PHOTOGRAPH © ALBERT CESARE / THE ENQUIRER / USA TODAY NETWORK
Throughout its brief existence, FC Cincinnati’s highs have produced silverware (Supporters’ Shield) and the lows have been rock bottom (three straight Major League Soccer last-place finishes). Birthed in 2015 and first taking the pitch in 2016, FCC graduated to the major leagues in just four years. The organization was forced to weather the challenges of its rapid rise before being rescued from purgatory by a collection of influential players, coaches, and executives.
With so much history packed into eight years, it’s difficult to limit the franchise’s key moments to just 10, but that’s my mandate—and so I’ve omitted deserving chapters of the FCC saga. Honorable mention goes out to (in chronological order) the club’s inaugural match; the friendly against English Premier League side Crystal Palace, which drew more than 35,000 fans to Nippert Stadium; the first playoff victory in 2018; the maiden MLS match in Seattle in 2019; and the first MLS playoff win last season.
Positive and negative player- and coach-driven moments can’t be ignored, either: Ron Jans’s resignation in 2020 after allegedly using a racial slur; the ill-fated signing of Jürgen Locadia the same year; Brenner joining the club in 2021 for a reported $13 million, as well as his Decision Day hat trick later that season; and Álvaro Barreal’s first start at the left wing back, a position switch integral to FC Cincinnati’s turnaround.
Excising those matches, events, and transactions still leaves plenty of amazing moments to chronicle FC Cincinnati’s feverish rise from Jeff Berding’s imagination to the top of North America’s premier professional soccer league. Here are the top 10 in order of impact.
1. The MLS Supporters’ Shield Is Secured
SEPTEMBER 30, 2023
The Supporters’ Shield, which is awarded to the MLS team that accumulates the most points each regular season, must have seemed out of reach to the average FC Cincinnati fan as recently as 2021. And yet the club’s first piece of silverware was acquired less than two years later. In fact, not only was FCC’s 69 total points just four shy of the league record, but among active expansion sides only Los Angeles FC won the Shield faster.
The 3–2 Shield-clinching victory in Toronto in late September was a just reward for the Orange and Blue’s devoted fan base. Even as the club suffered through its third successive last-place finish in 2021, it still finished fourth in attendance. FC Cincinnati was fifth in average attendance in 2023, second among teams with soccer-specific stadiums.
Aaron Boupendza’s deciding goal in the 72nd minute in Toronto cued up soggy locker room celebrations, though the most poignant moment was a post-match interview by Lucho Acosta, in which the captain conveyed his deep appreciation for the club and its fans. The merriment continued upon FCC’s arrival back home, with Cincinnati native Nick Hagglund and other players dancing and chanting with diehards who waited into the morning hours at CVG. The joyous scenes won’t be soon forgotten—after all, it’s not often a franchise goes from worst to first in two seasons.
2. Lucho Acosta Is Named League MVP
NOVEMBER 27, 2023
It’s hard to believe now, but Acosta was hardly a sure thing when he was acquired by the Gerard Nijkamp–led FC Cincinnati regime in March 2021. Acosta was fresh off a lost season in Mexico’s top division (33 appearances, 3 goals), but he had been an above-average player with D.C. United from 2016 to 2019, racking up 24 goals and 35 assists in 126 appearances. His top season came in 2018 (10 goals, 17 assists) when he was paired with former Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney.
Following a solid 2021 campaign (7 goals, 10 assists) carrying a wretched FCC side, Acosta’s prolific creative potential was unleashed in 2022. Stationed further up the pitch and tasked with fewer defensive duties playing in front of fellow midfielders Júnior Moreno and Obinna Nwobodo, he notched 10 goals and led the league in assists (19). The 29-year-old was even better in 2023, leading MLS in goal contributions (31).
Acosta’s MVP moment arrived in late September. He collected the ball just behind midfield and toyed with a trio of Charlotte defenders, all the while keeping the ball fastened to his feet. The marauding run and score was later named MLS Goal of the Year and evoked comparisons to similarly cherished goals by fellow Argentines Lionel Messi and Diego Maradona. Acosta isn’t going anywhere, either, having signed a contract extension through the 2026 season.
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY FC CINCINNATI
3. FC Cincinnati’s MLS Bid Is Accepted
MAY 29, 2018
FC Cincinnati’s courtship of MLS began 11 months before its first match. In May 2015, majority owner Carl Lindner III and club founder Jeff Berding met with MLS Commissioner Don Garber, who informed them that FC Cincinnati would receive consideration for an eventual expansion franchise and that they wouldn’t be barred from expansion candidacy due to proximity to the Columbus Crew. But Garber made no further promises to Lindner and Berding.
