Saturday, November 8, 2025
The global game is coming to Uniondale as The Island F.C., an independent professional soccer club, was unveiled, alongside plans for a new stadium.
The team, launched by principal owner and chairman Mitchell Rechler and team president Peter Zaratin, is set to debut in March 2027 and will compete in MLS Next Pro, the professional development league of Major League Soccer.
“This is something that did not happen overnight,” Rechler said on Oct. 14 at the Long Island Children’s Museum in Uniondale. “We have been working on bringing pro soccer to Long Island for 18 years.”
Rechler is a managing partner of Rechler Equity Partners, one of the largest real estate developers on Long Island. Zaration, a former soccer player, is the founder and CEO of Global Concepts, a metropolitan area-based sports management company.
Rechler and Zaratin also revealed their plans to build a privately funded outdoor 2,500-seat stadium — which can be increased to fit 5,000 — at Mitchel Athletic Complex, also in Uniondale.
Preseason games for the Island FC are set to begin in January 2027. Organizers confirmed that the launch was strategically timed to build on the anticipated “national surge in soccer enthusiasm,” after the 2026 FIFA World Cup in MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
The team is estimated to be around $25 million undertaking. Around $20 million will be devoted for the new year-round training facility and around $5 million to launch the club. Stadium designs are anticipated to be released over the next few months, with the intent of breaking ground next spring.
“Over the last few years, we heard consistently about the strength, resilience and pride of Long Islanders,” MLS Next Pro President Ali Curtis said, adding that “Long Island is unique because while it's its own community, the special people that live here are from all over the world, and soccer brings people together and is the universal language.”
Alongside the launch of a professional team, expanding opportunities for younger players to grow and succeed is another priority of the venture. Enhanced scholarship programs and a strengthened youth-college-pro pathway will be designed to help aspiring athletes to pursue their goals.
Plans are also underway to return a professional women’s soccer team to Long Island
“We’re building a legacy for Long Island,” Zaratin said, adding that the team's mission is to “empower aspiring soccer players through an Island-wide development pathway that ensures every player–regardless of background or gender, can reach their full potential in the game.”
Several elected officials attended the announcement. Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said that it was an honor “to have a professional soccer team right here in Nassau County, which will provide dynamic entertainment and create economic prosperity."
