Published for Brooklyn FC fans — October 2026
By Toxlay Sports Editorial Team · Last updated October 23, 2026
🌉 Brooklyn FC Fans — Your Borough’s First Season Is History in the Making!
An expansion year is never easy — but a first win on opening weekend, a teenage record-breaker and a 10-man comeback on the road? Year one on Coney Island gave Brooklyn stories worth wearing.
The Club
Brooklyn Football Club is New York City soccer’s newest story. The club was founded on June 8, 2023, when the USL awarded the Brooklyn expansion franchise to North Sixth Group — and the men’s team kicked off its inaugural USL Championship season in 2026. The women’s team blazed the trail first, playing in the USL Super League since 2024, so by the time the men arrived, Coney Island already knew the songs.
Home is Maimonides Park on Coney Island — a 7,000-capacity ballpark, home of the Brooklyn Cyclones, converted for soccer with the boardwalk, the Wonder Wheel and the Atlantic as its backdrop. There is no setting in American soccer quite like it. The identity matches the borough: a muted black, dark gray and limestone palette, with kits carrying architectural nods to the Brooklyn Bridge arches, the Brooklyn Museum columns and Coney Island’s rollercoasters.
The people running it are serious. Sporting director and general manager Brian McBride — U.S. Soccer Hall of Famer, former USMNT general manager — built the first roster from zero. Head coach Marlon LeBlanc, appointed December 8, 2025 from Philadelphia Union II, is the first coach in men’s team history. And USMNT international Timothy Weah has been part of the ownership group since May 2024. Fans searching brooklyn fc schedule and brooklyn fc roster this year have been watching a club being invented in real time.
The road here had twists: Brooklyn were first awarded a League One team for 2025, then moved up to a Championship launch, then — in December 2024 — pushed the men’s debut back a full year to get the appointments, tryouts and signings right. Frustrating at the time. In hindsight, it is the decision that gave year one its shape.
⭐ FAN FAVORITE
#35 Anderson — Brooklyn FC Style Jersey
$59.99
The top scorer of Brooklyn’s first-ever season — six goals and the name on the first shirts Coney Island will treasure. Fan-inspired apparel for the borough’s founding faithful.
Last Season (2025): The Year Brooklyn Waited
There was no Brooklyn FC men’s team in 2025 — and that was the plan. The club’s men’s launch, originally set for 2025, was postponed in December 2024 to the 2026 season so the club could complete its key appointments, hold men’s tryouts and build a roster properly instead of quickly. Any “last season” story for this club is a story about patience.
What Brooklyn did in 2025 was lay foundations. The women’s team carried the badge in the USL Super League at Maimonides Park. Brian McBride took the sporting director’s chair. And on December 8, 2025, Marlon LeBlanc was appointed the men’s first head coach — the final piece before an entirely new squad was assembled from scratch for March 2026. Expansion teams usually inherit chaos; Brooklyn chose to schedule theirs.
Best Players Right Now
Markus Anderson — #35, centre-forward. The club’s top scorer in its first season, with six goals — the finisher a brand-new attack leaned on all year, and the first name in Brooklyn FC scoring history that everyone else will chase.
Christopher “CJ” Olney Jr. — #56, midfielder. The revelation of year one. On loan from Philadelphia Union, the 19-year-old became the first Brooklyn men’s player ever to pass 2,000 minutes, finishing as the team’s most-used player with 29 appearances and 2,446 minutes — plus three goals and a club-high seven assists, a total that ranks top-three all-time among teenagers in USL Championship history.
Stefan Stojanovic — #19, forward. Four goals on the season, second in the club’s scoring chart — a winger-forward who gave LeBlanc a reliable second scoring option in a squad learning on the job.
Juan Carlos Obregón Jr. — #29, centre-forward. Immortalized in March: the man who scored the first goal in club history, converting the 26th-minute penalty that beat Indy Eleven in Brooklyn’s inaugural match. Whatever happens from here, that one is his forever.
Shaan Hundal — #9, centre-forward. The Canadian striker has been a regular in the forward rotation all season — a physical No. 9 option in a front line built around Anderson’s finishing and Stojanovic’s movement.
Thomas McNamara — #7, winger. The veteran of the group: a long-time MLS midfielder with NYCFC, Houston and New England on his résumé, brought in to give a first-year dressing room a been-there voice — and still a regular starter on the wing.
Star Spotlight
The first win in club history. Opening weekend, March 8, 2026, Maimonides Park. Peter Mangione won a penalty, Juan Carlos Obregón Jr. buried it in the 26th minute, and goalkeeper Kayne Rizvanovich protected the clean sheet: Brooklyn FC 1, Indy Eleven 0. An expansion club’s perfect first chapter — a win, at home on Coney Island, in its very first match.
The 10-man comeback at Hartford. October 17, 2026. Down twice, down a man, season already gone — and Brooklyn still won 3–2 at Hartford Athletic, overcoming two deficits and scoring a late winner with ten men. It is instantly the signature result of the run-in, the night the young core’s fight became the story instead of the table.
