1996 New York/New Jersey MetroStars season
| 1996 season | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Chairman |  John Kluge & Stuart Subotnick | ||
| Manager |  Eddie Firmani Carlos Queiroz | ||
| Major League Soccer | 3rd (Eastern Conference) | ||
| Top goalscorer | Giovanni Savarese (14) | ||
|
| |||
The 1996 season was the 1st season in New York/New Jersey MetroStars's existence. The team is now known as the New York Red Bulls while the entire organization is known as Red Bull New York. They played their home games at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The team played 38 matches in the season including 35 Major League Soccer games and 3 friendlies. This was the first season of MLS. Eddie Firmani coached the team for their first eight games before being replaced by Carlos Queiroz.[1]
Players
These totals come from 32 league matches and 3 playoff played in 1996. Only displaying players who capped 5 games or more.
| Player | Position | GP (GS) | Minutes | Goals | Assists |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rhett Harty
|
Defender | 34 (34) | 2845 | 1 | 1 |
| Peter Vermes
|
Midfielder | 33 (33) | 2970 | 1 | 1 |
| Tony Meola
|
Goalkeeper | 32 (32) | 2880 | 0 | 0 |
 Giovanni Savarese
|
Striker | 29 (16) | 1702 | 14 | 1 |
| Tab Ramos
|
Midfielder | 28 (28) | 2428 | 3 | 10 |
| Nicola Caricola
|
Defender | 28 (28) | 2357 | 2 | 0 |
| Miles Joseph
|
Midfielder | 27 (26) | 2197 | 4 | 5 |
| Jeff Zaun
|
Defender | 24 (22) | 1795 | 0 | 0 |
| Matt Knowles
|
Midfielder | 24 (17) | 1767 | 0 | 0 |
| A.J. Wood
|
Striker | 23 (15) | 1232 | 5 | 2 |
 Cristian da Silva
|
Midfielder | 22 (13) | 1268 | 0 | 0 |
| Rob Johnson
|
Striker | 21 (12) | 1236 | 4 | 3 |
| Roberto Donadoni
|
Midfielder | 20 (20) | 1800 | 3 | 10 |
| Damian Silvera
|
Midfielder | 17 (9) | 953 | 0 | 1 |
| Chris Unger
|
Midfielder | 16 (12) | 1029 | 1 | 1 |
| Ted Gillen
|
Defender | 16 (10) | 852 | 0 | 0 |
 Antony de Ávila
|
Striker | 11 (10) | 920 | 8 | 3 |
| Mickey Kydes
|
Midfielder | 11 (7) | 556 | 0 | 0 |
 Edmundo Rodriguez
|
Striker | 11 (5) | 473 | 0 | 1 |
| Rubén Darío Hernández
|
Striker | 10 (9) | 836 | 0 | 3 |
 Ian Hennessy
|
Midfielder | 8 (4) | 311 | 1 | 1 |
| Manny Lagos
|
Midfielder | 6 (6) | 483 | 0 | 2 |
| Andrew Restrepo
|
Defender | 5 (4) | 343 | 0 | 0 |
| Chris Brauchle
|
Midfielder | 5 (3) | 323 | 0 | 0 |
Source:[2]
Fixtures
| Date | Home | Away | Score | Metro Goal(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4/13 | Los Angeles Galaxy | MetroStars | 2-1 | Savarese |
| 4/20 | MetroStars | New England Revolution | 0-1 | |
| 4/27 | MetroStars | Columbus Crew | 0-2 | |
| 5/4 | MetroStars | Tampa Bay Mutiny | 3-3 | Kooiman(OG), Savarese 2; SO 2:1 |
| 5/12 | D.C. United | MetroStars | 1-1 | Savarese; SO 1:2 |
| 5/16 | MetroStars | Colorado Rapids | 3-0 | Savarese 3 |
| 5/19 | New England Revolution | MetroStars | 2-0 | |
