NYCFC to train at Red Bulls facility ahead of Orlando tournament

As reported by Michael Lewis of FrontRowSoccer, the New York Red Bulls training facility in Morris County will be used by New York City FC ahead of next month’s MLSisBack tournament in Florida.

Though NYCFC established their own training base in the Rockland County suburb of Orangeburg in 2018, the team is still unable to legally assemble at the premises due to continued public health restrictions in New York state. In New Jersey, the opening phases of relaxing the state’s covid-19 statutes has begun, with Red Bulls full team training returning to the home East Hanover facility last Thursday.

The deal was contingent on a plan to stagger presence and limit crowding at the facility submitted by NYCFC to MLS as well as RBNY and its medical officials from New York-Presbyterian Hospital. It is unclear how long the arrangement will last as over three weeks remain until the beginning of the makeshift MLSisBack tournament at the Disney sporting campus in Orlando. Both RBNY and NYCFC have relationships with other athletic facilities in Florida where they have conducted past preseason camps.

While this site took a dim view of RBNY’s decision to rent the stadium to NYCFC for their CONCACAF Champions League ties this past winter due to scheduling conflicts at Yankee Stadium, the lending of training facilities in the midst of a global social crisis is a much more understandable situation in which to see a hot-blooded rivalry temporarily simmer. Here’s to hoping for sanitary conditions and no stolen seats over the coming weeks in East Hanover.