On the left of the players’ entrance at NYCFC’s Etihad City Football Academy training ground hang four rows of square City blue plaques. They showcase the club’s homegrown players — players who have come through the academy system and have made their first-team debut, and only the first row is filled.
From James Sands’ debut on Sept. 16, 2017, as the first NYCFC homegrown player, to Jonathan Shore’s on Feb. 22, 2025, as the latest, there have been nine City academy products who have earned a first-team place. Since Sands’ departure to Bundesliga outfit St. Pauli in the January transfer window, Brooklyn native Justin Haak has become the senior homegrown player in the dressing room, making his debut on June 4, 2019. He has played and started every game this season, and captained The Blues in the US Open Cup in a 1-0 loss against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds.
The 23-year-old was touted to replace Sands’ role in the midfield before the season started, but has since found his place further back next to captain Thiago Martins at the heart of the defense. Their bond is evident on and off the pitch as they have kept six clean sheets together, while Haak named his defensive partner as the squad’s best cook and the teammate he admires the most.
“We started [playing together] last year and felt really strong together — we had some good games, we continued to work on it,” Haak told amNewYork. “I feel very comfortable in either position, and one thing I’ve taken away is to always be ready for whatever the team needs, and that’s always something that I try to keep in the back of my mind.”
New coach Pascal Jansen started Haak in the midfield at the start of the season, but injuries to Strahinja Tanasijević and Tayvon Gray against LAFC on Matchday 2 forced the backline to reshuffle.
“He gives us the flexibility that we’re looking for,” Jansen said. “Playing on the left side of Thiago looks good at the moment. It looks stable and gives us attacking threat on the ball, while giving us the defensive stability that we’re looking for.”
Despite being further back, in build-up play, he is regularly involved in the midfield and around the opposition box, providing an extra man for overloads in channels. In his last four matches, the ball-playing defender won 66% of his duels and recorded two assists — the firsts of his career — including one for Alonso Martinez’s opener against cross-town rivals New York Red Bulls in the first Hudson River Derby of the season.
“It’s extra special for me growing up here, playing in the academy and going through all the levels,” Haak said. “To have played in these types of games, and especially to win them, felt super good. All my friends and family were in the stands, so it was a really nice feeling.”
Haak has been a part of the NYCFC set-up for 10 years, becoming part of NYCFC’s first-ever academy side at the U-14s level that later won the Generation adidas Cup in 2017 and the USDA National Championship in 2018. He was also the first first-team player signed from the Five Boroughs.
Haak played a part in the club’s recent triumphs, winning the 2021 MLS Cup and the subsequent 2022 Campeones Cup. A photo mural of academy products Gray, Haak, Andres Jasson, and Sands holding the MLS Cup trophy sits at the end of the players’ entrance corridor — a reminder to all future players of the legacy the first few homegrown who made it to the first team have left.
“It was the first year they started, so it was perfect timing for me — I got a little bit lucky, and then started moving through the academy,” Haak said. “It’s super special for me to be home with all my friends and family — even the guys I grew up with playing are still close by.
Before wearing City blue, Haak played for grassroots teams in Chelsea Piers and at Met Oval Field in Brooklyn, where he moved when he was 10. He’s worn another professional team’s colors as well while on a quest for more playing time — the then-19-year-old was sent on loan to United Soccer League side Hartford Athletic on two separate occasions. He made 24 appearances for the club across the 2020 and 2021 seasons, scoring one goal.
With Jansen experimenting with a back three against Nashville in NYCFC’s most recent match after a 3-0 loss at home to Houston, all eyes will be on Haak and his team to do better than their Eastern Conference semifinals finish last season.
