The Red Bulls went on a worst-to-first campaign, topping the Eastern Conference by one point over Columbus before losing 3–2 on aggregate against San Jose in the quarterfinals of the 2010 MLS Cup Playoffs.

"I have followed Hans' career for many years and I think he will be an excellent coach for this team", said Red Bull New York General Manager and Sporting Director Erik Solér.

"Hans brings a vast amount of experience from a variety of different clubs in Europe and he has been a fantastic mentor for many young and established players.

Head coach Hans Backe confirmed that the club signed Estonian international Joel Lindpere, though the paperwork was not yet complete.

In preseason play, the Red Bulls won the 2010 Walt Disney World Pro Soccer Classic tournament in Orlando, beating Toronto FC 4–0 in the final behind three goals from captain Juan Pablo Ángel.

SuperDraft picks Tim Ream, Conor Chinn and Irving Garcia were signed to contracts as was veteran goalkeeper Greg Sutton and Estonian import Joel Lindpere.

The club acquired midfielder Carl Robinson from Toronto FC for a 2011 MLS SuperDraft pick, watched Enar Jääger and Yevhen Levchenko come and go as trialists, and sent Ernst Öbster back to Austria.

The club announced that forward Giorgi Chirgadze, the first player signed from Red Bulls Academy, would likely miss the season due to a hip injury.

New York began the regular season at home with a win against the Chicago Fire on March 27 in the first MLS match at Red Bull Arena[2] in front of a crowd of 24,572.

The club also advanced in their play-in game for the U.S. Open Cup against the Philadelphia Union with a 2–1 win at home with rookie Conor Chinn scoring both goals.

As the Red Bulls already had two slots due to a 2007 trade with Chivas USA, the club received $70,000 in allocation money from the league as compensation.

The team won their three league matches due mostly to GK Bouna Coundoul earning two clean sheets and a solidified Red Bulls defense.

GK Greg Sutton added "we should never have put ourselves in that spot in the first place", when addressing the goal scored to eliminate the Red Bulls.

[7] The team ended the month with top scorer Juan Pablo Ángel named MLS Player of the Week for his performance against the Kansas City Wizards by scoring two goals in a span of 8 minutes to seal the victory for New York.

On July 14, Thierry Henry joined the Red Bulls after a successful three years at FC Barcelona, taking his usual number 14.

Erik Solér, Red Bull New York General Manager and Sporting Director stated "Thierry is not only a world class player who will undoubtedly improve our squad, but he has shown most importantly throughout his career that he is a winner.

He has made it clear to us that he is committed in the short and long term to help in our vision of making our organization the premium franchise in Major League Soccer.

Known as the "Staten Island Ronaldinho", New York native son Wolyniec played 166 games and scored 35 goals in all competitions during his three stints with the MetroStars/Red Bulls franchise.

Red Bulls captain Ángel was the lone club representative chosen to play in the 2010 MLS All-Star Game held July 28 in Houston.

"[12] On August 6, the club announced that midfielders Luke Sassano and Brian Nielsen would miss the remainder of the season due to injury and that defender Kevin Goldthwaite had been waived.

On September 14, the Red Bulls traded talented but mercurial forward Macoumba Kandji to the Colorado Rapids in exchange for midfielder Mehdi Ballouchy.

Besides the one-game benching of Ángel, the introduction of Ballouchy into the midfield also proved disruptive to the team's rotation and resulted in less playing time for emerging rookie Tony Tchani.

Also on September 16, the Red Bulls announced that little-used rookie midfielder Irving Garcia would miss the rest of the season due to injury.

On October 2, the Red Bulls defeated the Kansas City Wizards 1–0 to clinch a playoff spot and move into first place in the Eastern Conference, a remarkable turnaround for a club that finished last the prior season.

The Red Bulls followed this performance with a scoreless draw against Real Salt Lake, a 2–1 loss at the Philadelphia Union, and a regular season-ending 2–0 victory over the New England Revolution.

These results, along with mediocre late season play by the rival Columbus Crew, ensured a first-place finish in the Eastern Conference for the Red Bulls.

Joel Lindpere scored the game's only goal in the 55th minute and New York brought a 1–0 aggregate lead home to Red Bull Arena for the November 4 return leg.

Off the field, General Manager Erik Solér told the press that the club would sign Norwegian international Jan Gunnar Solli and English forward Luke Rodgers in January.

Meanwhile, captain Juan Pablo Ángel confirmed that he would not return in 2011, telling the press, "I know that I won't be a part of this team next year.

In the dying moments, late substitute Thierry Henry sent a wide-open header over the crossbar and the Red Bulls worst-to-first season ended.