A setback for Brooklyn FC as the USL club has announced a delayed debut for its men's team in the USL Championship.
We were the first to report in March that the Brooklyn FC men would be joining the USL Championship for the 2025 season, but that debut has now officially been pushed off to the 2026 season, the club announced today.
The on-field launch of our men’s team will be postponed to the 2026 USL Championship season. This change will set the club up for success while moving forward with key appointments, men’s tryouts, and player signings.
— Brooklyn Football Club (@_BrooklynFC) December 6, 2024
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The Brooklyn men's team has to date announced no hires – no head coach, no top soccer executive – nor any First Team player signings, and the next USL Championship season is scheduled to start in March 2025. Time was not on Brooklyn's side to build a 2025 team, and the delay to 2026 buys the club more time, with their statement announcing the decision admitting as much.
Daniel Hall, the CEO of Club Underdog, the ownership group that oversees BKFC and a handful of other international lower-division clubs, was quoted in the release about the men's team as saying, "Postponing the men’s launch allows us to ensure that our players, fans, and partners receive the world-class experience they deserve while also amplifying the momentum of our women’s team as they chase glory this season. Many clubs take years to build what Brooklyn FC is accomplishing on an expedited timeline, and this extra time ensures we can deliver excellence from day one."
It seemed like Brooklyn might start ramping up the build of its men's team this fall, but that hasn't materialized. American soccer insider Tom Bogert reported on October 29 that Carlos Llamosa, longtime assistant coach for Gio Savarese, was receiving interest from Brooklyn FC for the men's head coach role.
That report didn't turn into a hire for BKFC, and the wait has also continued for Brooklyn to unveil its top soccer executive. In a November 2023 interview with HRB, Brooklyn FC co-owner Matt Rizzetta said the Brooklyn franchise had identified and recruited a General Manager with Premier League experience. Over one year later, that GM still has not been unveiled by BKFC.
The team has a CEO, Maximilian Mansfield, but thus far it has remained a limited sporting operation, and delaying joining the USL Championship until 2026 is meant to help Brooklyn rectify that.
Andrew Leigh
It's been a bumpy ride of late for Brooklyn FC, at least off the field. The BKFC women's team has been undeniably great on the field in the inaugural season of the USL Super League. They're winners of four straight, are picking up 1.91 points per match through 12 played, and sit at the top of the eight-team table as the league's prolonged winter break approaches.
The Brooklyn women's team has played well, but they've also not played any games in the borough of Brooklyn. A botched installation of an artificial turf soccer surface at Maimonides Park forced BKFC to first postpone the competitive home debut of the women's team scheduled for August 31, then to shift their entire slate of 2024 home USL Super League matches to upper Manhattan, specifically at Columbia University's Rocco B. Commisso Soccer Stadium in Inwood.
Brooklyn FC also had to work through "bureaucratic issues" that delayed the arrival of the team's choice for Head Coach of the USL Super League squad, Jessica Silva. Silva didn't take charge along the touchline until the team's September 25 match vs. Dallas Trinity, BKFC's third match of the season.
The coaching delay was resolved, and the team also insists the Maimonides Park turf issues will be resolved and the Spring portion of the USL Super League schedule will feature home matches played in Brooklyn at the Coney Island baseball stadium.
Today's announcement about the delayed men's team launch means those women's matches will now be the only ones any Brooklyn FC team plays during the year 2025.
Andrew Leigh
