The Cleveland City Stars were an American professional soccer team based in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Founded in 2006, the team played in the

USL First Division The USL First Division (usually referred to as USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States and Canada from 2005 to 2010. During its existence, it formed the second tier of soccer in the United States soccer league system ...

(USL-1), the second tier of the American Soccer Pyramid in 2009. The club folded soon after the 2009 season. The team played its home games at Bearcat Stadium (renamed Middlefield Cheese Stadium for sponsorship purposes) on the campus of Bedford High School in nearby

Bedford, Ohio Bedford is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States located to the east of Cleveland. The population was 13,074 at the 2010 census. It is an eastern first ring suburb of Cleveland. Geography Bedford is located at . It is a first ring sub ...

, where they played in 2009. The team's colors were green, black and white. Their final head coach was

Rod Underwood Rod Underwood (born in New Orleans, United States) is an American former soccer player and currently head coach and sporting director for Chattanooga FC in the National Independent Soccer Association. Playing career Underwood began playing soccer ...

History

The Cleveland City Stars were founded in 2006 as a member of the

USL Second Division The USL Second Division (commonly referred to as USL-2) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States, operated by United Soccer Leagues (USL). It was at the third tier of soccer in the United States, behind Major League Soccer (t ...

and played their inaugural season in 2007. The team found success early on, going undefeated for the first nine games before losing to the

Charlotte Eagles The Charlotte Eagles are an American professional soccer team based in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1991, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The team plays its home games at ...

in the tenth game of the season. They ended the regular season undefeated at home, and clinched the second seed for the USL-2 play-offs, where they progressed to the semi-final, and lost to eventual champions Harrisburg 1–0 after extra time. The team's success continued in 2008 as they finished the regular season unbeaten at home. City posted a 10–3–7 record, which proved good enough for third place in the USL Second Division, and playoff qualification. They faced the

Western Mass Pioneers Western Mass Pioneers is an American soccer team based in Ludlow, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1998, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The team plays its home games at Lusitano Stadium ...

in the quarterfinals and won 4–2. They traveled to Richmond for the semi-final and won 1–0 after extra time. The City Stars hosted the championship game and defeated Charlotte 2–1 for the team's first championship. During 2007 & 2008 season the Cleveland City Stars operated a reserve team that competed against PDL, international & other U23 teams. The program was lead and coached by Kent Manson, James Jaggard and Marcelo Galvao. On December 4, 2008 the first team announced that they would compete in the

for the 2009 season. Soon after the end of the 2009 USL First Division season, the City Stars club folded due to financial issues.

Players

Final roster

Year-by-year

Honors

**Winners (1): 2008

Head coaches

* Martin Rennie (2007–2008) *

(2009) * James Jaggard (U23 Head Coach) (2007-2008)

Stadia

Krenzler Field Krenzler Field is a soccer stadium in Cleveland, Ohio on the campus of Cleveland State University (CSU). It serves as the home field to the CSU men's and women's varsity soccer teams, the CSU varsity men's lacrosse team, and formerly the Clevela ...

; Cleveland, Ohio (2007–2008) * Middlefield Cheese Stadium at Bedford High School;

(2009)

Television

On April 7, 2008, the City Stars announced a deal with

SportsTime Ohio Bally Sports Great Lakes is an American regional sports network owned by Diamond Sports Group, and operates as an affiliate of Bally Sports. The channel, which is a sister network to Bally Sports Ohio, broadcasts statewide coverage of professiona ...

that saw all of the team's home games aired on the station. Each match aired tape delayed on game night with replays airing on Sundays. Play-by-play and color commentary was provided by

Desmond Armstrong Desmond Kevin Armstrong (born November 2, 1964) is an American former soccer defender and midfielder, who was a member of the United States national team from 1987 to 1994. He played three seasons in the Major Indoor Soccer League, part of o ...

1994 World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States w ...

TV commentator and former US national team player, and Glen Duerr, a former City Stars player. The broadcast included a half-time segment highlighting the team's weekly inner-city coaching and life-lessons program. On April 6, 2009, the City Stars announced a new deal with

to air 12 home games. Glen Duerr returned and was joined by two new TV commentators, Mark Zimmerman and Steve Bell, former A-League (USL-1) and MLS player. Bell also did play-by-play for three matches on

Fox Soccer Channel Fox Soccer (formerly Fox Soccer Channel & Fox Sports World before that) was an American television specialty channel specializing in soccer, owned by Fox Corporation, which operated from 1997 to 2013. It formerly broadcast rugby and Australian r ...

References

External links

Official Site of the Cleveland City Stars

Official site of the United Soccer Leagues

Official Green Army Forum
{{Ohio Sports Association football clubs established in 2006 Association football clubs disestablished in 2009 S USL First Division teams Former USL Second Division teams Soccer clubs in Ohio 2006 establishments in Ohio 2009 disestablishments in Ohio Bedford, Ohio