2025 Final Grade: Jonny Shore

Jonny Shore was never meant to be a starter this year.

The Academy product made his Senior Team debut when he came off the bench on Opening Day at the age of 17, filling out a midfield that was depleted after the departures of Santiago Rodríguez and James Sands. He made his first start in the Home Opener win over Orlando City, then started 11 of the following 14 games, becoming an integral part of a New York City FC that proved the pundits wrong by making an unlikely run deep into the MLS Cup Playoffs.

New York City FC | Homegrown Debut Seasons*

* MLS league games only

He went on to make 28 regular-season appearances, scoring a goal along the way, and setting a new standard for NYCFC teenage debutants. In a year that saw a record three Homegrown players make their first appearances with the First Team, Shore’s 1,390 minutes in league games not only eclipsed the 83 minutes of Máximo Carrizo and 74 minutes of Seymour Reid we saw this year, but were more than double the 676 minutes put up by 19-year-old Andres Jason in 2021.

To go by the appearances put in by Carrizo and Reid, we likely would have seen Shore with the First Team at some point this year. But instead of seeing a few glimpses of playing time here and there, we got to watch Shore log one solid performance after another, and make the most impressive Homegrown debut in team history.

A debut season to remember

Not only that, Shore’s 2025 ranks among the best seasons for any NYCFC teenager. His output this past year only trailed that of Jack Harrison, who joined the club at age 19, and was slightly ahead of that of Mitja Ilenič, who already had First Team experience before coming to New York City as an 18-year-old. Shore made a seamless transition from NYCFC II, which play in the third division of North American soccer, to NYCFC, which play in the first division, and where you face players like Lionel Messi and Wilfried Zaha.

New York City FC | Teenage Debut Seasons*

* MLS league games only
† Prior First Team experience

That speaks to Shore’s mentality as much as his physicality. The teenager is mature beyond his years: He’s composed on and off the ball, earning just one yellow card and committing 15 fouls over the season — that works out to a little less than one foul per 90 minutes. He was emotionally unflappable during some spicy moments.

Even when facing Inter Miami’s world-class shithousery in the MLS Cup Playoffs Eastern Conference Final, when the full force of dark arts learned in the professional leagues of Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay rattled much of the NYCFC squad, Shore remained cool and collected. It was a baptism by fire and shirt-tugs, and it should serve him well. When Shore starts the 2026 season, the 18-year-old will have far more experience than players like Tayvon Gray or James Sands had at his age.

Teenage riot

Understandably, for a teenager new to MLS, Shore isn’t among the league elite when you look at the metrics for a midfielder. True, his 3.48 tackles per 90 minutes puts him in the 97th percentile per FBRef, but none of his other figures jump out at you. Look at his SofaScore radar chart, and you’ll see it isn’t anything special.

But those numbers only tell half the story. Shore is an unusually fluid player who not only is quick in recovery (just look at those tackles), but who can generate the team’s transition into attack by picking out the smart pass or linking up with other defensive players to move the ball quickly into dangerous positions. As we noted in his midterm grade back in June, “Shore has a flow. When he responds to a play, he already knows where he’s going to go and what he’s going to do. That ability to literally run around opposing players is part of the reason why Shore is so effective despite his youth…he freely joins the attack, and has taken 12 shots this year to give him an xG of 0.55 per FotMob.”

Shore ended the year with 16 shots and an xG of 0.74 per FotMob — and with one well-deserved goal that he nodded in against FC Dallas on the road in a game that ended in a 4-3 win for New York City.

Fast-Tracked: The rise of Jonny Shore

Jonny Shore was in the Starting XI for all 4 of New York City FC’s wins this season. Here’s a deep dive on the teenager, and why the arrival of Aiden O’Neill might change how his playing time is managed.

Hudson River BlueOliver Strand

Room for improvement

Still, there is room for improvement. That radar chart above isn’t wrong, and Shore could stand to be more aggressive in defense, and more creative in attack. That will come with time. The 18-year-old is still physically growing, and still learning from Head Coach Pascal Jansen and his staff. He is now playing in a midfield that added the defensive midfielder Aiden O’Neill (the former Standard de Liège captain is likely going to the 2026 FIFA World Cup with Australia), and the attacker Nico Férnandez Mercau, whose creativity and technical abilities put the league on notice in the MLS Cup Playoffs. Some of their influence is bound to rub off on Shore.

Which is to say: The kid is alright. Shore is a talented player who will only get better. Lucky us.

2025 Midterm Grade: A-
2025 Final Grade: A-