Derby Day in Queens: FA Euro Faces Metropolitan Oval
One city. Six teams. A Saturday with local pride on the line.
FA Euro heads to Queens on Saturday, November 14, to face Metropolitan Oval in a full day of MLS NEXT Homegrown Division football. From the U14s’ morning kickoff to the U19s’ evening fixture, six squads will represent the club in a derby that brings the focus firmly back to New York.
The setting is Metropolitan Oval’s home in Maspeth, a ground with roots stretching back to 1925. For our players, it is an opportunity to compete close to home, in front of the families and supporters who follow their development week after week.
A derby rooted in our history
FA Euro’s connection to Metropolitan Oval runs through the work of Joe Balsamo. One of the most respected coaches in the Met Oval community, Joe spent more than a decade there before co-founding FA Euro with Marco Balsamo in 2013. His standing was built around a clear footballing philosophy: technical quality, intelligent possession and the composure to keep playing under pressure.
The club’s history film offers a glimpse of those foundations, tracing Joe’s work with a Brooklyn Knights youth team back to 2001. It recalls a group learning to trust the ball, combine with one another and stay calm when a match appeared to be slipping away. Those principles became an important part of the footballing identity he would bring to FA Euro.
When Joe and Marco founded FA Euro, that experience helped shape a new project for young players in Brooklyn and Staten Island. The club has since grown into a pathway spanning six MLS NEXT Homegrown age groups, carrying forward the commitment to developing thoughtful, confident players.
Saturday’s return to Met Oval therefore carries a personal significance. It brings FA Euro back to a place connected to its beginnings, with a new generation ready to write its own chapter. Respect for that shared history and pride in the club’s progress belong together on derby day.
From Montréal to Maspeth
FA Euro’s 2010 Homegrown squad, competing at U17 this season, arrives with the confidence of a hard-earned 1–0 victory away to CF Montréal on November 7. Zachary Thompson scored the decisive goal as the team combined disciplined defending with the ability to turn a midfield regain into a match-winning moment.
In cold, windy conditions, the group stayed compact, protected the spaces between the lines and worked together to keep a clean sheet. It was not a performance built on long spells of possession. It was a demonstration of concentration, collective effort and the patience to make an opportunity count.
The derby offers a different challenge. The task now is to carry that organization into Saturday while finding greater consistency on the ball. Confidence from Montréal is valuable, but the next performance has to be earned again.
Coach Vincent’s perspective
“Met Oval is part of our story, and that makes this derby special. We want our players to understand where the club came from, then bring their own personality to the game. The emotion has to become focus: be brave on the ball, work for one another and compete with respect. That is how we represent FA Euro.”
Six teams, one club
Saturday’s schedule spans the full Homegrown pathway, from U13 to U19. The U13s and U14s meet Metropolitan Oval in Northeast league fixtures, while the U15s, U16s, U17s and U19s compete in MLS NEXT FLEX’s Empire group.
Across those age groups, a local derby offers a useful measure of progress. Can players remain composed when the tempo rises? Can they communicate clearly, make good decisions under pressure and respond together when the game changes? Those details will matter throughout a long day of football.
The occasion also gives our younger players and families a chance to follow the older squads, with one FA Euro team taking the field after another. Different stages of development, shared support and the same crest.
Archive match action from FA Euro’s Montréal trip. Photography: Raphaël Mutombo · @shots5mk
Saturday’s derby schedule
All six matches are away to Metropolitan Oval on Saturday, November 14, at Met Oval, Field 1. Kickoff times are Eastern Standard Time.
U14 · 9:00 a.m. · League
U13 · 11:00 a.m. · League
U15 · 1:00 p.m. · MLS NEXT FLEX
U16 · 3:15 p.m. · MLS NEXT FLEX
U17 · 5:30 p.m. · MLS NEXT FLEX
U19 · 7:45 p.m. · MLS NEXT FLEX
Location: 60th Street and 60th Court, Maspeth, Queens, NY 11378.
Fixtures checked November 13. For any schedule changes, consult the official MLS NEXT schedule. Follow FA Euro’s fixtures, results and standings in our Match Center.
To every family making the trip: bring your support, back the players and help make it a memorable day for the club. From the first kickoff to the final whistle, we go together.
All photographs are from FA Euro’s Montréal trip. Photography: Raphaël Mutombo · @shots5mk
