New York City

Foundation

In early 2006, Major League Soccer had an interest in placing a second team in the New York City area, following the expiry of MetroStars' exclusive territorial rights as a condition of the creation of New York Red Bulls. By 2007, the league had held talks with several groups, including New York Mets owner Fred Wilpon and his family, about owning the second New York franchise. The Wilpons' interest in MLS reportedly faded following the family's losses in the Madoff investment scandal, but the league continued to look for investors.

In 2010, MLS commissioner Don Garber officially announced the league's intent to make its 20th franchise a second team in the New York area. At that point, the league hoped to have the new team beginning operations by 2013. Garber held discussions with the owners of the rebooted New York Cosmos, but they balked at the league's expansion fee and single-entity structure and decided not to apply for entry, instead joining the second-tier North American Soccer League.

In 2012, following a failed bid for a Miami expansion team led by Barcelona Garber reached out to Ferran Soriano, Barcelona's vice president at the time of the Miami bid, who had since been Manchester City CEO. In December 2012, unnamed sources told the media that Manchester City were close to being announced as the new owners of the 20th team of MLS, and the brand name "New York City Football Club" was trademarked, although the club quickly denied the report.

Manchester City, in association with the New York Yankees baseball team, paid the $100 million expansion fee to join the league. New York City Football Club, LLC was also registered with the New York State Department on May 7, 2013, and on May 21, the team was officially announced as the 20th Major League Soccer franchise.

On May 22, 2013, the club named former United States and Manchester City midfielder Claudio Reyna as its director of football operations, responsible for coaching staff and player recruitment ahead of the team's inaugural MLS season in 2015. Reyna, a New Jersey native, also played for the nearby New York Red Bulls. The team announced an English-language radio deal with WFAN on October 3, 2013.

On December 11, 2013, Jason Kreis was announced as the first head coach of the new franchise, after declining to extend his contract at Real Salt Lake. The move came just four days after his squad's second-place finish in the 2013 MLS Cup, losing on penalties to Sporting Kansas City. Kreis's tenure began with a trip to Manchester, England, to familiarize himself with the set-up of the franchise owners. Kreis' official unveiling was made at a press conference on January 10, 2014, where he made it public that his former assistant Miles Joseph had joined him at the club.

On June 2, 2014, the club announced that Spanish World Cup-winning striker David Villa had signed as the first player. While the team awaited the start of the 2015 MLS season, Villa was loaned to Melbourne City, a club also owned by City Football Group, and was called back after only four matches. On July 24, 2014, New York City announced at a live press conference in Brooklyn that ex-England international and Chelsea all-time top goal scorer Frank Lampard would be joining them as their second Designated Player. On July 6, 2015, the club also signed ex-Italian international Andrea Pirlo from Juventus as their third Designated Player.

In the 2015 MLS SuperDraft, as an expansion team, New York City had the second overall pick, choosing Oregon State forward Khiry Shelton as their first pick.

2015–2020: Inaugural season and initial MLS Playoffs failure

An up-and-down pre-season saw the new squad dominate their first exhibition match, played against Scotland's St Mirren, with Villa scoring the club's first goal in a regulated match, while in the Carolina Challenge Cup, they finished second out of four teams after a slow start ruled out their chances of picking up the non-competitive silverware. Their first league game was played on March 8 against fellow expansion side Orlando City SC, with Mix Diskerud scoring their first competitive goal in a game which finished 1–1 in front of a packed Citrus Bowl stadium. A week later in their first home game, Villa and Patrick Mullins scored in their first home win against New England Revolution in front of a crowd of 43,507. The team eventually suffered an eleven-game winless streak which ended on June 16, after defeating the Philadelphia Union 2–1.

New York City faced the New York Cosmos in the fourth round of the 2015 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, and were eliminated on penalties. The team finished 8th in the Eastern Conference, and 17th overall. After the season ended, Kreis was relieved from his head coaching duties on November 2. The team's failure to make the playoffs and the team's second lowest points in the league, were the main factors in his release. A week later, Patrick Vieira was announced as the new head coach of the team.