Cincinnati has a rich history in sports. The Reds were the
first professional baseball team in history when they were formed in 1869 and
have gone on to capture 5 world championships as well as the hearts of baseball
lovers in the Queen City. The Bengals were formed in 1968 and turn what is
regarded as a baseball town into a jungle filled to the brim with members of
Who Dey Nation during the fall and winter months. The Cyclones hit the ice with
routine hockey finesse and have captured a few Kelly Cup Championships over the
last few years. Next year, a new chapter in Cincinnati sports history will be
written as the United Soccer League showcases the sport of professional soccer
to the Queen City when its latest team, FC Cincinnati, takes the field.
FC Cincinnati will play in the USL, which is a Division III
Professional Soccer League according to the United States Soccer Federation.
This division is below the Division II North American Soccer League as well as
the Division I, and perhaps most well-known professional soccer league in the
United States, Major League Soccer.
The team will play its home games inside the newly renovated
Nippert Stadium on the campus of the University of Cincinnati. The stadium is
also the home of the University of Cincinnati Bearcats football team, and with
it being able to hold a capacity of 40,000 people, there will be plenty of
seats for Cincinnati soccer fans to watch their new professional team in
person.
This is not the first professional soccer team to call
Cincinnati home. Currently, the Cincinnati Saints of the National Premier
Soccer League, which is considered to be a lower tier than the USL, play both
indoor and outdoor soccer and have garnered a nice fan base. Personally, I
would love to see the Saints play FC Cincinnati in some sort of scrimmage that
would promote both teams and attract a larger audience for Cincinnati soccer.
Plus, I think it would be awesome to see the two soccer teams that represent
Cincinnati duke it out for Queen City soccer supremacy.
At the time that this post was written, all that is really
known about FC Cincinnati is that they will be playing inside Nippert Stadium,
their colors are orange and blue, they are owned by Carl Linder III of the
Linder family who had previously owned the Reds, and their coach is former
professional soccer player John Harkes.
I am very excited to see the USL come to Cincinnati, and I
will definitely be rooting for FC Cincinnati. I plan on going to a few of their
games as well as watching the ones that I cannot attend via the USL YouTube
channel which streams live USL matches. Hopefully they have a bobblehead night
or produce a bobblehead for purchase. I would love to add an FC Cincinnati
nodder to my collection.
In conclusion, I am very excited that FC Cincinnati will be
playing soccer and with a USL team now in Cincinnati, maybe the NHL and the NBA
will look at the Queen City as a potential expansion city. U.S. Bank Arena is
getting a complete makeover, and I think it would be a perfect place for a
revived Cincinnati Royals basketball team! Until that happens, I am very
satisfied having a new soccer team to cheer on to victory!
Go FC Cincinnati!
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