at least one team from outside the general I-95 corridor that tends to be pissed off at us and we reciprocate. It's been Cincinnati, Columbus, Toronto and Atlanta for periods of time.

I read something about a "schedule change" for MLS. What's that about?

There have long been calls from some across the league to line its schedule up more closely with that of Europe, for whom most seasons run from mid-August until mid-May.

MLS has finally committed to doing that next year (you may be thinking "huh, wouldn't the World Cup have been the perfect time to do that?" and yes, we all agree), with a new calendar starting on July 17, 2027 and a season that will last until sometime in May.

Before that, however, to just keep things running, the league will have a "sprint season" that runs from about February until late May. Every team will play 14 matches - 7 home, 7 away - against all 14 of their conference rivals before a full postseason and MLS Cup.

If you get interested enough of in the club to buy a season ticket, please note that they are selling the Sprint Season and the 27-28 season that begins in July together. If you decide to go with a monthly payment plan, it'll run you around $43 a month for 24 home games, plus two free playoff games, two free Open Cup or Leagues Cup games, and some other perks.

Where could I watch the game with other fans on Wednesday?

Empire Supporters Club holds watch parties in Manhattan at Legends/Football Factory and at Celtic Corner in Hawthorne, New Jersey. Midweek games are sometimes less fun that Saturday nights.

Viking Army meets at the Scots Club in Kearny, New Jersey. Torcida are known to gather at Varitage Brew Works in Bloomfield. There are also traditional soccer bars like No One Home in Manhattan.

How can I watch the match if I'm not interested in going to a bar or perhaps not old enough to drink?

Apple's MLS package has rebranded somewhat in 2026. You no longer need a special subscription just to access MLS content. If you are subscribed to Apple TV - if you can watch Severance and Pluribus - you can access the match.

That's all for now. If you have any questions, there's really no harm in asking.

Does anyone have any info about this event? Curious if there will be any celebrities coming

Curious if people have tried out the different premium experiences being offered and what they thought of each. Saw options to be near players tunnel or on pitch during warmup etc. Curious as to what is best for a great experience for the kids

Well, hopefully it brings them more luck than it brought Brazil… 👀🤷🏻‍♂️

Morristown media provided video footage on Instagram of the Argentinian soccer team arriving at the RBNY practice facility ahead of the Sunday World Cup final at MetLife.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Da6BLPDA3ku/?igsh=MXN0cXdmb2FrbjJpNA==

In a perfect world, Dylan Nealis was there to show them all around personally. 😁 #MassapequaMessi

Meanwhile, Spain is using the facility in Hanover that we’re moving out of…😂

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Da252HbuWCC/?igsh=MWh4YXd3eXZ5dzY4eA==