, ,

Pirlo Officially Signs For New York City FC

, ,

NYCFC have signed their third designated player, Andrea Pirlo, from Juventus [Source: Juventus].


Andrea Pirlo, the Italian international who recently played the Champions league final, joins Lampard and Villa as the third designated player for New York City FC.

For Third Rail members, this is music to the ears of many.

Pirlo adds another creative element to the team, and although at the latter stages of his career, the fact that he was able to compete with the best just this past European season (winning Serie A, the Coppa Italia and a finalist in the Champions League) means that the fans are getting a world-class player who is not past his sell-by-date.

With NYCFC's Cityzens points (a rewards system set up by the club that gives fans the opportunity to win merchandise and get unique game day experiences) you can expect a sharp increase in the requests for Meet and Greets with the players that normally takes place after home games.

Third Rail fans will be lining up to take a photo with Pirlo, as Jose Bido did on the Italian's arrival in the city. [image credit: Jose Bido]

Third Rail fans will be lining up to take a photo with Pirlo, as Jose Bido did on the Italian's arrival in the city. [image credit: Jose Bido]

Pirlo is a massively popular player worldwide, with the #PirloIsNotImpressed campaign run by Juventus being one of the more viral themes around his persona.

This star power will definitely bring in an extra flow of fans to the game, not that NYCFC have had much difficulty in driving interest. Averaging 27,000 people a game at Yankee stadium, with the addition of Pirlo and the arrival of Lampard, you could easily see that raise to 30k+. And don't forget that NYCFC have been averaging that number despite a run of poor results at the start of the season. 

The second half of this inaugural season is building up to be an exciting one for New York City and our Third Rail supporters.

From the Third Rail board and our 1,700 members, we welcome you, Andrea Pirlo, to the club!

Ross Cranwell is the Marketing Director at the Third Rail.

Irish-born, but all-in with New York City FC since 2014.

You can find Ross on Linkedin and Twitter.