Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s summer of soccer is coming to end with one final announcement. She appeared at Major League Soccer’s headquarters in Manhattan Wednesday to tout the move of NYCFC’s minor league team to a state-of-the-art new facility in Edison. The team, NYCFC II, will start using the new stadium next summer. They are part of the MLS Next Pro league, the soccer equivalent of AAA baseball. The field the team will now call home broke ground in January 2025 at Middlesex College, the county's community college, as a collaboration among Middlesex County government and the county’s improvement authority, the college and the Middlesex County Vo-Tech School District. The field, replete with a jumbotron, VIP luxury seating, a bar and party decks, is just a small part of the massive complex that received at least $193 million in state funding over the course of multiple state budget cycles. That funding came from the state budgets for fiscal years 2023, 2024 and 2025 through a whopping 18 special line items and about $50 million in pandemic relief funds. Soccer: Lionel Messi's final Argentina game was World Cup Final at MetLife Viewed by many as a classic example of a pork project. The overall project at Middlesex College, identified in the county’s “Community, Innovation, and Opportunity Strategic Investment Plan,” intends to ensure that the college campus becomes a “destination for local and regional sports experiences.” It includes park upgrades, transportation improvements and classroom space. Given that Thomas A. Edison Park is adjacent to the county college campus, a pedestrian bridge is planned. In addition to the multi-sport stadium where NYCFC will make their home, according to Middlesex County the plans include:
a plaza that will serve as a gathering space for the residents, visitors, and students a 14-field athletic complex for soccer, lacrosse, baseball, softball, cricket and a running track a restaurant and bar a new student center the Middlesex County Innovation Magnet School a workforce development and conference center a new community park
The county touted the multipurpose venue as “designed for concerts, cultural events and sports such as baseball, soccer and lacrosse” and noted that it would meet “Big Ten, NCAA, Minor League Baseball and FIFA standards." The line items related to the Middlesex County project were scattered throughout the past few budgets in appropriations to the Departments of Education, Community Affairs and the Treasury and the Commission on Higher Education. This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: New $193M field at NJ county college will be home to NYCFC II soccer