With Marc de Grandpre as president and GM and Julian de Guzman as sporting director, the New York Red Bulls come with a distinctly 91原创 flavour.
On Saturday, both will be cheering on their team as it takes on the Los Angeles Galaxy, led by former Toronto FC coach Greg Vanney, in the MLS Cup final in Carson, Calif.
De Grandpre is in his second stint with the Major League Soccer club while de Guzman, a Toronto native and former Canada captain, joined the front office in February.
"We're all excited. This is a big moment for the club," said de Grandpre, a Montreal native. "We haven't been here since 2008 (when the Red Bulls lost 3-1 to Columbus in their first final appearance).
"This is like a Game 7 ultimately and we're going to leave it all out there and hope for the best," he added. "We're very proud of the team, the players and where we're at. (Saturday), I guess, before kickoff anxiety will kick in but we have to enjoy the moment. These are not moments that occur every year or every other year. We're lucky, fortunate and we're grateful to be here and we'll soak it all in as an organization."
While the fourth-place Galaxy (19-8-7) finished 12 places and 17 points ahead of the Red Bulls (11-9-14) in the overall league standings, one can argue the New Yorkers arrive at Dignity Health Sports Park as the team of destiny.
Entering the playoffs as the seventh-ranked team in the Eastern Conference, the Red Bulls are the lowest-ever seed to reach the MLS championship game.
The Red Bulls started the season with just one loss in their first 10 league outings (4-1-5) and went unbeaten in their first 12 league outings at Red Bull Arena (7-0-5) before losing 2-0 to Philadelphia on Aug. 31.
But they limped into the playoffs after winning just one of their last nine regular-season outings (1-5-3). The lone win (4-1) during that run came Oct. 2 at lowly Toronto.
De Grandpre points to the break for the Leagues Cup, which ran July 26 to Aug. 25, for the loss of form during that run. The Red Bulls played just two Leagues Cup games, losing to Toronto and Mexico's Pachuca both on penalty kicks, with a 25-day pause before resuming MLS play.
"The team managed to persevere, stay resilient and get us into the playoffs," said de Grandpre. "And they're true to the form they were showing early in the season.
"It's a group of players who truly enjoy being with each other, love each (other), care for each other and have totally embraced what (German coach) Sandro (Schwarz) has brought to the table in terms of culture and the way we approach the matches. You can feel it in the room. It's a special group of people."
The Red Bulls are making the most of their record 15th-straight post-season appearance.
They started the playoffs with a bang, upsetting defended champion and second-seeded Columbus 1-0 on the road and then via penalty shootout in Harrison, N.J., to win the best-of-three first-round series.
They went on to dispatch No. 6 New York City FC 2-0 in the Eastern Conference semifinal and No. 4 Orlando City 1-0 in the conference final.
The Red Bulls have made sure their fans will be on hand to cheer on the team. The club bought almost 2,000 tickets for members of its supporters groups and season-ticket holders as well as for its front office, custodial and security staff from its stadium and training facility, and food and beverage partners.
"We want to make sure we reward our fans and that our most important human capital is with us 鈥� our staff, the people who make it happen ever day. We want to reward them as well," said de Grandpre.
Some 700 members of the Red Bulls supporters groups also each received US$300 as well as a ticket to help defray travel costs.
De Grandpre started with Bauer Hockey in Montreal and then, after graduate school in the U.S., became one of the first marketing employees for Red Bull North America in late 1999.
In 2006, when the Austria-based energy drink giant bought the New York/New Jersey MetroStars, de Grandpre was tasked with rebranding the franchise to the Red Bulls.
He spent two years as the team's managing director before moving on to Qualcomm (wireless technology), Imax (immersive cinema) and KIND (healthy snack foods), rejoining the Red Bulls in April 2014 as GM.
"Ever since then, it's been a pleasurable experience, very rewarding. I've surrounded myself and the organization with the best talent in the business," he said. "And I believe that is why we are here today. It's been a long road, but the right way to get there, that's for sure."
In 2015, de Grandpre was honoured with the league's Doug Hamilton Executive of the Year award.
This report by The 91原创 Press was first published Dec. 6, 2024.
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Neil Davidson, The 91原创 Press
