Remember when FC Cincinnati's US Open Cup run earned them MLS Expansion?

the U.S open cup can make dreams become reality with MLS being a closed Market League the U.S open cup is the only true platform for inclusivity of football in the United States a stage where any club whether amateur professional and PSL all the way to MLS can play in a competitive match and go toe-to-toe with the Giants it's David verse Goliath but in real life the US Open cup presents a stage for all of the smaller markets and smaller clubs within the country to show their potential at a national level it's all about the magic of those Cinderella runs and the underdog storylines throughout the years there have been many that have taken advantage of this opportunity but for me one of The Shining lights around this subject is FC Cincinnati from not having a club one year to Breaking records in the depths of the American soccer pyramid the next do you remember when FC Cincinnati's U.S open cup run earned them MLS expansion let me take you to Cincinnati Ohio a city that's dabbled with its soccer routes in the past but never really made it to that top level it's a city that already hosts multiple professional franchises such as the Bengals in the NFL and the Reds of the MLB but soccer in Cincinnati was yet to explode that was until 2015 when an ownership group announced their intentions of bringing professional soccer to the city as FC Cincinnati joined the USL which at the time was the designated third tier of the sport in the United States now let me paint you this picture a third tier Club joining a new league playing at the University of Cincinnati's nippert stadium for most I don't think they knew what to expect what a city with already multiple professional sports actually tune into lower division soccer with the city be able to buy in or would it just be a flash in the pan from the jump the ownership group was confident that Cincinnati belonged in the major leagues and over night they proved it [Applause] [Applause] thank you FC Cincinnati took off right away as if the people of the city were dying for something fresh that they could get behind in Cincinnati's first season in the Uso they put up attendance numbers never seen before at their second home match they set a new attendance record of 20 497 only to top that record another two times throughout the year even Cincinnati's lowest attendance number was still higher than 27 out of the 28 other clubs's highest count and their average attendance for the whole 2016 season was more than five clubs in MLS and don't forget I mean we're talking about a third tier team here something else that was completely unique in the USL was scheduling a friendly with a premier league opponent in the summer of 2016 less than a year from when they were first announced as a Club Cincinnati hosted Crystal Palace at nippert stadium in front of 35 000 supporters which was the highest ever attended match in the state of Ohio once again Cincinnati was putting on display what it looked like to be a real soccer city in the United States and after the match Palace manager Alan pardu was even blown away at what he saw two new Victory and two great goals as well yeah but tonight wasn't about a football really it was about this club and The Wider uh the whole place was unbelievable tonight never experienced anything like it in my life uh for pre-season it's like a cup final and it was uh brilliant yeah this club is fantastic we're so proud and privileged to have been a part of it tonight of course he wasn't going to say anything bad but these comments seem really genuine and coming from a manager who's experienced the sights and sounds of anfield in Old Trafford I think this moment and these words really started to put Cincinnati soccer on the map the scenes in Cincinnati were unprecedented and so much so that Don Garber of the MLS went to Cincinnati to see what they could become for the future of Major League Soccer not even one year after starting play in the USL Cincinnati was attracting mainstream attention from every part of the country and that included MLS when the MLS commissioner comes to your city and says this to your supporters I think you're heading in the right direction what I will say is that I am very impressed by What's Happening Here Cincinnati deserves an MLS team this was the moment it became clear that FC Cincinnati and their owners were eyeing that major league price it was no longer a question about if the sport could succeed in Cincinnati I mean the numbers proved that enough at this point it was about how and when could this club finally make the jump to the Top Flight and how could they heat pressure on Don Garber to finally make that decision as 2017 rolled around Cincinnati were actually putting up even better attendance numbers than before along with that they were gearing up to make a huge statement in that Year's U.S open cup Cincinnati was ready to hit the mainstream and the U.S open cup provided the perfect platform to Showcase what they could bring to the table but before Cincinnati could take on an MLs Club they had to earn it as a lower division Club Cincinnati entered the tournament in the second round where they were drawn at home against lower division side AFC Cleveland not that it needs to be said but if if you're a club vying for an MLs expansion bid you cannot be losing to a club in a lower division than you add in the fact that you're playing at home in front of 12 000 supporters there was a lot on the line and I mean one bad game here and your opportunity to make that statement is over obviously it worked out but it was nowhere near perfect with 44 shots compared to Cleveland 6 it went all the way into extra time before there was a goal in the 115th minute a man by the name of GB fall found himself wide open in the box and not at home a winner for Cincy the result didn't matter though because as long as you're in the cup the dream lives on