FC Cincinnati

• 1. Introduction

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  FC Cincinnati drew 35,061 people to Nippert Stadium on the 16th of July, 2016, for an exhibition match against Crystal Palace. The club had been in existence for less than a year. It was competing in the United Soccer League, American soccer's second tier. That single night set the Ohio state record for soccer attendance. The questions that number raises take years to fully answer. How does a brand-new lower-division club draw a crowd that size? What drives a city to build that kind of demand for a sport it had no top-flight team to represent? And when FC Cincinnati eventually reached Major League Soccer, what kind of club did it become? The story traces back to the 12th of August, 2015. That day, the club was officially announced and John Harkes was named as its first head coach.

• 2. Record Crowds in the USL

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  On the 16th of April, 2016-20,497 fans packed Nippert Stadium for a league match against Louisville City FC. That crowd broke the United Soccer League's single-game attendance record. Within a month, FC Cincinnati had broken its own mark. On the 14th of May, 23,375 fans turned up for a match against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds. The occasion was billed as an Orange Out, with Cincinnati Bengals players serving as honorary captains before kickoff. By the 17th of September, 2016, the record had climbed again to 24,376 for another match against Orlando City B. The following year, on the 5th of August, 2017, a rematch against Orlando City B drew 25,308.

  The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup brought FC Cincinnati into direct competition with MLS clubs for the first time. On the 14th of June, 2017, Cincinnati faced Columbus Crew and won 1-0. Baye Djiby Fall scored the only goal. The attendance of 30,160 broke the Cup's record for a fourth-round match. Two weeks later, Cincinnati eliminated the Chicago Fire 3-1 on penalties after a goalless draw. Goalkeeper Mitch Hildebrandt stopped three of the four spot kicks and made ten saves across the ninety minutes. The crowd of 32,287 ranked as the second-largest in U.S. Open Cup history in the modern era. That match was broadcast nationally on ESPN. Cincinnati reached the Open Cup semi-finals before facing the New York Red Bulls on the 15th of August. They led 2-0 before losing 3-2 in extra time.

  On the 29th of September, 2018, FC Cincinnati's final regular-season home match in the USL drew 31,478 fans. They won 3-0 against Indy Eleven and were awarded the USL regular-season championship title in the aftermath.

• 3. The MLS Expansion Bid

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  In December 2016, MLS Commissioner Don Garber traveled to Cincinnati to tour Nippert Stadium and meet with city and club officials. He complimented both the city and its supporters. Negotiations between the club and MLS had begun earlier that year. Cincinnati was listed among ten cities expressing interest in expansion slots for teams 25 through 28. In January 2017, FC Cincinnati formally submitted its expansion bid, including a shortlist of potential stadium locations. On the 29th of May, 2018, Major League Soccer announced that Cincinnati would join the league in 2019. Garber left no ambiguity about what had tipped the decision. "If it wasn't for the stadium, for The Bailey, FC Cincinnati wouldn't have been in Major League Soccer," he said.

  Fanendo Adi and Fatai Alashe were signed in July 2018 as the club's first two MLS players. Adi became the team's first Designated Player and was loaned back to the FC Cincinnati USL squad for the rest of the season. The expansion draft took place on the 11th of December, 2018. FC Cincinnati selected five players from existing MLS clubs: Darren Mattocks from D.C. United, Kei Kamara from the Vancouver Whitecaps, Roland Lamah from FC Dallas, Eric Alexander from the Houston Dynamo, and Hassan Ndam from the New York Red Bulls. Kamara was subsequently traded to the Colorado Rapids for an international roster spot.

  Head coach Alan Koch was dismissed on the 7th of May, 2019, after a 2-7-2 start to FC Cincinnati's inaugural MLS season.

• 4. Building Their Own Ground

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  Nippert Stadium, on the campus of the University of Cincinnati, had been designed for American football. FC Cincinnati moved in for its inaugural 2016 season, with a minor renovation to accommodate soccer completed just months after a more extensive football renovation. The club limited match capacity to approximately 25,000 by covering the upper sections. The Bailey, the official supporters' section, held 1,700 people and became known for flags, tifos, and colored smoke throughout the USL years. The stadium met all MLS criteria and was certified to host FIFA-sanctioned events.

  In 2017, the club held a shortlist of three potential sites for a soccer-specific venue. By 2018, it had begun purchasing land in the West End neighborhood. Construction on TQL Stadium began in 2019 and was completed in 2021. The venue seats 26,000 and hosted its first competitive match on the 16th of May, 2021, a 2-3 loss to Inter Miami CF.

  In June 2018, one month after the MLS expansion announcement, FC Cincinnati purchased a 23.6-acre site in Milford, Ohio, for a training complex. MSA Sport handled the design. A groundbreaking took place on the 19th of September, 2018, with Mercy Health named as the sponsor. Construction was completed at a total cost of 35 million dollars. Mercy Health Training Center held its grand opening on the 6th of November, 2019. The facility includes a 30,000-square-foot building serving both the first team and the academy, three pitches, and a dedicated goalkeepers' area.

  Starting in February 2019, before the Milford facility was complete, the team trained on-site with a temporary building and one turf pitch. A grass pitch was ready by April of that year.

• 5. The Albright-Noonan Era

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  Chris Albright was hired as general manager on the 4th of October, 2021. Pat Noonan followed as head coach on the 14th of December. Those two hirings closed an unsettled period. Before Albright's arrival, FC Cincinnati had parted ways with general manager Gerard Nijkamp on the 6th of August, 2021. Ron Jans was hired as head coach in August 2019. He resigned on the 17th of February, 2020, amid an investigation into his alleged use of a racial slur. Jaap Stam then took over and was relieved of duties on the 27th of September, 2021. Yoann Damet served two stints as interim coach across that period.

