Cleveland SC is an American semi-professional
soccer
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
club based in the
Greater Cleveland, Ohio region. Cleveland competes in the
National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) as part of the Midwest Region's Rust Belt Conference. The club was established on February 19, 2018, taking over from the recently defunct
AFC Cleveland as the city's representative in the NPSL.
Cleveland SC (CSC) plays home matches at
Drive Morris Stadium in
North Olmsted, Ohio
North Olmsted is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 32,442. North Olmsted is a west side suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, and is the 8th most populated city within Cuyahoga County.
History
...
, but has played at four other stadiums during its existence:
Don Shula Stadium,
George Finnie Stadium
The Baldwin Wallace Yellow Jackets are the athletic teams for Baldwin Wallace University. The Yellow Jackets participate in Division III of the NCAA in the Ohio Athletic Conference. BW's rivalries include John Carroll University and University o ...
,
Lakewood Stadium, and
Krenzler Field. Samuel Seibert, a local banker and administrator, founded the club after being approached by a group of former AFC Cleveland players who wanted to see competitive soccer retained in the
Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the United States, U.S. U.S. state, state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along ...
area. Vlad Muresan is the third head coach in club history and has been in charge since April 2022.
Through five seasons, Cleveland SC has won three conference and two region championships, has never missed the NPSL playoffs, and has appeared twice in the
U.S. Open Cup. Cleveland has rivalries with fellow Ohioan NPSL clubs
Akron City FC
Akron City FC is an American soccer club based in Akron, Ohio, United States.
Founded in 2021, the men's team plays in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), a national semi-pro league at the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the ...
and
FC Columbus and previously contested the
Rust Belt Derby
The Rust Belt Derby was a soccer derby played between Detroit City FC, FC Buffalo, and AFC Cleveland in the National Premier Soccer League, the fourth tier of American soccer. The derby was named for the Rust Belt region of the United States. T ...
with
FC Buffalo and
Detroit City FC
Detroit City FC (DCFC) is an American professional soccer club based in Detroit, Michigan, that competes in the USL Championship. The club played in the National Premier Soccer League from 2012 to 2019 and the National Independent Soccer A ...
. Notable players to have appeared for the club include Puerto Rico international
Ryan López, as well as Ohio natives
Riley Grant
Riley Neal Grant (born January 27, 1995) is an American soccer player who plays as a defender. Previously, he played professionally for Seattle Sounders FC 2, and also appeared for AFC Cleveland and Cleveland SC, where he was used as a forward ...
and
Ben Fitzpatrick
Benjamin Fitzpatrick (born December 15, 1994) is an American soccer coach and retired player who played as a midfielder. He appeared for FC London, Michigan Bucks, and Cleveland SC at the semi-professional level and played professionally with P ...
, while
Louie Rolko served as an assistant coach.
History
For the previous six seasons, from
2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...
to
2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...
,
AFC Cleveland had represented the city of
Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the United States, U.S. U.S. state, state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along ...
in the National Premier Soccer League. That run included an NPSL national championship in
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...
, as well as two appearances in the
U.S. Open Cup.
However, the club was expelled from the NPSL due to "not
eingin good financial standing with the league." That announcement came on December 12, 2017, just months before the new season was set to begin.
Inaugural season
The catalysts for founding Cleveland SC were two former AFC Cleveland players, Coletun Long and Chris Cvecko. According to Long, the two "started having a conversation in the car and talked further in a Chipotle parking lot outside the city. We wrote down ideas and called teammates and others previously associated with AFC Cleveland.”
One of those people contacted was Samuel Seibert, a
Northeast Ohio
The region Northeast Ohio, in the US state of Ohio, in its most expansive usage contains six metropolitan areas ( Cleveland–Elyria, Akron, Canton–Massillon, Youngstown–Warren, Mansfield, and Weirton–Steubenville) along with eight ...
native who had been on the media relations staff for AFC Cleveland. He went on to take the lead on the NPSL expansion process, culminating in an official announcement of Cleveland SC as an NPSL expansion club on February 19, 2018.
