Max Murray is now a full-fledged member of the New York City FC squad for 2025 as the club just announced the center-back signed his first professional contract.
NYCFC selected Murray with the 17th pick of the 2025 MLS SuperDraft held on December 20, 2024, with the team trading up from the 24th pick in the First Round to pick the University of Vermont defender.
Murray is a 22-year-old Kennebunkport, Maine native who finished his college soccer career by helping Vermont win the school's first-ever national championship in soccer. He'd spent the entirety of preseason in training with New York City and played in two of the team's Coachella Valley Invitational matches, starting in the central defense in the loss against St. Louis City SC.
Center-back is a position of some intrigue as the 2025 MLS regular season begins because the team's captain and regular right-center-back starter, Thiago Martins, dealt with an injury all preseason and was ruled out of the season-opening match against Inter Miami CF by Head Coach Pascal Jansen. Also ruled out of that opener vs. Miami is Tayvon Gray, usually a right-back but also someone who has seen minutes at center-back when necessary.
Murray joins recent Homegrown signing Prince Amponsah as other new center-backs in the mix for New York City in 2025 alongside the team's returning veterans Thiago Martins, Birk Risa, and Strahinja Tanasijević.
The rookie defender might be behind the more veteran players on the team's season-opening depth chart, but Murray will be trying to emulate the last player NYCFC selected in the First Round of the MLS SuperDraft, Malachi Jones, who signed his first pro contract in January 2024 and made his MLS debut on Matchday 5 of last season.
Playing for NYCFC isn't Murray's first experience with local New York-area soccer, as the defender also spent time playing with FC Motown STA in USL League Two, scoring five goals in 10 regular season games for the Morristown, New Jersey team. Now Murray will look to debut for one of the area's professional teams, continuing an impressive personal run of accomplishments, from winning a college title to signing a first professional contract.
You can read New York City FC's full release announcing Murray's signing below.
NEW YORK – February 21, 2025 – New York City FC today announced the signing of defender Max Murray to a first team contract through 2025, with options through 2028.
Murray was selected 17th overall in the first round of the 2025 MLS SuperDraft and took part in the first team preseason in Santa Barbara and at the 2025 Coachella Valley Invitational making three appearances.
“We’re excited to welcome Max to New York City,” Sporting Director David Lee said. “Since the start of preseason, he has demonstrated the signs of potential we saw in him during the draft process and has embraced the opportunities in both training and matches. He has elite physical attributes for a central defender and impressed with his quality on the ball, which will fit our style of play. The transition from college to professional can be challenging. We will support Max through the next stages of his development so we can help maximize his potential and look forward to seeing him make an impact on our roster in the years ahead.”
The Kennebunkport, Maine, native set a program record with 91 career appearances at the University of Vermont, tallying 18 goals and 10 assists. In 2024, the defender helped the Catamounts win their first NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship. Murray earned America East All-Conference First and Second Team honors and made the America East Academic Honor Roll.
“Signing my first professional contract is something I've dreamed about for as long as I can remember and to finally achieve it with New York City FC is really special,” said defender Max Murray. “That said, I know there's still a lot of work to do and I'm ready to put in the effort. This is going to be an exciting season. I can’t wait for the campaign to kick off and to see our fans at Yankee Stadium in a few weeks."
Murray will travel with the 'Boys in Blue’ to Fort Lauderdale ahead of New York City FC’s season opener against Inter Miami CF on Saturday, February 22, at 7:30pm ET.
