New York Red Bulls Name Aaron Long Team Captain

photo by Matt Kremkau

Ever since former New York Red Bulls midfielder Sean Davis took his talents over to Nashville SC during the offseason, one of the questions that supporters had was who was going to be the next captain of the team in 2022 and, possibly beyond. Well, wonder no more.

The New York Red Bulls have selected the United States Men’s National Team defender Aaron Long as the team's captain, Head Coach Gerhard Struber announced today.

Aaron Ray Long, 29, is the first player in franchise history to sign with New York Red Bulls II, earn promotion to the senior team, and be named captain. The Oak Hills, California native signed with Red Bulls II on March 10, 2016, and subsequently earned 2016 USL Defender of the Year while anchoring a Red Bulls II backline and team to a 2016 USL Championship title.

Long then was promoted to the first team on February 22, 2017, and has been a mainstay for New York’s and the USMNT’s backline. For the club, he has recorded 135 starts, 140 total appearances, 12,041 minutes played, nine goals, and four assists across all competitions. Long has led New York’s backline to 48 clean sheets across all competitions (37 MLS regular-season/5 Concacaf Champions League/4 MLS Playoff/2 U.S Open Cup) and helped lead the Red Bulls to their third Supporters’ Shield in 2018. His eight goals in MLS regular-season play is the most for a defender in franchise history.

For country, Long earned his first national team cap on October 17, 2018, in an international friendly against Peru. Since then, he has anchored the USMNT to 10 shutouts, worn the captain’s armband five times, and tallied three goals and two assists in 1,713 minutes played.

As the 2022 MLS season quickly approaches, Gerhard Struber now has his field general ready for his marching orders to lead his team against the best of the league. That is until he too joins the list of former New York Red Bull captains that leave the team for greener pastures shortly afterward.

New York Red Bulls All-Time Captains

1996: Peter Vermes

1997 – 98: Tony Meola

1999 – 2002: Tab Ramos

2003 - 04: Eddie Pope

2005: Youri Djorkaeff/Amado Guevara

2006: Youri Djorkaeff/Amado Guevara/Tony Meola

2007: Claudio Reyna

2008: Claudio Reyna/Juan Pablo Angel

2009 – 10: Juan Pablo Angel

2011 – 14: Thierry Henry

2015 – 16: Dax McCarty

2017: Sacha Kljestan

2018-2019: Luis Robles

2020: Sean Davis

2022: Aaron Long

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