Picture this in your head: it’s wintertime during the early 1980’s, and you are a mid-year third grader who has just moved from Northern Ohio to Clifton, a small neighborhood in Cincinnati. You have only played baseball and golf, and you now will have to start fresh after the winter. Friends and all. Suddenly my mom tells me she has signed me up for soccer. Okay, I’ll play… What’s Soccer? Third grade, mind you, and I had never heard of the sport. That was the day I never went back.
A fan holding an FC Cincinnati flag during a game.
Soccer became my passion, just like every kid in this city, apparently. Cincinnati is new to the scene in the MLS, yes. But Cincinnati is tops in the country with knowledge and passion. Everybody has played, regardless if they started before crawling, or after their 40’s. Everybody has at least tried to play, even if it was just for fun.
Club teams here grew up into adult leagues, while the most passionate players continued into a little known semi-pro style of league. We played the best of the best in the city back in the 90’s into the 2000’s. There was little need for a real professional team, as there was no MLS in existence. So, when teams like the Silverbacks or Cheetahs popped up here and there in Cincinnati, they did not gain much traction. Shoot, we played against some of those guys, so why would we pay to watch! But we had something to start from.
A group of FC Cincinnati fans enter the Nippert Stadium.
Then out of nowhere, UDF’s (local big business) Carl Lindner stepped in and ended the drought. In 2016 this new club showed up in a lower league with real sponsorship for a change in Cincinnati. And it EXPLODED onto the Club soccer scene! Clifton once again became thrust into my life as the club played its home games at Nippert Stadium, at the University of Cincinnati, and the fans SHOWED UP in HUGE numbers. They were even breaking MLS numbers for attendance while playing in the USL! It set the record at Nippert, and the USL record, on September 29, 2018 while amassing 31,478 fans.
FC Cincinnati fans during an MLS game.
While we know how the record turned out during their first season in the MLS, the fans kept coming. FC Cincinnati was THIRD in attendance compared to the MLS, even with our dismal three wins! But just wait until we start and complete a season with a full-time head coach… FC Cincinnati is bound for glory!
