Manhattan Kickers began in the early spring of 1975 when the clubs founder, Darryl Vigon, brought a group of Cub Scouts from the local community to a soccer clinic in Queens. The boys were inspired & motivated to come back for more clinics in the following weeks,
and so it all began.
The Pittsburgh Post Gazette, Jul 24 1980
The original groups first introduction to league play began in 1975 in the Boys B Division of the German-American Junior Soccer League (soon to be renamed the Cosmopolitan Junior Soccer League). The following summer Darryl prepared and distributed promotional material which officially outlined a youth soccer program, giving birth to the Manhattan Kickers Soccer Club...fondly dubbed "Kickers".
Much of what we do today - organizing, recruiting, and permitting fields, parallels what Darryl Vigon and some dedicated volunteers did for the first time over 35 years ago. That founding group was responsible for obtaining the first permit to the field at East 6th Street and FDR from the Parks Department and for arranging use of the Con Edison Fields. The legacy of 'volunteerism' displayed by that original group endures and fuels our club's continued success on the Eastside of Manhattan
The club is fortunate enough to have maintained its association with Con Edison & we are very thankful for their continued support in providing the club with practice and playing facilities.