Over the past decade, there has been a rise in the quality offered by the Major League Soccer (MLS) which has both increased popularity of football (soccer) amongst Americans and also made the league an interesting prospect for players within European circuits.
The ten years has seen the arrival of household European stars such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic, David Villa and Bastian Schweinsteiger who have moved to LA Galaxy, New York City FC and Chicago Fire respectively.
While LA Galaxy and Chicago Fire have made MLS Cup final appearances in the past and the duo having won the competition on 12 occasions combined, NYCFC had to wait till 2021 for a maiden final appearance.
The final was played between hosts Portland Timbers and NYCFC at Providence Park where the visitors emerged victorious in a penalty shootout following a 1-1 stalemate in normal time.
After a few years of consistent performances in the Eastern Conference under current Crystal Palace manager Patrick Viera, the victory capped a bright period for the club owned by the City Football Group with the latter witnessing another of its teams lifting silverware.
As fans welcomed the team back to the Yankee Stadium for the first home game of the new MLS season against Montreal, a few supporters unveiled a banner celebrating the team’s triumph last season. However, the banner has failed to impress fans of the club and those across the world for its sub-standard quality and small size.
Needless to say, Twitter has hilariously reacted to the poor craftsmanship of the banner.
NYCFC’s banner commemorating the 2021 MLS Cup title lmfao pic.twitter.com/E9PuWfNboj
— spreading mls misinformation (@dparks97) March 12, 2022
The banner is not really what was expected. $100 well spent though #NYCFC pic.twitter.com/WJ3yoQBVyt
— Jordan Griffith (@_JordanGriffith) March 12, 2022
Hey, uh, NYCFC I love y’all but despite whatever you’ve heard— uh, yea, size matters. https://t.co/B9nfqsq2TI
— Christine Cupo (@CCupo) March 13, 2022
New York City FC: “Can we get a championship banner in Yankee Stadium?”
— Ben Verlander (@BenVerlander) March 12, 2022
Yankees: “Sure”
NYCFC: “A big one”
Yankees: “……..”
pic.twitter.com/wdjzar0DME
#CFA upgrade poster is larger than @NYCFC banner 😂 #atlutd pic.twitter.com/sNEVMGJVu8
— Hug A Tree 🌲 (@chicadelatlutd) March 13, 2022
It is clear that the banner was perhaps a last-minute creation for the game but at the same time, it did look to have been made in good faith, as the fans were spotted cheering their team proudly with great energy.
Perhaps next time MLS fans should take a look at BVB Dortmund’s Westfalenstadion for some inspiration as it boasts one of the best collections of banners and tifos.