Olney’s record-breaking season. Teenagers are supposed to be eased in. CJ Olney Jr. played more minutes than anyone at the club — 2,446 of them — led Brooklyn in assists, and put his name in the league’s teenage record books. When year two’s brooklyn fc roster is written, his is the first name fans will look for.
🔥 More Fan Favorites
More first-season stars, same black and limestone.
This Season (2026): An Expansion Year, Honestly Told
The brooklyn fc standings were never the story anyone wanted: bottom half of the Eastern Conference, 12th in the East, and officially eliminated from playoff contention by the 3–1 home loss to Detroit City FC on September 30. One win in 13 games after the World Cup break and a six-game winless run in the autumn underline how steep the expansion learning curve is in the USL Championship.
But first seasons are about foundations, and Brooklyn’s are real. Three of the club’s wins came at Maimonides Park. The first match in club history was a win. A 19-year-old loanee became one of the league’s best teenage creators. And when the season was already gone, this group went to Hartford with ten men and won anyway. The finale form line — a 2–2 draw with FC Tulsa, heavy losses to Birmingham and Detroit, then that Hartford comeback — is year one in miniature: raw, flawed, and absolutely not short of heart. Year two starts from a roster that has actually lived a season together, and that matters more than the table says.
🌉 Love Brooklyn? Wear it. Shop Fan Sportswear at Toxlay Sports →
The depth chart tells the story of a real squad, not a novelty act. CJ Olney Jr. has been the ironman: 29 appearances and 2,446 minutes — the most-used player on the team and the first Brooklyn men’s player ever to pass 2,000 minutes — with a club-high seven assists that rank top-three all-time among teenagers in the USL Championship. Around him, veteran Thomas McNamara, a long-time MLS midfielder, lends the leadership a first-year squad needs; French Guiana international Thomas Vancaeyezeele anchors the back line; and goalkeeper Kayne Rizvanovich kept the clean sheet in the club’s first-ever win. For an expansion team built entirely from zero in one winter, the foundation is unmistakably solid.
Mark Your Calendar
Saturday, October 24, 2026 — at Loudoun United FC, Segra Field (5:00 p.m. ET). The final match of Brooklyn’s inaugural season — one last road trip, one last chance for the first-year squad to sign off with a win.
October 30 – November 1, 2026 — USL Championship Conference Quarterfinals. Brooklyn’s season ends Oct 24, but the playoffs they will target in year two begin here: top eight in each conference, single-elimination, fixed bracket.
November 6–8, 2026 — Conference Semifinals. Followed by the Conference Finals on November 13–15 — the November nights Maimonides Park was built to host one day.
Saturday, November 21, 2026 — the USL Championship Final (12:00 p.m. ET, CBS). The league’s biggest day, live on the CBS Television Network — watch the standard Brooklyn will be chasing in 2027.
Biggest Rivalries — The Wars
1. Hartford Athletic. Every rivalry has a birthday, and this one’s is October 17, 2026 — the night Brooklyn, down twice and down to ten men, won 3–2 in Hartford. Two Northeast clubs, an I-95 corridor between them, and an instant classic already in the books: the return fixture is the first one both fanbases will circle in 2027.
2. Rhode Island FC. Brooklyn’s national-television debut came at Rhode Island on May 23, 2026 — the neighbors as the borough’s coming-out party. Rhode Island then won 3–1 at Maimonides Park on October 3, and the sides also drew in USL Cup group play. Proximity plus TV lights plus a score to settle: a rivalry in fast-forward.
3. Birmingham Legion FC. The first-season nemesis. No team beat Brooklyn more convincingly twice in year one: 4–0 in Birmingham on September 23, then 2–1 at Maimonides Park on October 21, when Brooklyn led inside seven minutes before Sebastian Tregarthen’s brace flipped it. If Brooklyn want a measuring stick for progress in 2027, it is wearing black and gold.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this Brooklyn FC’s first season in the USL Championship?
Yes — 2026 is the men’s team’s inaugural season. The club was founded on June 8, 2023, the women’s team began play in the USL Super League in 2024, and the men’s debut — first planned for 2025 — was delayed to 2026 so the launch could be done properly.
Where do Brooklyn FC play their home games?
Brooklyn FC play at Maimonides Park on Coney Island, Brooklyn — a 7,000-capacity ballpark, home of the Brooklyn Cyclones, converted for soccer. Match tickets are sold through the club’s official site, brooklynfootballclub.com.
Who coaches Brooklyn FC, and who runs the club?
Head coach Marlon LeBlanc, appointed December 8, 2025 after coaching Philadelphia Union II, is the first coach in men’s team history. The soccer side is run by sporting director and general manager Brian McBride, the former USMNT star and U.S. Soccer Hall of Famer.
Did Brooklyn FC make the 2026 USL Championship playoffs?
No. Brooklyn were eliminated from playoff contention by the 3–1 home loss to Detroit City FC on September 30, 2026, and finish their inaugural season at Loudoun United FC on Saturday, October 24, 2026.
🌉 Brooklyn FC Fan Shop
The full first-season trio — Anderson, Olney Jr. and Stojanovic in black and limestone.
Sources & official links: Brooklyn FC official site · USL Championship official site · Brooklyn FC tickets
Black and limestone, borough proud — year one is only the beginning, Brooklyn.
