THE TIES THAT BIND: Connections between New York Red Bulls and Toronto FC

The New York Red Bulls return home on Saturday to host Toronto FC at 7 p.m. New York will look to extend its winning streak to three games in a rematch of the 2016 season opener.



The Red Bulls improved to 5-7-1 with a pair of wins last week, a 1-0 victory over the Chicago Fire and a 7-0 win over New York City FC at Yankee Stadium. The Red Bulls sit in third place in the East entering the weekend, tied with Toronto on points. 


MSG and MSG GO will provide coverage of the match, beginning with Red Bulls Game Night at 6:30 p.m. Red Bulls Radio gets underway with Countdown to Kickoff, hosted by Matt Harmon, at 6 p.m. Harmon will call the action in English with former Red Bull and MetroStar Steve Jolley, while Ernesto Motta calls the game in Spanish beginning at 7 p.m.


Below are common connections between the two clubs.

  • Toronto FC midfielder Michael Bradley was selected 36th overall by the MetroStars in the 2004 MLS SuperDraft at the age of 16. Bradley’s father, Bob, was the coach of the MetroStars at the time. Bob Bradley was Jesse Marsch’s coach first at Princeton University, and then as an assistant with D.C. United. Bradley brought Marsch to Chicago in 1998 and paired him with Chris Armas in the midfield. Bradley also brought Denis Hamlett on board as an assistant coach.
  • Marsch would later get his coaching start on Bob Bradley’s USMNT staff for the 2009 Confederations Cup and 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
  • Toronto FC forward Jozy Altidore signed his first professional contract with the Red Bulls in 2006, and played two and a half seasons before transferring to Villareal in La Liga. Altidore scored 15 goals and five assists for New York in MLS play.
  • Toronto FC goalkeeper coach Jon Conway spent 2006 to Summer 2009 with the New York Red Bulls, making 63 appearances. He was then traded to Chivas USA where he spent the remainder of the season a teammate of Jesse Marsch and Sacha Kljestan before joining TFC as a player in 2011.
  • Toronto head coach Greg Vanney, assistant coaches Robin Fraser and Dan Calichman and Red Bulls assistant Chris Armas were teammates with the LA Galaxy from 1996 to 1998, reaching the MLS Cup Final in 1996. Vanney spent 2005 and 2006 with FC Dallas, and was a teammate of Red Bulls captain Dax McCarty in 2006, McCarty’s rookie season. Toronto’s Drew Moor also played in Dallas as McCarty’s teammate from 2006 to 2009, when Moor was dealt to Colorado.
  • Toronto FC assistant Robin Fraser was an assistant with the Red Bulls in 2013 and 2014, winning the 2013 Supporters’ Shield and reaching the Eastern Conference Finals in 2014.
  • TFC assistant was an assistant coach with Chivas USA in 2010, Sacha Kljestan’s final half-season before moving to RSC Anderlecht in Belgium’s top-flight.
  • TFC midfielder Will Johnson played one season in Chicago in 2005, where he was teammates with Chris Armas, and was coached by Denis Hamlett. Johnson would then move to the Dutch league, before returning to MLS with Real Salt Lake, where he was teammates with Red Bulls goalkeeper Kyle Reynish, and then moved to Portland Timbers in 2013, where he was teammates with Sal Zizzo.
  • Red Bulls center back Ronald Zubar and Toronto midfielder Benoit Cheyrou were teammates at Marseille from 2007 to 2009.


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