The Manhattan Kickers Football Club (MKFC) was founded in 1973 by graduates from a private college in VT, called Middlebury. Our humble beginnings saw a single men’s team compete in the 3rd division of the Cosmopolitan Soccer League. Over time, the club rose through the ranks, earning promotion to the 1st division for the first time in 2001. With success we have grown, as we now have three full men’s squads, each competing at a high level: 1st team, 2nd team, and Over-30’s team.
Over the last 35+ years, MKFC has registered over 300 players, from a vast array of backgrounds and possessing a wide variety of skills. Our club comprises players with experience at many different levels – high school, college, private clubs, ex-professionals. With players hailing from around the world -- England, France, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Africa, Israel, Palestine, Morocco, Argentina, Peru, Columbia, Chile, Brazil, Mexico, Canada, Barbados, and Australia, not to mention the US -- we epitomize the cultural melting pot that the game of soccer should represent.
We have succeeded in attracting such a diverse collective of players due to the high level of competition fostered at training and during league play. The bonds we have formed as teammates over the years extend beyond the field, as we are not only united in competition, but in friendship. The kickers are a family both on and off the field. We organize social events in New York City, and we have taken many international footballing trips to the likes of England, Sweden, the Balkans, and Italy – further enriching our cross-cultural knowledge, and broadening our soccer horizons.
In 2009 we decided to raise our organization to the next level, in part due to the drive of our core Kicker team members, and in part due to the high demand among all of our club members and also in the broader NYC area for a highly structured and highly competitive soccer program. We currently compete in the 1st division of the Cosmopolitan Soccer League, and strive to rise to the top of the tables in current and future campaigns.
To that end, we have formulated a 5 year plan. Dedication by club volunteers has kept the organization running over the past 35 years, but in order to sustain the type of high quality organization we are striving for, we must move beyond counting on the good will of a few. As part of our new initiative, we:
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Have hired a new coach, Enzo Soderini, who directs two practices per week and the matches on Sundays
•Have formed an official Board of Directors to guide the club in all its financial, logistical and organizational operations
•Are in the process of organizing friendly soccer matches and social events to benefit non-profit organizations such as Right2Thrive (right2thrive.org), which is dedicated to gathering resources to improve living conditions and create opportunities for disadvantaged orphans in Nairobi, Kenya.
In order to enact our 5 year plan, and to succeed in taking this club to the next level, we require financial assistance beyond what we can collect from our dedicated club membership. The Manhattan Kickers are great group of guys, committed to self-enrichment through collaboration, recreation and competition.
