A little more than seven months after capturing their first-ever MLS Cup with a thrilling 4-2 shootout win over the Portland Timbers, members of the New York City Football Club finally received their 2021 championship rings during a ceremony last Thursday night.
Designed by Baron, the rings incorporate gemstone representations of the official team colors — light blue, dark blue and orange.
The ring top features the club’s “NYC” monogram logo — rendered in bezel-set, custom-cut dark blue gems — surrounded by round colorless diamonds and the "MLS Cup Champions" wordmark.
The right side of the ring pays homage to the team’s “UNDENYABLE” (the NY purposely outlined) slogan in yellow gold. Positioned above the slogan are the iconic NYCFC smokestacks, which are set off after every goal at home games to animate the crowd. Below the slogan is the date of the championship win — 12-11-21. Along the shoulder of the ring is a row of light blue gems.
The left side of the ring shows the player's name in raised white gold above the historic MLS Cup trophy embellished in yellow gold and accented with colorless diamonds. Within the trophy is the player's number, also in raised white gold. As with the other side, the shoulder of the ring is adorned with a row of light blue gems.
On the inside of the ring, an engraving shows the names of NYCFC’s playoff opponents along with the score of each game. The shank is set with seven stones representing the years the club has been in the league. Six are colorless diamonds, but the seventh is an orange stone representing the team's first-ever MLS Cup title.
During the championship game, the Portland Timbers evened the score at 1-1 with a dramatic 94th-minute equalizer at their home field, Providence Park. After a scoreless overtime session, the outcome was finally decided by a suspenseful shootout that saw NYCFC goalkeeper Sean Johnson stopping two Timbers attempts.
Prior to receiving their rings on Thursday, representatives of the team got to ring the Closing Bell at the Nasdaq MarketSite in Times Square.
The 2021 MLS championship marked the first title for a New York sports franchise since the New York Giants won Super Bowl XLVI following the 2011 season. What's more, no New York team had won a soccer championship since the New York Cosmos pulled off the feat in 1982.
Credits: Images courtesy of Baron Championship Rings 2022.