When they kicked off their first-ever season in 2015, New York City FC were known for players like Andrea Pirlo and David Villa. But a far more dubious side of the club was lurking in the stands. The fact that some of the club’s fans were extremists gained publicity when one of them, Irvin Antillon, was involved in a brawl outside an event featuring one of the founders of the far-right group, the Proud Boys last October.
But the brawl was far from the first time an ugly side of the fanbase had emerged. Supporters first complained to NYC FC about the far-right during the team’s first season, when a small group began chanting neo-Nazi slogans at a home game. They identified themselves as members of Battalion 49, a skinhead group, and attached their iconography to the club’s logo and imagery. Later that season, in the first ever game against local rivals the New York Red Bulls, Battalion 49 and members of various Red Bull supporter groups fought near Red Bull Arena in New Jersey.