That announcement came just 90 days before the club was set to play its first regular season match.
Prior to the season beginning, CSC announced that the club would play its inaugural season at
Don Shula Stadium, located in
University Heights, Ohio on the campus of
John Carroll University
John Carroll University is a private Jesuit university in University Heights, Ohio. It is primarily an undergraduate, liberal arts institution accompanied by the John M. and Mary Jo Boler College of Business. John Carroll has an enrollment of 3 ...
.
In conjunction with local designers, a crest and kits featuring an orange and black color combination were launched in mid-March, less than a month before the club's inaugural match. Ryan Osborne was announced as the club's first head coach and the first two matches in club history took part in April, the inaugural edition of the Cheese Barn Derby against
FC Columbus.
[ The first-ever league match in CSC history took place on May 19, 2018, ending in a 2–0 victory over Rochester Lancers courtesy of goals from Declan McGivern and American futsal international Antonio Manfut. After a second-place finish in the Midwest-East, the club qualified for the playoffs and defeated Erie Commodores in the quarterfinals before falling to ]AFC Ann Arbor
AFC Ann Arbor is an American soccer club based in Ann Arbor, Michigan that currently plays in USL League Two. The team played in the National Premier Soccer League from 2016 to 2019.
History
AFC Ann Arbor was started by a group of Ann Arbo ...
in the regional semifinals.
Colors and badge
When Cleveland SC was founded, the first part of the club identity to be decided was the colors: orange and black.[ The color scheme was chosen because of its uniqueness in the NPSL and therefore an ability to visually stand out from the crowd. Orange was chosen to represent the sunsets over ]Lake Erie
Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also ha ...
that are common in the Cleveland summer. Although the colors are visually similar to the Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conferenc ...
of the National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...
, the Cleveland SC colors were not inspired by the Browns identity.
The club crest was designed by Mike Kubinski of Cleveland Clothing Co., a local T-shirt company headquartered in Lakewood, Ohio
Lakewood is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States, on the southern shore of Lake Erie. Established in 1889, it is one of Cleveland's historical streetcar suburbs and part of the Greater Cleveland Metropolitan Area. The population was ...
. The name and founding year of the club, stylized in Roman numerals
Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, ...
, feature at the top of the badge. An image of one of the ''Guardians of Traffic'' statues comprises the focal point of the badge.[ The statues are located on the ]Hope Memorial Bridge
The Hope Memorial Bridge (formerly the Lorain–Carnegie Bridge) is a art deco truss bridge crossing the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio. The bridge connects Lorain Avenue on Cleveland's west side and Carnegie Avenue on the east side, terminat ...
in Downtown Cleveland
Downtown Cleveland is the central business district of Cleveland, Ohio. The economic and symbolic center of the city and the Cleveland-Akron-Canton, OH Combined Statistical Area, it is Cleveland's oldest district, with its Public Square laid out ...
and are also the namesake of the Cleveland Guardians
The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive ...
of Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...
, although the baseball team didn't adopt that nickname until 2021.[ Club owner Samuel Seibert said the reason for the choice was that “one of the coolest things in the city of Cleveland that wasn’t getting enough publicity at the time was our transportation bridge”, and because the bridge connects the east and west sides of the city.][
Cleveland SC's original kits were designed by club creative director Cory Mizer. The orange home shirt featured a depiction of the Cleveland skyline. The black away shirt featured an orange chevron across the chest, with the shape of the chevron inspired by the shape of the Lake Erie shoreline. These kits, manufactured by ]Admiral Sportswear
Admiral is one of the oldest English sportswear brands, with a manufacturing emphasis on clothing for association football. Founded in 1914 in Leicester, Admiral was originally an undergarment brand but switched to the manufacture of apparel for ...
, were worn for the first two seasons of the club's existence.[ Ahead of the 2020 season, Cleveland switched manufacturers to UN1TUS, a local company headquartered in ]Westlake, Ohio
Westlake is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. It is a suburb of Cleveland located 12 miles west of downtown Cleveland. The population was 34,228 at the 2020 census.
