FC Cincinnati

History

In May 2015, rumors of a new USL club in Cincinnati started to be reported by the news media. There was much speculation regarding the relationship the team would have with the Cincinnati Bengals, as well as a former Cincinnati soccer club, the Cincinnati Kings, as Jeff Berding was named as part of the ownership group. Berding was employed by the Bengals and on the board of the youth soccer club Kings-Hammer FC. The Lindner family, of American Financial Group which is headquartered in Cincinnati, was reported as the owner of the new team with Carl Lindner III representing the owners at the press conference.

Then on August 12, 2015, FC Cincinnati announced that John Harkes would coach the new club and that the club would play in Nippert Stadium.

On April 16, 2016, FC Cincinnati broke the USL attendance record for a game, with 20,497 in attendance for the rivalry game against Louisville City FC, and, on May 14, against another rival Pittsburgh Riverhounds, broke its own record with 23,375 in attendance. On September 17, 2016, the team broke the USL record again, when they drew 24,376 for their game against Orlando City B.

On July 16, 2016, FC Cincinnati set the record for highest attendance at a soccer match in the state of Ohio when 35,061 people came for an Exhibition game against Crystal Palace.

On October 2, 2016, FC Cincinnati hosted their first ever playoff match against Charleston Battery, losing 2–1 in the quarterfinals of the 2016 USL playoffs. In the process, the club broke the playoff and single game attendance record at 30,187.

Due to the successful first year, the club has generated national and international media coverage and is now regularly mentioned as an MLS expansion candidate. The club is actively pursuing one of the few remaining spots as the MLS expands to 28 teams. On November 29, 2016, MLS Commissioner Don Garber visited Cincinnati. In his day long visit, he met with owners and management, visited the club's facilities, toured landmarks around downtown and Over the Rhine, met with supporters at a Town Hall meeting hosted by former MLS player and ESPN analyst Taylor Twellman, and attended a black tie dinner with local business leaders.

Stadium

FC Cincinnati plays home matches at Nippert Stadium in Cincinnati, also home to the Cincinnati Bearcats football. Nippert Stadium is a 35,000+ seat stadium designed for American football and recently renovated to accommodate soccer. FC Cincinnati artificially limits the stadium's capacity for USL matches to approximately 25,000 with certain seating sections covered with tarpaulins. The "Bailey" is the supporters section in Nippert where the most boisterous fans cheer on FC Cincinnati. The stadium offers a full complement of suites and club seating to go along with bleacher seating throughout the remainder of Nippert. FC Cincinnati set a club record for home attendance with 35,061 fans at a friendly vs. Crystal Palace FC.

Rivalries

Cincinnati's geographic rivals include Louisville City FC and the Pittsburgh Riverhounds. Louisville City FC is located 100 miles away from Cincinnati, and the city's two main universities (Louisville and Cincinnati) had a long-standing football rivalry that ended in 2013 due to conference realignment. The two clubs compete for the River Cities Cup. While both teams went 1–1–1 against each other in the inaugural season (2016), Cincinnati took home the cup on July 23, 2016 thanks to a 4–3 aggregate score.

The Pittsburgh Riverhounds are located less than 290 miles away and are the second closest USL team from Cincinnati. This rivalry has developed from intense rivalry between the NFL's Cincinnati Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers. In the first-ever meeting between the two clubs, the Riverhounds-FC Cincinnati match set a USL-record crowd of 23,375 fans. The May 14, 2016 match was dubbed an "Orange Out", and had Bengals players on the pitch before the match as honorary captains.

Cincinnati also has a rivalry with the Charlotte Independence, known as the Queen City Cup Challenge. The two "Queen-Cities" faced in the inaugural home match at Nippert for FC Cincinnati. At the away leg in Charlotte, FC Cincinnati claimed the first edition of the Cup on the away-goals rule, with a record of 1–1–0 and an aggregate score of 4–4.

Ownership and team management

FC Cincinnati officially introduced John Harkes as its first head coach on August 12, 2015. Harkes had previously acted as the New York Red Bulls assistant coach from July 2006 to November 2007. Ryan Martin is the top assistant coach along with goalkeepers coach Jamie Starr. In February 2017, Harkes was relieved of his coaching duties and Alan Koch was hired as his successor.

