A World Class Training Facility

A major league team needs a major league training facility, and Major League Soccer's newest franchise appears to have settled on a location. On Tuesday June 26, 2018, FC Cincinnati officially announced plans to construct a training facility in Milford, Ohio. As of now, the agreement is pending between FCC and local government entities of both Clermont County and Milford. 

The training complex will be built on the site of the former Expressway Park. Rumors were swirling that FCC bought the park when the former owners released a notification that the season's softball leagues would be cancelled. FCC's training facility is scheduled to be operational by July of next year with all site work finished by the end of 2019. The team plans to relocate to the complex in January and will use temporary facilities until the work is complete. 

Costing $30 million to construct, the complex will sprawl across about 23 acres of land and will host a variety of soccer related events such as FCC academy matches and local soccer tournaments. There are plans for three full sized and fully lighted soccer fields as well as a designated area for goalies. There are also plans for a 30,000 square foot multilevel building for the MLS team and a 6,500 square foot center for the academy teams.

In conclusion, this sounds like a state of the art training facility for Cincinnati's newest major league team. I have seen a few pictures online of what the complex might look like, and I've liked what I've seen so far. This process also seemed to be much smoother than the stadium saga, and I am beyond thankful for that. 

There is still a lot of work to be done before the start of next year's MLS season. I believe the team is still working with the University of Cincinnati to finalize the necessary upgrades to make Nippert Stadium ready for the 2019 season while FCC's soccer specific stadium is being built. They are also in the process of assembling an MLS roster while focusing on the current United Soccer League season. If you thought the journey to get into MLS was chaotic, I have a feeling that the trek to the start of the MLS season will be a wilder rider. Regardless, I cannot wait for FCC to finally step foot onto an MLS pitch.