Geography
Westlake is located at (41.454439, −81.928657).
Acco ...
. The new orange kit kept the same design, while the away kit was replaced by a white shirt featuring a much larger chevron, although it kept the Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unit ...
detailing inspired by the pattern on the ''Guardians'' statues. After two years, Cleveland SC unveiled new kits ahead of the 2022 season. White was worn at home, with black returning as the away shirt. Both jerseys, paired with orange shorts and socks, featured the statue from the logo in a detail on the right side of the shirt.
Stadium
Drive Morris Stadium
Cleveland SC qualified for the 2023 U.S. Open Cup and announced that it will host its first round match at Drive Morris Stadium in North Olmsted, Ohio
North Olmsted is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 32,442. North Olmsted is a west side suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, and is the 8th most populated city within Cuyahoga County.
History
...
. The stadium, which was built in 2018, has a capacity of 4,000. North Olmsted High School, the primary tenants of the stadium, play football, soccer, and track and field at Drive Morris.[
]
Previous venues
Cleveland SC played its inaugural season at Don Shula Stadium, located in University Heights, Ohio on the campus of John Carroll University
John Carroll University is a private Jesuit university in University Heights, Ohio. It is primarily an undergraduate, liberal arts institution accompanied by the John M. and Mary Jo Boler College of Business. John Carroll has an enrollment of 3 ...
.[ The head coach of the Blue Streaks men's soccer program at the time, ]Hector Marinaro
Hector Luis Marinaro Jr (born December 6, 1964) is a Canadian soccer coach and former player who is the men's soccer coach at John Carroll University.
As a player he was the all-time leader in points and goals in professional indoor soccer, an ...
, helped secure the stadium availability for CSC.[ On May 19, 2018, in the first competitive game in club history, Cleveland defeated Rochester Lancers by a 2–0 scoreline at Shula. Cleveland finished with four wins, one loss, and one tie at Shula Stadium, while averaging 200 to 300 fans per game.]
Due to renovation work at Shula Stadium over the summer of 2019, Cleveland SC moved to Baldwin Wallace University
Baldwin Wallace University (BW) is a private university in Berea, Ohio. It was founded in 1845 as Baldwin Institute by Methodist businessman John Baldwin. The school merged with nearby German Wallace College in 1913 to become Baldwin-Wallace C ...
's George Finnie Stadium
The Baldwin Wallace Yellow Jackets are the athletic teams for Baldwin Wallace University. The Yellow Jackets participate in Division III of the NCAA in the Ohio Athletic Conference. BW's rivalries include John Carroll University and University o ...
, located in Berea, Ohio
Berea ( ) is a city in Cuyahoga County in the U.S. state of Ohio and is a western suburb of Cleveland. The population was 19,093 at the 2010 census. Berea is home to Baldwin Wallace University, as well as the training facility for the Cleveland ...
. The debut match at the stadium was on May 5, an international friendly
An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...
against Mexican side Monarcas Morelia Reserves as part of the Neighbor Nations Showdown. CSC returned to the stadium ahead of the 2021 season and spent two more years in Berea, losing just three total home games across those three seasons. Cleveland SC hosted two NPSL playoff games at the George Finnie in 2021, as well as the club's U.S. Open Cup debut, a first round victory against Chicago FC United
Chicago FC United, commonly called FC United, is an American soccer club in the Chicago metropolitan area. FC United fields youth teams for boys and girls, and a semi-professional team in USL League Two, the fourth-tier of American soccer.
Yout ...
in March 2022.
In between stints at the George Finnie, Cleveland SC announced ahead of the 2020 season that they would play home matches at two stadiums that year: Lakewood Stadium, in Lakewood, Ohio
Lakewood is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States, on the southern shore of Lake Erie. Established in 1889, it is one of Cleveland's historical streetcar suburbs and part of the Greater Cleveland Metropolitan Area. The population was ...
, and Krenzler Field, on the campus of Cleveland State University
Cleveland State University (CSU) is a public research university in Cleveland, Ohio. It was established in 1964 and opened for classes in 1965 after acquiring the entirety of Fenn College, a private school that had been in operation since 1923 ...