The club’s profile rose quickly, with single-match and season-long attendance records biting the dust, along with the majority of the Orange and Blue’s United Soccer League opponents. Concurrently, though, the club was plotting its trajectory to MLS. FCC shed its coat of innocence in its journey to constructing TQL Stadium (see No. 8), but there’s no denying that a midsized Midwestern city obtaining access to the highest level of American professional soccer less than three years after its club’s founding—especially with a league member just 100 miles up I-71—is an achievement worth commemorating.
Unfortunately, the 11-month runway to prepare the franchise to compete on and off the field in MLS proved to be too short. The five franchises that joined MLS prior to FC Cincinnati and the three sides accepted after FCC all enjoyed a minimum of two years to steel themselves properly. Lindner later aptly referred to the quick run-up as a “bullet train,” but one that FCC couldn’t afford to miss—the alternative meant falling down the league’s expansion pecking order. FCC compounded its own problems with puzzling player, coaching, and front office decisions but finally righted the ship with the Chris Albright/Pat Noonan partnership (see No. 6).
4. FC Cincinnati Is Born
JANUARY 2015
Berding’s preliminary FC Cincinnati ponderings date back to 2014 when he worked for the Bengals. Knowing he would need a home field to attract ownership funding, he met with Xavier Athletic Director Greg Christopher and then-UC AD Mike Bohn after the Bengals and the Reds passed on potential involvement. Intrigued, Bohn passed Berding’s concept on to then-UC President Santa Ono, and Bohn and Ono presented the idea to UC’s Board of Trustees.
Lindner, who had attended the UC board presentation, contacted Berding in early January 2015 to hear more about the concept. He’d previously attended a World Cup and, like Berding, had kids who played soccer. The two hashed out FCC’s basic framework over lunch, with Lindner agreeing to become majority owner and to recruit other Cincinnati-area business leaders to join the ownership group.
Months later, at Lindner’s insistence, Berding quit his job with the Bengals and focused full-time on FC Cincinnati. The club went public on August 12, 2015, and announced that it would begin play in the United Soccer League at Nippert Stadium in 2016.
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY FC CINCINNATI
5. 2023 Playoff Drama
NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2023
FC Cincinnati began its postseason run by dispatching the pesky New York Red Bulls in two matches, including a riveting 10-round penalty kick win, and then vanquished perennial East power Philadelphia on a controversial extra-time goal in the conference quarterfinals. The latter was a measure of retribution for FC Cincinnati’s 2022 playoff exit and for Albright and Noonan, former members of the Union’s front office and coaching staff, respectively (see No. 6).
Unfortunately, the Orange and Blue’s dream 2023 season culminated in the latest somber chapter in Cincinnati sports history. In the Eastern Conference final, the club bungled both a 2–0 second-half advantage at TQL Stadium to Columbus, its loathed in-state rival, and the opportunity to host the MLS Cup against defending champion Los Angeles FC. The defeat featured the usual allotment of what-if scenarios. What if Acosta’s creativity hadn’t been compromised by an ailing heel/foot? What if central defender Miazga hadn’t gotten himself suspended? What if the ball had bounced off of Boupendza’s chest, not his hand, and the home side had taken a 3–0 lead with just over 20 minutes to play? Columbus, the league’s highest-scoring team, deserved the 3–2 extra time victory, though, its constant pressure driving FCC into fatigue-caused defensive breakdowns.
6. Chris Albright and Pat Noonan Sign on
OCTOBER 4, 2021 & DECEMBER 14, 2021
The definitive history of FC Cincinnati should designate the club’s MLS years as “Before Albright and Noonan” and “After Albright and Noonan.” Trophies are the club’s ambition moving forward because the general manager (Albright) and head coach (Noonan)—and their respective staffs—reshaped the roster and fostered a culture of winning and professionalism. The two men won 13 MLS trophies during their combined playing, coaching, and front office roles prior to FC Cincinnati.
Whether it’s imparting your tactics or persuading ownership to invest millions of dollars in certain players, credibility isn’t hard to come by with Albright and Noonan’s track record of success. Albright has nailed high-profile and high-priced transactions: Nwobodo is irreplaceable as the team’s defensive midfielder, and Miazga was named 2023 MLS Defender of the Year. Albright also supplemented the starting XI with less-heralded and cheaper solutions, such as bringing in central defender Yerson Mosquera on loan from the English Premier League and signing MLS pros Moreno and Dominique Badji. Noonan’s 3-5-2 formation fully unlocked Acosta’s playmaking prowess, and his cool-tempered management has earned the respect of the locker room and prevented the extended losing streaks that defined the franchise’s early days in MLS.
