Fans of MLS expansion franchise may protest, but the only vote that counts in the England midfielder’s whereabouts is cast in Abu Dhabi

So all those fans who bought tickets for New York City FC’s first Major League Soccer game at Yankee Stadium in March will not, after all, get to see the most prolific English midfielder of his generation. Instead, Frank Lampard will be bolstering Manchester City’s Premier League title challenge right up to the end of the English season in May.

The 36-year-old, who captained England while winning his 106th and final cap against Costa Rica in June, had been due to arrive in New York this month, to train with his new team-mates ahead of the start of the US season. But ever since the surprise announcement in August that he would join Manchester City on a short-term loan, speculation has mounted that he might stay longer. As the ball dropped in Times Square to mark the start of 2015, speculation turned to stark reality. In all likelihood, Lampard will miss the first three months of the MLS season.

At his unveiling back in July Lampard described New York City FC as “ticking all the boxes” and, referring to his plans to visit the 9/11 memorial in the city, said: “It’s very important to pay respect.”

It’s safe to say that respect was not the word on the lips of the fans trying to build support and an identity for the new New York soccer franchise when news of Lampard’s change of plan broke.

Both New York City and Manchester City are owned by City Football Group, the vehicle of Sheikh Mansour, the deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates and scion of the ruling family of Abu Dhabi. However, any notion that both clubs held an equal status in the Emiratis’ global football empire have been roundly dispelled. Sure, winning MLS would be nice but for the Middle Eastern money men calling the shots, the EPL and the Champions League are where the glory lies.

New York City FC’s director of football, Claudio Reyna, put a brave face on the matter, saying: “Frank is a star and it is no surprise that Manchester City is rewarded by his contributions on the field every single day. He is eager to get to New York once his commitment ends in England and will be available to play on arrival as a permanent member of the squad given he will come to us having played at the highest level.”

The New York team are probably wise to grin and bear it, since their place in the pecking order – below Manchester City but above Melbourne City – was established back in October when their other star signing, the former Spain striker David Villa, was recalled to the Big Apple early from his loan at Melbourne, the Emiratis’ Australian outfit. Clearly, such decisions are made not in New York, Manchester or Melbourne, but in Abu Dhabi.

Lampard, along with Villa, was the major draw card for New York City FC as they sought to attract fans to the 50,000-capacity Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, where they will play their inaugural MLS season. The former England man promised to bring some much-needed star power to a league – and a city – that had just lost the former France great Thierry Henry from the Red Bulls. With MLS adding two new teams for the 2015 season, marquee names are in more demand than ever.

Supporters, not unreasonably, feel cheated. “Many fans, including our members, decided to support the team, committed to season tickets, and bought merchandise under the impression that Frank Lampard would be playing for New York City Football Club, not Manchester City,” the New York fans’ group Third Rail said in a statement.

Lampard celebrates after scoring Manchester City’s third goal against Sunderland on Thursday. Photograph: Martin Rickett/PA

Over in England, supporters of Chelsea were already feeling pretty sore about the deal that took Lampard to Manchester in the first place. Waving your record goalscorer off to spend his footballing twilight years across the Atlantic is one thing; watching him pitch up at your main rivals and then deny his former team three points at the Etihad via a late equaliser is quite another. On New Year’s Day Lampard demonstrated once again the impact he can have on the title race when he scored the winner against Sunderland at the Etihad, bringing his City goal total to seven.



Chelsea will win little sympathy, given that the form of Lampard’s replacement, Cesc Fàbregas, hasn’t been too shabby . If they had wanted to avoid facing Lampard, they could simply have renewed his contract in the summer.

NYCFC could in theory have pointed to the contract Lampard signed with them and insisted to Manchester City that he honour it. But one can imagine how that conversation with Sheikh Mansour would go.

The Third Rail supporters’ group gallantly declared: “We reject out of hand any suggestion that NYCFC is in any way secondary to Manchester City FC, regardless of the source, and are disappointed that City Football Group would give such an appearance.”



Like it or not, though, for NYCFC’s owners there’s clearly only one City that counts.