Thierry Henry making a move on his former teammates. Photo courtesy NJ.com

July 27, 2014 (Harrison, NJ) Over 25,000 fans jammed into the Harrison Red Bulls Stadium yesterday for a friendly game between the Red Bulls and the Arsenal Gunners of the English Premier Leaque. The parking lots were full, the traffic control was stretched to its limits and the scalpers were out doing a brisk business. It was good timing since the New Jersey Appellate Division in June upheld a lower court's ruling that the Red Bulls have to pay local property taxes to the Town of Harrison.



Why did so many fans show up to the little town of Harrison? They came to see the game for sure but mostly they came to honor current Red Bull soccer play, Thierry Henry. Henry used to play for Arsenal Gunners in the English Premier Leaque before coming over to the United States to play with the Red Bulls

The Red Bulls won the game 1-0 on a goal scored by Bradley Wright-Phillips off a corner by Thierry Henry. The fans would have preferred a spectacular goal by Thierry Henry earlier in the game but the Arsenal Gunners goalie Wojchiech Szczesny made a very nice save to deflate that balloon. The crowd still cheered the effort.

It is wonderful to see a stadium filled with soccer fans cheering on their team and honoring players in exhibition games. The Red Bulls stadium is just the right size of venue for soccer. The atmosphere of a crowded stadium as opposed to a much larger Mets Stadium in the Meadowlands adds value to a game honoring a great player like Henry. A game like this also leaves an impression on the visiting team that maybe just maybe soccer is catching on as a major sport in the United States.