. However, the NPSL season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
, and CSC did not play a home game in the two cup competitions they took part in. The club returned to both stadiums during the 2022 season, playing one regular season game in Lakewood and their Midwest Region quarterfinal at Krenzler.
Cleveland SC has hosted friendly matches at two other stadiums. The first match in club history, against FC Columbus in 2018, was played at Highland Stadium in Medina, Ohio
Medina ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Medina County, Ohio, United States. The population was 26,094 at the 2020 Census. It lies about 33 miles (53 km) south of Cleveland and 23 miles (37 km) west of Akron within the Cleve ...
, and a game against Ambassadors FC Ohio in 2021 was held at Sparky DiBiasio Stadium
The Euclid City School District is a public school district located in Euclid, Ohio (USA). The school district consists of 6,303 students in 7 schools in grades K-12.
The district superintendent was Charlie Smaileck. Christopher Papouras, a Eucli ...
in Euclid, Ohio
Euclid is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. It is an inner ring suburb of Cleveland. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 49,692.
History
The City of Euclid was originally a part of Euclid Township, first m ...
.
Supporters
The organized supporters' group for Cleveland SC is the 6th City Syndicate (6CS). 6CS is an independent group that predates the founding of the club: they previously supported AFC Cleveland before coming along after the creation of Cleveland SC. During matches, 6CS hangs painted banners, sings songs and chants, and lets off smoke after every Cleveland goal.[
6CS has declared itself to be "against ]racism
Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagoni ...
, sexism
Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls.There is a clear and broad consensus among academic scholars in multiple fields that sexism refers pri ...
, homophobia
Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred or antipathy, ...
, religious intolerance...bigotry of any kind, violence
Violence is the use of physical force so as to injure, abuse, damage, or destroy. Other definitions are also used, such as the World Health Organization's definition of violence as "the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened ...
, and the threat of violence real or perceived."[ The group has participated in the yearly Prideraiser campaign, raising money for the LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland.
]
Players and staff
Squad
Team management
{, class="wikitable"
, -
!colspan=2, Front office
, -
, -
!colspan=2, Coaching staff
, -
Head coach history
Ahead of the club's inaugural season, Cleveland SC hired Ryan Osborne as the first head coach in club history. Osborne, a former player for the Charleston Golden Eagles
The Charleston Golden Eagles, known previously as the Harvey Mudd Golden Eagles, are the athletic teams that represent the University of Charleston, located in Charleston, West Virginia, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports. The Golden Ea ...
and West Virginia Chaos
West Virginia United (formerly West Virginia Chaos and West Virginia Alliance FC) is an American association football, soccer team based in Charleston, West Virginia. Founded in 2003, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the Americ ...
, also served as an assistant coach for the Notre Dame Falcons during his time in charge of Cleveland. In 2019, Cleveland claimed the East Conference and Midwest Region championships and Osborne was named as the conference coach of the year. He departed after that season to take the head coaching position at Mercyhurst and was replaced by one of his assistant coaches, Lewis Dunne. A former Cleveland SC player, Dunne also served as an assistant at Notre Dame during his time with the club. He led Cleveland to the conference-region title double in 2021, then coached the club during its U.S. Open Cup debut in 2022. Dunne departed following that cup run to take a position as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at IUPUI.
After Dunne's departure, Cleveland hired Vlad Muresan, the head boys soccer coach at the Hawken School
Hawken School is an independent, coeducational, college preparatory day school in Northeast Ohio.
Hawken currently has two main campuses, the Lower and Middle Schools in Lyndhurst and the Upper School in Chester Township, plus a third, an urb ...
, as his replacement. Muresan, a former player for Ohio Vortex
Ohio Vortex was an American professional indoor soccer team based in Canton, Ohio. They joined the Professional Arena Soccer League in 2009. The Ohio Vortex was a non-profit organization that donates a portion of their revenue to local charities. ...
and Akron Summit Assault, led the club to a Rust Belt Conference title and a return to the Open Cup in his first year in charge.[
{, class="wikitable sortable"
, +Cleveland SC head coaches
, -
!scope=col rowspan=2, Name
!scope=col rowspan=2, Nationality
!scope=col rowspan=2, Tenure
!scope=col colspan=5, Record
, -
!