  Albright and Noonan's first season together delivered a decisive change. In 2022, FC Cincinnati reached the MLS Cup Playoffs for the first time in their MLS history, finishing fifth in the Eastern Conference on 49 points with a 12-9-13 record. Brenner and Brandon Vazquez each scored 18 regular-season goals. That joint tally was the first time in MLS history that two teammates had finished as equal top scorers for a club. Luciano Acosta contributed 10 goals and a league-leading 19 assists as the club scored 64 goals across the regular season. In the playoffs, Cincinnati beat the New York Red Bulls 2-1 before losing to top-seeded Philadelphia Union 1-0 in the conference semifinals.

  On the 21st of June, 2023, a home win against Toronto FC tied an MLS record for consecutive home wins in a single season. That record had stood since 2002, held by the San Jose Earthquakes. FC Cincinnati was the first club in 2023 to clinch a playoff berth, doing so on the 30th of August at Atlanta United. A 3-0 win over Charlotte FC on the 23rd of September secured a place in the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup. The club won the MLS Supporters' Shield on the 30th of September, 2023, beating Toronto FC away 3-2. It was the club's first trophy in the MLS era. FCC became the second-fastest active expansion club to win the Supporters' Shield since the league's first expansion in 1998. Only LAFC, in their second MLS season in 2019, had done so sooner. In the playoffs, Yerson Mosquera scored in extra time to defeat Philadelphia Union 1-0. That result sent FC Cincinnati to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time. On the 27th of November, 2023, Luciano Acosta was named the MLS Most Valuable Player. He was the club's third league MVP and first in the MLS era. Two weeks later, FCC faced Columbus Crew in the Eastern Conference Finals at TQL Stadium, losing 3-2 in extra time.

  In February 2024, FC Cincinnati began their first CONCACAF Champions Cup campaign with a 2-0 away win at Cavalier FC of Jamaica. They advanced 6-0 on aggregate before losing to CF Monterrey of Mexico 3-1 on aggregate in the Round of 16.

• 6. Derby Rivals

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  FC Cincinnati's rivalry with Columbus Crew takes its name from a roadside sign. A billboard on Interstate 71, the highway between the two cities, reads "Hell Is Real." That phrase became the derby's identity. The rivalry first gained widespread attention ahead of a 2017 U.S. Open Cup match between the two clubs. Their first MLS league meetings came in 2019: in Columbus on the 10th of August and in Cincinnati on the 25th of August.

  Louisville City FC, located just over 100 miles southwest of Cincinnati along the Ohio River, was FC Cincinnati's main USL rival. The two clubs competed annually for the River Cities Cup in what supporters called the Dirty River Derby. Both clubs finished 1-1-1 on aggregate in each of the first two seasons of the rivalry. Cincinnati held the cup in 2016. Louisville retained it in 2017. Louisville won the cup again in 2018 by taking the first two of the teams' three regular-season meetings. The underlying civic tension between the two cities had long found expression in sports. Their universities' football and basketball rivalry ended in 2013 due to conference realignment. The clubs met again in the Third Round of the 2023 U.S. Open Cup at TQL Stadium, with FC Cincinnati winning 1-0.

  A third rivalry emerged from the NFL animosity between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Pittsburgh Steelers. FC Cincinnati and the Pittsburgh Riverhounds played their first-ever match in May 2016, drawing a crowd that became one of the largest in USL history at the time. Since 2023, FC Cincinnati has been recognized internationally by fan groups including Kumasinnati in Kumasi, Ghana, FC Cincy UK Supporters, and FC Cincinnati France.

• 7. Identity and Tradition

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  The pre-match march began during FC Cincinnati's USL years, when supporters walked from gathering points in Over-the-Rhine and Clifton to Nippert Stadium. Since the move to TQL Stadium in 2021, the route has evolved considerably. It winds through Over-the-Rhine and the West End, passing Findlay Market and a string of pubs and breweries. Among the stops are Northern Row, OTR Stillhouse, Holiday Spirits, and The Symphony Hotel. The group gathers at Washington Park for a rally before the final leg, passing Cincinnati Music Hall on the approach to TQL Stadium.

  Nine official supporters' groups operate under a unified body called the Incline Collective. It pools resources for community events, tifos, and pre-match logistics, and coordinates directly with the club. The oldest of the groups, The Pride, has satellite chapters in Lexington, Kentucky, and Southeastern Indiana.

  The club's orange and blue colors trace their origins to the Dayton Dutch Lions, the team's launch partner. The original USL-era crest featured a shield with a crown and the winged lion of Saint Mark the Evangelist. The lion held a sword and a soccer ball. When FC Cincinnati joined MLS, the crest was updated. It maintained the same orange and blue while refining the lion and adjusting the proportions of the club's name. The mascot that arrived in 2019, a blue-haired, orange-furred lion wearing a crown and wings, grew out of that same symbol. Fans coined the name Gary after noticing that the lion's tail, torso, and left arm appear to spell "Gary" on the crest when read left-to-right.

  On the 28th of January, 2026, FC Cincinnati announced a strategic partnership with FC Porto of Portugal's Primeira Liga. It gave the club a second European affiliate. FC Cincinnati had partnered with TSG 1899 Hoffenheim of the Bundesliga since September 2020.