Subject: Why I would like NYCFC to exchange my Frank Lampard jersey
No doubt you and other account executives at NYCFC have received a deluge of e-mails and phone calls from season ticket holders about Frank Lampard, which, from where I am sitting, is as it should be. But I’d like to give you a bit of background about where I am coming from, personally.
I didn’t grow up playing soccer, and only began casually watching it during the 2002 World Cup. Occasionally played pick up games with classmates in the park during college. Watched a bit more of the 2006 World Cup than I did in 2002. Then during law school, my classmates had intramural pickup games on Wednesdays, people of all skill levels (or no skill at all) were welcome. Probably as a result of that, I began to watch soccer more regularly, mostly the English Premier League. But two years ago, I attended my first MLS game in Chicago with my sister when we were visiting family. It was a lot of fun. The following season I casually watched Chicago but it was hard to follow a team closely from so far away. By that time, there had already been murmurs about when NYC would get an expansion team and I was greatly looking forward to it. I’ve never been a season ticket holder to a sport before. But working at a public defender office in the South Bronx just blocks from Yankee Stadium, I was excited to become one of the first three thousand “founding members” of NYCFC, which I did in April 2014. I’ve been enthusiastically following NYCFC’s signings, joined The Third Rail, and read the NYCFC forums when I can.
In September, Frank Lampard sat down with Rog and Davo (also an NYCFC season ticket holder and supporter) for a
Men In Blazers interview. During that interview, he reiterated remarks he had made earlier when he “signed” with NYCFC. Regarding MLS,
he said:
- The quality has gone up and up. We can see that. I’ve been watching games in the MLS back home for a long time now. The respect MLS has around the world has gone up huge amounts, and it’s the same for me.
- I know from talking in dressing rooms over the last years that players are interested in moving out here and playing. It might not have ben the same five or 10 years ago, but certainly now they are.
And about playing for NYCFC, he said:
- I’ve seen a real long-term plan from everyone involved in the club and I wanted to be a part of that
- I’ll give everything. I’d love to make the New York City fans see that in me and realize that I’m a player that wants to show I’m a part of them so we can bring a team here that we’re very proud of. If I can do that I’ll go away a happy man.
It was on that basis that, when I decided to shell out $150 for authentic jersey with player customization (the first soccer jersey I have ever owned with any individual player’s name and number) I selected Lampard. Not because I am specifically a Frank Lampard fan or loyalist, but because, rather foolishly, I took those comments and interviews about team building at face value. I valued Jason Kreis’s opinion that when looking at soccer ability, leadership and character, Frank Lampard was “A-plus-plus-plus.”
As a founding member, I find it hard to express how distasteful this entire affair has been. From Kreis saying in September 2014 that there was “no truth” to the “rumor” of Lampard’s loan in Manchester being extended, to silence from NYCFC while Pellegrini spoke publicly about his desire to keep Lampard (and of Lampard’s desire to stay), to the announcement of the loan extension, to the revelation that it was not a loan extension at all but a season long contract with Manchester City with a “break clause” that was supposed to end January 1, to Pellegrini’s further innuendo that Lampard may stay on at Manchester City for another season.
I would be embarrassed to show up on opening day at Yankee Stadium in his jersey. I would be embarrassed to wear his jersey when he shows up for MLS midway through the season, if he does at all.
Please don’t respond to this e-mail by:
- sending the same canned response that other fans have received that you “understand that there will be some disappointment amongst sections of our fans”
- reminding me that Lampard scored the winning goal for MCFC against Sunderland and MCFC is rewarded by his contributions on the field every single day
- parroting Claudio Reyna, that Lampard is eager to come to NYCFC this season, he’ll be ready to play on arrival, and will be a permanent member of the squad (which neither the publicly available information, nor Lampard, has confirmed)
Please do:
- offer to exchange my NYCFC jersey for another not bearing Lampard #8
- make this situation right for your fans, the team and the league
