Brooklyn Knights were an American soccer club based in New York City. Founded in 1999, the Knights currently field youth teams in the United Soccer Leagues Super-20 League and Super Y-League. The team also previously field a team in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Mid Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. The Knights decided to cease fielding a team in the PDL in January 2013.
The club plays its home games at the Metropolitan Oval in Maspeth, Queens, where they have played since 2004. Brooklyn's team colors are white and blue.
History The main philosophy of the Brooklyn Knights revolves around that of player development and the belief that it should be fully accomplished by the time an athlete reaches the age of 23. Despite the Knights' strict adherence to the use of players under-23 (the PDL allows up to eight on a roster), the team has qualified for the PDL national playoffs several times during their existence while fielding players as young as 17 to do so.
In 2000, the Knights became a sponsor of youth soccer teams that are overseen by the Metropolitan Oval Foundation, Inc. that include seven teams ranging from Under-11 to Under-18.
The Knights began playing home games at the Metropolitan Oval in 2004 and, after a short hiatus, returned to the stadium in 2010. The complex was constructed in 1925 and continues to be the oldest soccer-only facility in the United States, hosting 15–20 games each week from March to November.
Notable former players This list of notable former players comprises players who went on to play professional soccer after playing for the team in the Premier Development League, or those who previously played professionally before joining the team.
Joseph Afful Knox Cameron Jeff Carroll Edson Elcock Gary Flood Giuseppe Funicello Nicolas Garcia Bill Gaudette Kyle Hoffer Guy-Roland Kpene Chris Megaloudis Gary Sullivan Chris Wingert John Wolyniec Mohammad Mashriqi
Year-by-year (As of July 6, 2012) YearDivisionLeagueRegular seasonPlayoffsOpen Cup19994USL PDL3rd, NortheastDid not qualifyDid not qualify20004USL PDL4th, NortheastDid not qualifyDid not qualify20014USL PDL2nd, NortheastConference SemifinalsDid not qualify20024USL PDL5th, NortheastDid not qualifyDid not qualify20034USL PDL3rd, NortheastDid not qualifyDid not qualify20044USL PDL6th, NortheastDid not qualifyDid not qualify20054USL PDL8th, NortheastDid not qualifyDid not qualify20064USL PDL5th, NortheastDid not qualifyDid not qualify20074USL PDL2nd, NortheastNational SemifinalsDid not qualify20084USL PDL1st, NortheastConference Finals1st Round20094USL PDL4th, NortheastDid not qualifyDid not qualify20104USL PDL8th, NortheastDid not qualifyDid not qualify20114USL PDL9th, Mid AtlanticDid not qualifyDid not qualify20124USL PDL6th, Mid AtlanticN/AN/A
Honors USL PDL Northeast Division Champions 2008 USL PDL Eastern Conference Champions 2007
Head coaches Joe Balsamo (2007–2010) Andreas Lindberg (2011–2012)
Stadia Metropolitan Oval; Maspeth, New York (2004–2006, 2010–present) Aviator Field; Brooklyn, New York (2007–2009) Stadium at Adelphi University; Garden City, New York 1 game (2010)
Average attendance Attendance stats are calculated by averaging each team's self-reported home attendances from the historical match archive at https://web.archive.org/web/20100105175057/http://www.uslsoccer.com/history/index_E.html and Kenn.com https://kenn.com/blog/soccer/all-time-usl-league-two-attendance/.
1999: 47 2000: 75 2001: 97 2002: 132 2003: 298 2004: 142 2005: 120 2006: 105 2007: 251 2008: 212 2009: 670 2010: 111 2011: 69 2012: 80
References
External links Official Site Official PDL site BigAppleSoccer.com Team Page