!
!
!
!
, -
, Ryan Osborne
,
, March 13, 2018 – January 16, 2020
, -
, Lewis Dunne
,
, January 22, 2020 – April 14, 2022
, -
, Vlad Muresan
,
, April 27, 2022 – present
]
Honors
{, class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
, +Cleveland SC honors
!scope=col, Honor
!scope=col, No.
!scope=col, Years
, -
!scope=row, NPSL Midwest Region
, align=center, 2
, 2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
, 2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...
, -
!scope=row, NPSL East / Rust Belt Conference
, align=center, 3
, 2019, 2021, 2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...
Club culture
Broadcasting
Cleveland SC streams all home matches online. Vince McKee, the founder of the local KEE On Sports Media Group, has served as the play-by-play commentator
In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...
for every season of the club's existence, while Cole McDaniel has been the primary color commentator
A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main ( play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and ...
, calling four out of five seasons. For the first three years, Cleveland SC matches were on MyCujoo
MyCujoo was a video streaming platformPaul Nicholson"AFC rolls out live streaming platform as media and marketing workshops gather pace" ''Inside World Football'', 29 July 2016. providing live and on-demand broadcast of football matches, sports ...
, the streaming partner of the NPSL; since 2021, they have been viewable on Eleven Sports
Eleven Sports is a multinational sports and entertainment media group. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, it is owned by Andrea Radrizzani's sports and media investment platform Aser Ventures.
Eleven Sports' business model initially centred a ...
.
Reserve teams
In May 2019, Cleveland SC acquired the rights to Rubber City FC, a planned expansion team in the Northern Ohio Soccer League (NOSL). Based in Akron, Ohio
Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city ...
, the club had previously attempted to join the NPSL before that move fell through for financial reasons. However, Rubber City never took the field after the 2020 NOSL season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
. The following year, Forest City FC (FCFC) was unveiled as the new reserve side for Cleveland SC, also playing in the NOSL. The team name and crest took homage from the Cleveland Forest Citys, a professional baseball team based in the city in the early 1870s. FCFC played one season, finishing last place in the NOSL in 2021. They won just one of eight games played, although several players made the jump to the CSC first team during the 2021 NISA Independent Cup.
Rivalries
Akron City
Since Akron City FC
Akron City FC is an American soccer club based in Akron, Ohio, United States.
Founded in 2021, the men's team plays in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), a national semi-pro league at the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the ...
joined the NPSL in 2022, Cleveland SC has had a heated rivalry with their opponents to the south. The derby has been known by many names: the North Coast Cup, the I-77
Interstate 77 (I-77) is a north–south Interstate Highway in the eastern United States. It traverses diverse terrain, from the mountainous state of West Virginia to the rolling farmlands of North Carolina and Ohio. It largely supplants the ...
Bash, the Cuyahoga Valley Derby, the Battle of Northeast Ohio. Separated by less than , the two clubs compete to attract many of the same players and supporters travel in number for the road matches. Cleveland has never lost to Akron City, highlighted by an 8–0 victory in the second-ever match between the teams.[
]
CheeseBarn Derby
Cleveland SC has a friendly rivalry with fellow Ohioan NPSL club FC Columbus. Although the clubs are in different conferences in the Midwest Region, they both entered the league in 2018 and are separated by less than . The derby is named after Grandpa's Cheesebarn, a landmark business that sits roughly halfway between the two cities on Interstate 71
Interstate 71 (I-71) is a north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes/Midwestern and Southeastern region of the United States. Its southern terminus is at an interchange with Interstate 64 in Kentucky, I-64 and ...
in Ashland, Ohio
Ashland is a city in and the county seat of Ashland County, Ohio, United States, 66 miles southwest of Cleveland and 82 miles northeast of Columbus. The population was 20,362 at the 2010 census. It is the center of the Ashland Micropolitan S ...