| 5/22 | Kansas City Wiz | MetroStars | 2-1 | Savarese |
| 5/24 | MetroStars | Fiorentina1 | 0-4 | |
| 5/30 | MetroStars | D.C. United | 1-2 | Wood |
| 6/2 | Dallas Burn | MetroStars | 0-1 | Wood |
| 6/5 | MetroStars | Sporting Lisbon1 | 1-1 | Wood |
| 6/9 | MetroStars | Los Angeles Galaxy | 0-4 | |
| 6/16 | MetroStars | San Jose Clash | 0-1 | |
| 6/19 | MetroStars | Dallas Burn | 0-0 | SO 2:0 |
| 6/26 | MetroStars | Kansas City Wiz | 2-0 | Savarese, Ramos |
| 6/30 | Columbus Crew | MetroStars | 0-4 | Caricola, Savarese, Ramos, Unger |
| 7/4 | Colorado Rapids | MetroStars | 2-1 | Ramos |
| 7/10 | MetroStars | Dallas Burn | 3-2 | Caricola, Savarese 2 |
| 7/21 | Los Angeles Galaxy | MetroStars | 3-0 | |
| 7/24 | San Jose Clash | MetroStars | 0-1 | Johnson |
| 7/28 | MetroStars | San Jose Clash | 4-1 | Johnson, Vermes, Wood, Harty |
| 8/3 | New England Revolution | MetroStars | 1-1 | Donadoni; SO 3:2 |
| 8/11 | Colorado Rapids | MetroStars | 0-2 | Donadoni, Joseph |
| 8/14 | MetroStars | New England Revolution | 4-0 | Wood, Johnson 2, De Avila |
| 8/17 | Tampa Bay Mutiny | MetroStars | 3-1 | Donadoni |
| 8/21 | MetroStars | D.C. United | 2-3 | De Avila 2 |
| 9/1 | Kansas City Wiz | MetroStars | 2-2 | Hennessey, Wood; SO 3:1 |
| 9/4 | MetroStars | Tampa Bay Mutiny | 0-2 | |
| 9/6 | D.C. United | MetroStars | 1-2 | De Avila, Joseph |
| 9/10 | MetroStars | Los Angeles Galaxy | 3-1 | Joseph 2, De Avila |
| 9/15 | Columbus Crew | MetroStars | 2-0 | |
| 9/18 | MetroStars | Columbus Crew | 1-0 | De Avila |
| 9/21 | Tampa Bay Mutiny | MetroStars | 4-1 | Savarese |
| 9/24 | MetroStars | D.C. United | 2-2 | De Avila, Savarese; SO 6:5 |
| 9/27 | D.C. United | MetroStars | 1-0 | |
| 10/2 | D.C. United | MetroStars | 2-1 | De Avila |
| 11/15 | Pennsylvania Natives1 | MetroStars | 1-2 | Savarese 2 |
- SO indicates a shootout.
- Green represents a win, red a loss and yellow a draw.
1Friendly
Source:[3]
Final standings
| Place | Eastern Conference | P | W | (so) | L | (so) | F | A | GD | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tampa Bay Mutiny | 32 | 20 | (1) | 12 | (3) | 66 | 51 | +15 | 58 |
| 2 | D.C. United | 32 | 16 | (1) | 16 | (3) | 62 | 56 | +6 | 46 |
| 3 | NY/NJ MetroStars | 32 | 15 | (3) | 17 | (2) | 45 | 47 | -2 | 39 |
| 4 | Columbus Crew | 32 | 15 | (4) | 17 | (5) | 59 | 60 | -1 | 37 |
| 5 | New England Revolution | 32 | 15 | (6) | 17 | (2) | 43 | 56 | -13 | 33 |
| Place | Western Conference | P | W | (so) | L | (so) | F | A | GD | Points |
| 1 | Los Angeles Galaxy | 32 | 19 | (4) | 13 | (4) | 59 | 49 | +10 | 49 |
| 2 | Dallas Burn | 32 | 17 | (5) | 15 | (3) | 50 | 48 | +2 | 41 |
| 3 | Kansas City Wiz | 32 | 17 | (5) | 15 | (2) | 61 | 63 | -2 | 41 |
| 4 | San Jose Clash | 32 | 15 | (3) | 17 | (6) | 50 | 50 | 0 | 39 |
| 5 | Colorado Rapids | 32 | 11 | (2) | 21 | (4) | 44 | 59 | -15 | 29 |