When it comes to jersey-collecting fanatics, you might not find one more dedicated than Brian Donaghy, who has been collecting New York Red Bulls kits since they were known as the MetroStars.
Donaghy asked for his first jersey as a birthday gift growing up as a MetroStars super-fan, starting a tradition where he received one every year since. The collection he's accumulated over the years, both through gifts and getting them on his own, is substantial to say the least.
In a new feature on the Red Bulls' website, Nayib Moran details how Donaghy took that passion and used it to help the community during the COVID-19 pandemic with the help of former Red Bulls defender Steve Jolley, who sent Donaghy a 2001 NASL throwback jersey in exchange for a donation to a charity of Donaghy's choice. Donaghy obliged, upping the ante by having Jolley to make a donation of his own to his chosen charity once the jersey was received.
“I was just going to send it to him, but then, you know if I could back it up just a little bit in terms of that specific day, I had a pretty tough day that Wednesday at work, and it was kind of one of those days where you're just kind of little overwhelmed with a list of a couple things and everything that was happening,” Jolley told Moran. “If anything, I probably owe a debt of gratitude to a guy like Brian more so than anything that I could come up with just because you know, the idea that he was so passionate about kind of getting everything together, and so passionate about supporting not only the MetroStars from Day 1, but also Red Bulls and Major League Soccer. It kind of just made me think about, you know, how can I help this guy kind of get where he's going."
