David and me: Bidding farewell to El Guaje

Photo credit: adidas

It’s a rare thing for soccer fans to be able to watch the very beginnings of their favorite club. Most fans are born into their allegiances to long-standing sporting organizations, inherited from their family tree. Others find their home in an existing domain as they fall in love with the sport on their own, drawn to either their local team or one that speaks to them as a fan.

By many of those who hold loyalty to one of those long-standing clubs, to be a fan of a newcomer can be seen as less meaningful, or even make you a plastic — in a “well, where were you before they existed?” sort of way. But what they overlook is a special, rare sense of belonging. It’s one thing to know the history of your club from start to finish, it gives you a sense of being part of something greater. But to watch that history with your own eyes, to be a part of it, is a sensation unlike anything else in sports.

I wasn’t born into soccer fandom. I didn’t play as a child (baseball being my first true love and occupying almost all of my time) and attended games sparsely, but was never a dedicated fan of any club. My fascination with the world’s game didn’t spark until near the end of my time in college, as my younger brother began playing more seriously at a higher level and I started to pay attention so that I could understand what I was seeing with him.

Around that time, New York City FC had just been announced by Major League Soccer as an expansion franchise alongside Orlando City SC, to begin play in 2015. I began to take note of the club and it’s movements as it prepared to launch. I recall the day — June 2, 2014 — when a player named David Villa was announced as the team’s first signing and ultimately its first captain.

As new and naive as I was to soccer, I did pay some attention to big events like the 2010 World Cup, the first one I really sat down and watched. Even someone as uninformed as I was knew who David Villa was. I watched him that summer guide Spain to the title amid their incredible international run in the late 2000s and early 2010s. To see the new club in my area announce someone like that as its first signing certainly piqued my interest.

My fascination started so small, but grew and grew. Before I knew it, I had season tickets, a jersey, a scarf. I was sitting in Section 238 at the club’s first home match against the New England Revolution on a cold day in March when that same David Villa scored the first home goal in NYCFC history — helping to secure the first win in team history.

Over the next four years, I would watch David Villa perform so many varieties of that same feat — putting the ball in the back of the net. I’d watch him do it himself 77 times and help his teammates do it another 26. I watched him score stunning 50-yarders in the regular season, I watched him score in the pouring rain, I watched him score in the playoffs and I watched him score the 400th goal of his illustrious career.

In addition to his on-field accolades, which would need an entire article of their own to describe with the detail they deserve, Villa was the epitome of a captain for NYCFC. He constantly praised the club, the league as a whole and the sport in the U.S. above and beyond what he needed to do. He dedicated himself to learning English to do the best job he could with the media, fans and his teammates. He launched youth soccer initiatives, served as the face of the team and fell in love with NYC as much as it fell in love with him.

I didn’t know much when I began following NYCFC. I was new to soccer and barely knew a right wing from a left back. But like many others in this diverse city that has embraced this team, I learned. Much of what I learned, I learned from Villa.

I learned what a leader does, how he speaks, what he looks like. I learned how he represents his club front and center, driving it forward on the field and off. I learned how he balances his life, taking care of his professional career while making time for his children. Most of all — from David Villa — I learned to love the game.

As I learned, I was more and more able to appreciate what I was seeing and how special it was. His hustle every single minute, his pure, amazing skill, his nose for goal and insatiable drive to simply do more.

Hearing the news that he’ll be leaving — to reportedly wrap up his playing career in Japan — forced me to pause. The rumors had been there for a little while; I didn’t want to believe them. The day was going to come eventually, but no matter how ready you imagine you are to witness the absence of something that seemed so permanent — I’ve never known soccer fandom or NYCFC without Villa — it catches you off guard, every time.

After my initial pang of sadness — probably the same reaction as many NYCFC fans around the city — my next thoughts were of that time prior to the launch of the club, and how much had changed.

From a limited understanding of the basic rules of the game, I could now tell you about our entire playing philosophy. Which players filled what roles, what was expected of each of them in any given situation. From barely following the World Cup to attending every match I could reach — some that were far from home — and holding season tickets to this day.

Without David Villa, I probably never start writing about soccer. I probably never get the chance to work in it. I probably never become the fan, so in love with the sport, that I am today. Without David Villa, I can scarcely imagine what NYCFC would be like — or will be like.

So while I cope with the simultaneous feelings of sadness and gratitude, I’m first and foremost thankful.

Thanks, David, for inspiring me to dive into something new wholeheartedly. Thanks for years of entertainment, astonishment and awe. Thanks for dedicating yourself to this club, this city, so that what you’ve built here will continue to grow and flourish into the future — so that one day my club will also have a long history I can give to my kids.

But most of all, thanks for taking a chance. Thanks for coming over from Atletico Madrid four years ago to something that didn’t even exist beyond paper yet, giving it your all and becoming — to me — the best ambassador of modern soccer in the U.S. we’ve ever had.

While NYCFC moves on to 2019 without its captain, I hope that David Villa enjoys an incredible farewell season wherever he lands; he deserves it. I think I speak for every NYCFC fan when I say this: New York City will always be your home, and we hope that one day you find your way back here.

Thank you, David.

Follow Colton on Twitter: @cjcoreschi.

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