Brooklyn Italians

History

The Brooklyn Italians are widely considered one of the most successful semi-professional soccer clubs in the United States, with an unbroken history that goes back more than six decades. The team was founded in 1949 by John DeVivo, an Italian immigrant living in the New York area. It began play in the Metropolitan Soccer League during the early 1950s, then moved to the American Soccer League for the 1956–57 season, where it placed seventh behind league champion New York Hakoah.

In 1961, the club merged with a local rival and became the Inter-Brooklyn Italians, changed its name to Inter SC in 1962, and then adopted the name Boca Juniors for the 1963 season, after the famous Argentine side. That name lasted only one year before the team left the ASL in 1964. For roughly the next twenty years, the club competed in amateur leagues under several different names, including Palermo Football Club and the Brooklyn Dodgers, the latter borrowed from the borough’s former baseball team.

It returned to its original name in 1991. The Italians were regular participants in the National Challenge Cup, winning the title twice in the pre-MLS amateur era—first in 1979 while still called the Dodgers, and again in 1991—and also reached the final in 1981 and 1990. After their strong showing in the 1990 tournament, they entered the qualifying rounds of the 1991 CONCACAF Champions’ Cup, defeating Bermuda’s Dandy Town Hornets 4–3 on aggregate in April 1991 before withdrawing before the second round.

Later that year, in November 1991, they lost 6–1 on aggregate to Club Universidad de Guadalajara in the first round of the CONCACAF Cup Winners Cup. The Italians joined the National Premier Soccer League in 2010, with head coach Joe Barone describing the move as a new adventure. The club continues to field multiple teams in New York’s Cosmopolitan Soccer League and regularly takes part in international amateur tournaments, including the Memorial Claudio Sassi in Italy, the Dallas Cup, the President’s Day Tournament in Phoenix, and college showcases across the country.

International travel is a priority, and teams have trained with elite Italian clubs. In 2020, the team was not listed among participants in the NPSL season. On May 5, 2021, the New York Red Bulls announced the Italians as an official Academy Affiliate.