The Metropolitan Oval, also known as Met Oval, is a

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

complex located in Maspeth,

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. ''

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Ma ...

'' named the complex, which takes up , the "Best full soccer field in the middle of a residential neighborhood" in 2004, for its "pristine" playing surface and the view of the

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

skyline. In addition, the Metropolitan Oval is a

MLS Next MLS Next (stylized as MLS NEXT) is a youth association football, soccer league in the United States and Canada that is managed, organized, and controlled by Major League Soccer. It was introduced by the league in 2020. It is a successor to th ...

member. The Metropolitan Oval Academy and facility is led by an all-volunteer Board of Directors. Jon Burklo serves as the Technical Director of the Academy.

History

The Metropolitan Oval was originally built in 1925 by Germans and ethnic German-Hungarian immigrants to be a European style soccer field with facilities. From 1925 onwards, the Oval served as a soccer field for men and boys of all ages and ethnicities. Many U.S. national team players from the New York region played games at the Oval while youths. In 1976 the three-time worlds champions

Club Nacional de Football Club Nacional de Football (, ''National Football Club'') is a Uruguayan professional sports club based in La Blanqueada, La Blanqueada, Montevideo. The club was founded on 14 May 1899 as a result of the merger between ''Uruguay Athletic Club'' an ...

played an exhibition match against Inter Giuliana, the score were favorable for the Uruguayans 4-0. By the 1990s, however, the Oval was in a state of disarray. Any grass the field once had was gone from overuse. It owed hundreds of thousands of dollars in back taxes and was scheduled for foreclosure by the city. In response to this state of affairs, the Metropolitan Oval Foundation was formed to save this historic site. The non-profit organization led by Jim Vogt, a longtime Queens native, and Chuck Jacob and Valerie Jacob, two New York lawyers dedicated to the restoration of historic soccer fields across the city, raised enough money to save the field from foreclosure. In addition,

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine giv ...

and U.S. Soccer Foundation each contributed $250,000 towards the construction of a

FieldTurf FieldTurf is a brand of artificial turf playing surface. It is manufactured and installed by FieldTurf Tarkett, a division of French company Tarkett. FieldTurf is headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and its primary manufacturing facility i ...

field and new lights for the complex. The Metropolitan Oval has since been resurfaced in 2024 with Tencate's Pivot Noninfill turf and the lights have been retrofitted with GeoSport Lighting's CLIR fixtures. Currently, the Oval hosts 3-5 games a week from March to November on the field. The Met Oval Academy plays at this field against other academy teams in the

, National Academy League, and Elite Development Program leagues.

Development Academy

In addition to being the name of the field, the Metropolitan Oval also helps develop soccer talent in New York City while offering youth of all backgrounds the opportunity to play soccer and receive specialized training, team play, camps and clinics. The academy has teams in age groups ranging from U-6 to U-19. The Academy is run by Jeffery Saunders. The Foundation is a § 501 (c)(3) not-for-profit, charitable foundation incorporated in 1998 with the mission to: provide youth soccer programs for the New York area as well as to save, restore, and improve the soccer facility, and develop soccer players in the New York area.

References

External links

* * {{coord, 40, 42, 52.68, N, 73, 54, 23.31, W, type:landmark, display=title German-American history Maspeth, Queens Soccer venues in New York City Sports venues in Queens, New York Sports venues completed in 1925 1925 establishments in New York City