March 19, 2025
The club takes its name from the historic complex that it plays at. The Metropolitan Oval was built in 1925 in the New York City borough of Queens. The current iteration of the club was formed as a youth academy in 1999 and also owned and operated the Brooklyn Knights, which played for 13 seasons in the USL Premier Development League.
“Metropolitan Oval is extremely excited to join The League for Clubs,” said Jon Burklo, Metropolitan Oval Technical Director. “Joining TLfC provides an important opportunity for our distinguished alumni to continue to call the Oval home. This move also benefits our top young players' development by providing them with high quality, older and more experienced competition to better prepare them for the next level. With the Oval's history in the US Open Cup, it's only fitting that we put ourselves in a position to once again have a path to participate and The League for Clubs is the perfect opportunity for us to make that happen."
Current professionals that played their youth soccer with Met Oval include Justin Haak (NYCFC), Julian Zakrzewski Hall (NYRB), Cyrus Margono (Panathinaikos), Davi Alexandre (NYRB), Leo Fernandes (Tampa Bay Rowdies) and Guiliano Misitano (AS Roma) amongst others.
Metropolitan Oval Academy will join Kingston Stockade FC, Atlantic City FC, FC Monmouth, First State FC, NY Braveheart SC, Lighthouse Boys Club of Kensington, Kensington SC and ODFC Cesena USA in the East Region. Eight of these clubs are expected to play in the 2025 season. A full schedule will be released soon.
