By Elazar Abrahams
On Wednesday night, September 30th, I headed out to Coney Island to watch Brooklyn Football Club take on Detroit City FC at Maimonides Park. Brooklyn lost 3-1, but the scoreline is not really what stayed with me. What I kept thinking about on the way home was how much potential there is in this place, and how fun it can be to get in on the ground floor of a new New York sports community.
Brooklyn FC’s men’s team plays in the USL Championship, a separate professional league from Major League Soccer. This is not a minor-league version of an MLS game, and the level of play is serious. But the club is still new, and the matchday experience is very much in the process of becoming its own thing.
The best part of watching Brooklyn FC at Maimonides Park is how close you can get to the action. With the media pass graciously provided, I roamed the park, visiting “The Rails,” which is the Brooklyn FC supporters section directly behind one of the goals, and wandered down to the front rows, where you could hear everything. Players were yelling to each other, talking trash, getting into the dirt, and then immediately showing the kind of camaraderie that makes soccer so fun to watch live.
Shout-out to Brooklyn goalkeeper Jackson Lee, who was a genuinely nice guy and seemed excited that the fans behind him were chanting and getting into the match. From that close, the game feels less like something happening far away on a field and more like something you are actively part of.
Maimonides Park is, of course, a baseball stadium, and the Brooklyn Cyclones play their spring and summer season. That means the soccer setup is not perfectly natural. Some seats do not make much sense once the pitch is laid out, and the park has not yet been transformed into a purpose-built soccer ground. Still, there is something charming about watching professional football in this very Coney Island setting, with the boardwalk, the beach, and the amusement district all just outside and visible during games.
As Brooklyn FC grows, I hope the club keeps thinking about how to make the stadium feel more intentionally designed for soccer. A more streamlined seating arrangement, additional promotion, or some kind of halftime entertainment could make the night even more inviting for first-time fans.
To be honest, there were not a lot of Brooklyn fans in the stands on this particular Wednesday night, and Detroit City brought a nice contingent of supporters with them. That is the reality of attending a new team on a random late-September weeknight. Saturday home matches may give a better sense of the crowd that Brooklyn FC can eventually build. This is only their first season!
But the people who were there were committed. A handful of diehard Brooklyn supporters brought drums and flags, creating the kind of energy you associate with a proper European football match. They were loud, welcoming, and clearly invested in making this club feel like it belongs to the borough.
We were told that fans will often meet at a bar before the game and walk over to Maimonides Park together. That kind of ritual is how a real sports community forms. It is also a nice option for anyone looking to meet people. You do not need to arrive with a group of lifelong soccer friends. The supporters are happy to bring newcomers into the fold, hand them a drum, and wave a flag with them.
That communal feeling reminded me of my recent experience at a New York Sirens hockey game, where the crowd was still small enough that every chant mattered. I also could not help thinking about the New York Liberty, who were playing in a mostly empty Barclays Center when I first covered them years ago and are now selling out the arena while the team fights for another championship. Obviously, every franchise has its own path, but there is something exciting about seeing a team before the bandwagon arrives.
Brooklyn FC is a particularly appealing option for families, sports fans, and anyone looking for a date night that does not require spending hundreds of dollars. Tickets for upcoming matches have recently been listed in the teens before fees, depending on the game and the seat. You can watch a men’s or women’s match, grab a scarf at the team store, and make an entire evening out of being in Coney Island.
If your kids like sports, this is a good way to introduce them to professional soccer without the scale or expense of a major-league event. Even if you are not a soccer expert, it is easy to get pulled into the rhythm of the match. And if you are looking for something to do with friends, the combination of a game, the beach, the boardwalk, and the amusement district gives you plenty of options before or after kickoff.
Brooklyn FC also has a women’s team competing in the USL Super League, with its own schedule of home matches at Maimonides Park. So there are multiple opportunities to check out the club and find the kind of game night that works for you.
I left the stadium with a Brooklyn FC scarf and the feeling that I will be following this team for the rest of the season. Well, actually, their loss meant they officially are eliminated from playoff contention, so maybe I’ll pick it up again next year? The club is not yet a polished, sold-out spectacle, and it does not need to pretend to be. Right now, it is a chance to watch a team grow, sit close enough to hear the players argue and encourage one another, and become part of a fanbase that is still being built in real time.
That is a pretty exciting place to start. If you are looking for a cheap family night out, a new sports community, or simply an excuse to spend an evening in Coney Island, I would recommend giving Brooklyn FC a shot. A few years from now, you may be glad you were there before everyone else discovered it.
Tickets, schedules, and more information can be found HERE.
