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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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