after securing a place in the third round FC Cincinnati were drawn up against Louisville City a USL rival only a hundred miles away known as the River Cities Cup this was a match that already had fiery undertones in its Short History things were heated on the pitch and that was exactly the case when Louisville traveled to Cincinnati for the their first matchup of the 2017 season about one month before their U.S open Cup game in this match both side saw opportunities and both sides scored a goal each putting tensions high as they headed into the final minutes of the game as this very entertaining matchup reached its conclusion though things took a dark turn as GB fall the one who scored that winning goal against AFC Cleveland went into a two-footed studs-up tackle on Louisville's Kyle Smith in the 87th minute deservingly so fall received a red card for this dangerous play but as fall and now McCabe of Louisville City squared up after the play fall took a bite at McCabe's face after the incident Louisville's manager made claims of the fight but those claims were strongly refuted by FC Cincinnati and the player in question but Louisville pressed forward demanding an investigation by the USL and after submitting photos taken during the incident Cincinnati's GB fall received a five match ban for the bite along with his original one match band for the red card but that ban only counted for USL play therefore as for the hotly contested US Open Cup match between the two sides GB fall was eligible to play in that's exactly what he did before this matchup it was already predetermined that the winner would take on Columbus crew of MLS Cincinnati could finally get a shot at a big dog and all that stood in their way was Louisville city as expected the match was a tie contest once again both sides saw chances and in typical fashion the first half ended scoreless coming out into the second though Cincinnati needed something quick to kill the building morale of Louisville and give their home supporters something to cheer about as the 48th minute approached FC Cincinnati found themselves a corner and as the ball was whipped in it eventually fell to the only man that it could have been the poacher in the Box the man with the winning goal from the last round and the man who is serving a 6 match ban in the USL for biting a Louisville player it was no other than GB fall and as he poked in that ball from Point Blank Range Cincinnati could just tell that that was going to be their winning goal and the winning ticket that put them onto the big stage finally we would get MLS hopefuls FC Cincinnati against MLS Originals Columbus Crew foreign [Music] two years ago at this time to get a chance to play this match at different Stadium tonight against an MLS team from 100 miles to the north what does it mean a chance to have the MLS Spotlight on the bird Stadium the show that that there's an MLs atmosphere in Cincinnati and like their last match it's only about a hundred miles that separates both of these cities Columbus first Cincinnati the first match in what would be birthed as the hell is real Darby this wasn't no AFC Cleveland and even though Louisville was a huge moment it wasn't anything like that either this was a new Beast the whole country was watching Don Garber was watching MLS was watching and most importantly the whole city of Cincinnati was watching a crowd of over 30 000 showed up to nippert Stadium at night which even for the Columbus Crew was more than they were used to playing in front of the crew didn't take the game lightly either whatsoever putting out a relatively strong lineup and being aware of what was in their path in the first 15 minutes the crew came out strong doing their best to put pressure on the lower division opponent but Cincinnati stayed strong and as the minutes ticked by they became more and more comfortable with their spot in the game after a few close calls defensively and some chances is in the attack the one and only deciding goal fell in the 64th minute if you've been paying attention it's clear what happens here a ball is swung in and the poacher in the Box GB fall absolutely man handles Hector Jimenez to slot in his third game-winning goal in Cincinnati's past three U.S open Cup matches David slain Goliath and in front of 30 000 supporters Cincinnati made one hell of a statement as they took out one of mls's own but the work wasn't done because that was only the fourth round and there were still more statements to be made you get a clean sheet but you beat a major league soccer team proud comes to mind tonight was an event it was an event for our team it was an event for our club it was an event for our city I'm ecstatic for everybody I'm ecstatic for our players amazing fans it's it's awesome obviously we know they're a great MLS club and give Greg a lot of credit they threw out everybody tonight and they obviously helped possessed US during the course of the game but I'm very very proud of our players they did exactly what we asked them to tonight went out and followed the the plan went out took care of business as the round of 16 approached FC Cincinnati found themselves back at nippert stadium and up against another MLS side in the Chicago Fire a fire side which at the time was towards the top of the Eastern Conference for this matchup ESPN picked up the game for their National broadcast and with the second largest attendance at the time for a U.S open Cup match over 32 000 Spectators lined the stands as the whole country would be witnessing whatever Miracle may happen in Cincinnati good evening nippert Stadium I'm Local 12 News meteorologist John gum I am pumped up about this match tonight between the Chicago Fire and your FC Cincinnati we know know the Bailey's going to be rocking I want everyone else to get rocking tonight and show a national TV audience that Cincinnati is going to be the place for another MLS franchise let's get the chat going now FCC instead