Former Cincinnati Bengals executive Jeff Berding is acting as the President and General Manager.

The owner of FC Cincinnati is Carl Lindner III.

Supporters and club culture

FC Cincinnati has become one of the most supported lower-tier soccer clubs in the United States, routinely drawing crowds over 15,000 in its inaugural season. FC Cincinnati fans display their support by painting Nippert in a shade of orange and blue in the red dominated facility.

FC Cincinnati has six active/sanctioned supporters groups in their inaugural season. The groups come from different parts of the tri-state. The "german-themed" Die Innenstadt is based on Cincinnati's "inner city" neighborhoods including Downtown and Over-the-Rhine. Die Innenstadt hosts its match day activities at Mecklenburg Gardens and watches away matches at Rhinehaus OTR. Die Innenstadt kicks off every match with a supporters march from Mecklenburg up University Ave. and march into the south side of Nippert Stadium.

Another large supporters group is The Pride. This group is the oldest and was founded before the official club announcement in August 2015. The Pride spend their match days at The Brass Tap and also do a walk following Calhoun Ave., to Dennis St. and left onto Corry Ave. to meet Die Innenstadt. Members of the Pride support the club during away matches at Molly Malones in Covington, KY.

Smaller groups are based on various things the members have in common: The Den is a supporter's group geared towards families; The Legion is composed mostly of college-age members from the local universities; Lowen Des Sudens is made up of members from Northern Kentucky who spend their time pre-gaming at a NKY bar Barleycorns; the Queen City Firm consists mainly of supporters from Cincinnati's west-side. There are independent supporter groups as well. Queen City Mafia is not an official supporters group with the team and consists of people from all over the Tri-state area. QCM as it is frequently referenced is a small intimate group that feels more like a family than a suporters group.

The majority of these groups sit in the north-side Bailey, with the exception of the Legion who sit in the south-side. It is routine for the Bailey to be a "standing-section", where fans cheer passionately. The Bailey does not have "Capos", but is led by leaders of the various supporters groups.

Several chants and songs have been established by the supporters groups. After each FC Cincinnati goal, supporters repeat the chant "WE don't, WE don't, WE don't mess around, HEY!". It was started at a Die Innenstadt watch party for the second ever match, a friendly against KR Reykjavik. The chant was borrowed from an old game show on 700 WLW called Sports or Consequences in which host Gary Burbank would take questions from Cincinnati sports fans. If they got the question right, the hosts would celebrate by doing this chant. The show ended when the host retired in 2007, but many Cincinnati sports fans still remember the show fondly.

Members of the supporters groups meet several weeks before each match to compose "tifos" or other themed items for each match. Even though there are six or more supporters groups, the leaders and membership work together for a common good in supporting FC Cincinnati.

Broadcasting and coverage

On February 23, 2016, FC Cincinnati announced ESPN 1530 as the Official Radio Partner for the organization. ESPN 1530 will air all of FCC’s regular-season home matches. FC Cincinnati has also penned an agreement with Moerlein Lager House, which will be the official home of the ‘Coach John Harkes Show’. Hosted by Tom Gelehrter of 4th Floor Creative, the show is scheduled to air biweekly on Tuesdays from 6–7:00 p.m. on ESPN 1530 and will kick off March 22.

On March 25, 2016, FC Cincinnati reached an agreement with Sinclair Broadcast Group to have WKRC-TV, WSTR-TV and CinCW 12.2 televise all home games, including playoff games. 9 games air on WSTR, 4 on CinCW, 2 on Local 12. Tom Gelehrter will call play-by-play with Kevin McCloskey and Paul Rockwood as color analysts. Lindsay Patterson will serve as sideline reporter.

All live USL matches are streamed on YouTube.

FC Cincinnati broadcast its 2016 friendly against Crystal Palace live on Facebook. The broadcast also featured special Facebook Live 360 degree footage.

Roster

Where a player has not declared an international allegiance, the nation is determined by place of birth.

Head coaches

Minor trophies