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY FC CINCINNATI
7. “Mitch Says No”
JUNE 28, 2017
In one of the most exciting sports scenes in Cincinnati history, then-USL club FCC edged past Chicago Fire in penalties (3–1) in a U.S. Open round of 16 tilt, knocking off its second straight MLS club. Columbus Crew had been the first victim. Following 120-plus minutes of scoreless soccer, Mitch Hildebrandt saved Chicago’s first, second, and fourth penalties, capping off a goalkeeping masterpiece; he also stonewalled all 10 Chicago shots on target before penalties.
Played before a pulsating crowd of 32,000-plus at Nippert Stadium and a national TV audience on ESPN and with Garber in attendance, this game cemented FCC’s viability as a Major League Soccer franchise (as the MLS commissioner would later admit). The Orange and Blue advanced to the U.S. Open Cup semifinals after beating Chicago, but succumbed to the New York Red Bulls in extra time.
8. TQL Stadium Opens
MAY 16, 2021
TQL Stadium’s grand opening wasn’t exactly a spectacle to remember. Because of pandemic restrictions, only 6,000 fans (20,000 short of stadium capacity) were permitted to attend FC Cincinnati’s 3–2 loss to Inter Miami. The disappointing initial match and rough forthcoming results—FCC needed nine tries before its first home win—were reminiscent of the battle to build the stadium. The club flip-flopped among land preferences in Oakley, Newport, and the West End and engaged in public disagreements with longtime West End residents before inking a community benefits agreement there.
FC Cincinnati has turned TQL Stadium into a soccer citadel, posting the league’s top home record in 2023. The facility has also played host to U.S. men’s and women’s national team matches, most notably a crucial World Cup qualifier for the American men against archrival Mexico in November 2021.
9. Lionel Messi Breaks Orange and Blue Hearts
AUGUST 23, 2023
The eyes of the soccer world were fixated on Cincinnati this summer as the greatest player to ever grace a pitch, Lionel Messi, brought his star-studded Inter Miami squad to town for a U.S. Open Cup semifinal match. Less than a year after scoring seven times in seven matches to lead Argentina to World Cup glory in November 2022, the 36-year-old Messi arrived in the U.S. in late July and promptly piloted Miami to Leagues Cup glory, scoring a tournament-high 10 times in seven matches.
Demand to witness the author of 800-plus goals for club and country was reflected in Cincinnati ticket prices, which were well into four figures for seats in the first level of TQL Stadium. In front of a capacity crowd, FC Cincinnati led 2–1 through 68 minutes and possessed firm control of the match. Miami, fatigued by its Leagues Cup run, looked finished. But, like hundreds of teams before it, FCC fell victim to Messi Magic when the maestro conjured his second expertly placed assist of the night in the 97th minute to level the match.
FC Cincinnati grasped defeat from the jaws of victory, losing in penalty kicks and missing out on a chance to claim its first trophy. The Orange and Blue exercised a measure of revenge later in the season, though, by bouncing Messi and Miami from playoff contention via a 1–0 road victory.
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY FC CINCINNATI
10. Brenner Is FC Cincinnati’s First Outbound International Transfer
APRIL 26, 2023
Brenner confronted outsized expectations from the start, a product of the exorbitant price required to lure the young striker price required to lure the young striker from his native Brazil. The 21-year-old logged plenty of minutes in his debut season (33 starts in 2021) but found little joy (8 goals, 2 assists) in what was FC Cincinnati’s third straight last-place finish. Immigration issues, an injury, and a transfer request caused a slow start to 2022, but he found goal-scoring delight once he became a regular and formed a menacing dual striker partnership with Brandon Vazquez. Brenner notched three hat tricks that season—including one on Decision Day, the regular season finale—en route to 24 goal contributions (18 goals, 6 assists), all the while displaying his arsenal of finishing moves.
After missing out on a desired move abroad during the European transfer window last winter, Brenner was absent for FCC’s 2023 preseason and played in just seven matches before his transfer to Italian first division side Udinese was completed for a reported $10 million, an FC Cincinnati record. FCC reinvested a portion of the transfer fee to acquire Boupendza less than two months later for a reported $7 million. Though ownership ultimately lost money on Brenner, the business model of cultivating young talent and selling it to Europe—a practice MLS eschewed for much of its near-30-year existence—is fundamental to building a consistent winner here. As usual, it’s hard to argue with Albright’s roster decisions given the end results.
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