of a match decided by the attacking prowess this time around it was the back line of both Cincinnati and Chicago that had the bigger tests both sides had over 19 shots with seven or more of those on target for each for the fire it was Matt Lampson that pulled up with huge stops and for Cincinnati it was their goalkeeper that's been racking in the clean sheets for the past three rounds in Mitch Hildebrand after the full 90 and extra time it ended nil nil and as the players lined up for the dreaded penalty shootout it felt like the match was destined to be decided by those goalkeepers and that has put it over the top and hildebranch complete the hat-trick here against nikolich [Applause] [Music] nothing is getting by Mitch hilderman with three PK safes in one shootout Hildebrandt became a hero as he led FC Cincinnati to their second MLS scalp in just one month on ESPN with everyone watching Cincinnati continued to prove their level moving into the U.S open cup quarterfinals there were just two lower division clubs left in the tournament along with the other six MLS clubs luckily for Cincinnati two of those lower teams were drawn against each other as FC Cincinnati traveled to Miami looking to take out division two counterpart Miami FC just like with almost every single open Cup game for Cincinnati the script was the same a clean sheet for goalkeeper Mitch Hildebrandt and you guessed it a 68th minute winner from no other than GB fall FC Cincinnati with a final lower deficient Club left in the cup and they were the first lower division opponent to make it to the semi-finals of the US Open cup since 2011. it was a fairy tale for the city one that you went to be crazy to believe but one that they knew was possible from the very beginning up next though was their biggest test coming to Cincinnati in an attempt to kill the dream was the New York Red Bulls another club looking to make history on their hunt for their first ever piece of silverware your team not to take FC Cincinnati lightly they've knocked off two of them yeah I'm not worried about that you know I'm more worried about the challenges that FC Cincinnati is going to give us so you know we've talked about them in length we've we've educated our team on exactly who there are and their personnel and our group is not the type of team to take teams like this over 33 000 people including Don Garber showed up at nippert stadium for the match that would decide one half of the U.S open cups finalists this match was either gonna be the conclusion of an amazing journey for FC Cincinnati or the final push on the way to the U.S open Cup Final against the club that was fully prepared for what they were about to walk into at nippert stadium and without their Starman GB fall who was suspended for Yellow Card accumulation The Pride still echoed Never Say Die turns sends it in with his right foot knock knock [Applause] strike puts the orange in Blue on top one new this ball comes across River starts by Tommy Cooney and talk about a glue finish by quarterback to take the corner kick from the near side Walker on the service there it is buried it to make it two now two nil up with only 15 minutes left Cincinnati was about to pull off something that hasn't been done since 08 which was a lower division Club making it to the open Cup Final it was a nowhere near perfect game but it was enough this ragtag group of lower division players from a team that was only two years old were about to make history and take out their third MLS club right in front of the MLS commissioner but as the dream pushed on so did the Red Bulls [Applause] [Music] Gonzalo Barone the sub pumps on and cuts the lead in half the first goal given up by FC Cincinnati who has the long goal for Red Bulls today set across into the middle of that misses it and Bradley Wright Phillips has tied the match in the 78 minutes Lauren stoica has seen enough 30 more minutes to be played through our first to two 15-minute extra time sessions Boston across the middle Bradley Wright Phillips puts it in the back of the net and New York has scored three unanswered to take the lead and just like that the New York Red Bulls completed the comeback although it ended in such a heartbreaking way FC Cincinnati had so many achievements to be proud of from the attendance numbers to the MLS upsets Cincinnati to fight all the odds as they stamped Cincinnati Ohio as a soccer City known around the country even after the game Red Bull's Head Coach Jesse Marsh did not hold back from his admiration for the city the club and what those two things could do in the American soccer landscape I hope I I heard that the MLS commissioner was here tonight so I would hope that he takes note notice of of what what's going on here and and I'll tell you what I don't think it'll be too long before we'll be back here again and playing in more meaningful matches so congratulations to Cincinnati and FC Cincinnati it was only nine months after the defeat to the the Red Bulls in the semi-finals on May 29 2018 that MLS officially announced FC Cincinnati as an expansion club that would begin play in 2019. along with that the club finalized plans to build a brand new 26 000 capacity soccer specific stadium in Cincinnati Ohio a city that just a few years earlier didn't even have a professional Club because of the U.S open cup FC Cincinnati was able to display their soccer culture on a global stage as people from around the world discovered what was happening in the Queen City with their dramatic run to the U.S open cup semi-final taking out two MLS clubs and proving it on the biggest stage that they could FC Cincinnati proved that they were ready to join MLS so now you know when FC Cincinnati's U.S open cup run earned them MLS expansion [Music]

Channel: Anthony LaRosa

Views: 75,031

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Id: JrH1lbfN5t0

Length: 19min 50sec (1190 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 23 2023