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Report: FC Cincinnati to join USL in 2016, hire Harkes as head coach

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By DAN KARELL

After months of rumors, professional soccer looks set to be returning to Cincinnati.

Calling themselves FC Cincinnati, the club released a promotional trailer on Youtube on Tuesday morning, with the team allegedly set to join USL and have former U.S. Men’s National Team midfielder John Harkes as the team’s head coach. Cincinnati’s NPR station, WVXU, was the first to report the story on Tuesday.

USL declined to comment on the video.

FC Cincinnati currently has a website and a Twitter account, though nothing has been posted on either site. The color scheme from the Twitter account shows an orange and blue scheme with a crest in the shape of a shield, with a Dutch Lion at the bottom.

Cincinnati is currently home to the Cincinnati Saints NPSL team and has had a number of other soccer teams in the Southwest Ohio, Northern Kentucky area, including the USL PDL Cincinnati Kings and the Cincinnati Exile from the American Indoor Soccer League.

WVXU is reporting that a formal announcement is expected on Wednesday and that the Lindner Family, which once owned the Chiquita brand and the Cincinnati Reds, will own the team. The report states that former Cincinnati Bengals executive and former city councilman Jeff Berding will be FC Cincinnati’s president and general manager.

Local Cincinnati blogger Wrong Side of the Pond broke the story that USL was coming to Cincinnati last May.

Outside of the Columbus Crew based in the center of the state, professional and semi-pro soccer has struggled to gain a foothold in Ohio, with PDL teams in Cincinnati and Cleveland folding and the Dayton Dutch Lions leaving USL Pro after the 2014 season.

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What do you think of this news? Excited to see professional soccer come to Cincinnati? Do you believe there is a market for a local team?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. FC Cincinnati ownership group is led by local businessman/philanthropist Carl Linder Jr. There is no affiliation with former Dayton Dutch Lions team.

    Reply
  2. building the pyramid, great!

    good for Harkes to get with a USL team and not the minor league criminals at the nasl.

    Plus the USL is a better league – they went 7-0 against nasl teams in the open cup.

    Reply
  3. Who is the better soccer market, Cleveland or Cincinnati?

    Didn’t Cleveland have plans in making an MLS stadium about 5 years ago in a suburb.

    I wonder if MLS and garber will ever think of an MLS 2, he’s giving NASL too much time to live, just do it now garber. The more time you give NASL, they will gain support and sponsors and keep talking bologna.

    Reply
  4. With Harkes finishing his career in Columbus, and Cinci only being 2hrs away, it would be the perfect match as a affiliated team for the Crew.

    Reply
    • If the folks running the Dayton Dutch Lions are at all involved with this team – and I think they are, they moved down to Cincy when they folded Dayton – any collaboration with the Crew is not going to happen.

      DDL was a horrible place to send players for the Crew. The only good thing about it was that they were so close. Players had horror stories after coming back from playing for them – not good for development!

      Reply
  5. Would be cool if they’re affiliated with Crew. Both Cincy and Cleveland are 2 hours from Columbus and would support a USL Club at around 3,000-4,500 attendance.

    Building the pyramid… 🙂

    Reply
  6. where is the stadium?

    also wasn’t Harkes going to coach Virginia’s NASL team? I have heard that expansion might not be happening.. any updates on that?

    Reply
    • NASL Commioner Bill Peterson just declared in an interview that both VAC and OKC are dead.

      You’re right–Harkes was all but a lock to get the VAC gig.

      Reply

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