.[ Cleveland and Columbus have never faced off in an official competition, and all of the derby matches have been played as preseason friendlies: each team claimed a victory in 2018 and they played to a 1–1 draw in 2019.
]
Conference opponents
Due to NPSL scheduling, which does not include inter-conference play during the regular season, Cleveland has built up competitive rivalries with Rust Belt Conference opponents Erie Commodores and Steel City FC. The cities of Cleveland and Erie
Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...
are roughly apart, while Cleveland to Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
is about . Games between Cleveland and the Commodores have involved fights and red cards, and the teams have frequently battled at the top of the conference. AFC Cleveland knocked Erie out of the playoffs in 2012, and Cleveland SC did so in 2018.[ The rivalry with Steel City dates back to each city's previous clubs, AFC Cleveland and ]Fort Pitt Regiment
Fort Pitt Regiment was an American soccer club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 2013, the team played its first season in 2014 as a member of the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) in the Great Lakes Conference of the Midwest Regio ...
, and has ties in the Browns–Steelers rivalry
The Browns–Steelers rivalry is a National Football League (NFL) rivalry between the Cleveland Browns and the Pittsburgh Steelers. With 138 meetings it is the oldest rivalry and the most storied in the American Football Conference. The two divi ...
and the resulting animosity between the cities. In both 2021 and 2022, Cleveland knocked Pittsburgh out of the playoffs in the Midwest quarterfinals.
Rust Belt Derby
Cleveland contested the Rust Belt Derby with FC Buffalo and Detroit City FC
Detroit City FC (DCFC) is an American professional soccer club based in Detroit, Michigan, that competes in the USL Championship. The club played in the National Premier Soccer League from 2012 to 2019 and the National Independent Soccer A ...
, a rivalry series that dated back to the AFC Cleveland era. The supporters' groups of the three clubs created and sponsored the rivalry, named after the Rust Belt
The Rust Belt is a region of the United States that experienced industrial decline starting in the 1950s. The U.S. manufacturing sector as a percentage of the U.S. GDP peaked in 1953 and has been in decline since, impacting certain regions an ...
region in which all of the teams reside. AFC Cleveland claimed the inaugural trophy in 2012, but Detroit won four in a row, before switching conferences in 2016 then moving leagues to the National Independent Soccer Association in 2020. Although the derby was dormant for three years, Cleveland SC continued to face Buffalo in league play and defeated Detroit in the 2019 Midwest Region final. The series resumed in 2020 and 2021, as all three clubs were drawn together in the Great Lakes Region of the NISA Independent Cup
The National Independent Soccer Association (NISA) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States. The league is in the third tier of American soccer and began play in 2019. NISA initially used a fall-to-spring season format with a ...
. However, the derby has not been played since, as Buffalo moved to USL League Two and Detroit to the USL Championship
The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, p ...
. Cleveland's 6th City Syndicate and Detroit's Northern Guard Supporters
The Northern Guard Supporters are an independent supporters group for Detroit City FC (DCFC) of United Women's Soccer’s (UWS) Midwest Conference and of the USL Championship. DCFC’s men’s side formerly played in the National Premier Soccer ...
maintain hostile relations, due to the high-profile matches between the clubs and the historical sporting rivalry between the cities of Cleveland and Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...
.
Year-by-year
{, class="wikitable" width=100% border="2" cellpadding="4" style="font-size:90%; text-align:center;"
, - style="background:#f0f6ff;"
!rowspan=2, Season
!colspan=10, League
League or The League may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band
* ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football
Sports
* Sports league
* Rugby league, full contact footba ...
!colspan=2, Position
!rowspan=2, Playoffs
!rowspan=2, USOC
!rowspan=2 colspan=2, Other
!colspan=2, Top goalscorer(s)
, -
!League
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!Name(s)
!Goals
, -
, 2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
, rowspan=5, NPSL
, 12, , 7, , 2, , 3, , 34, , 11, , +23, , 24, , 2.0
, 2nd, , 21st
, Reg.SF
, DNE
, rowspan=2 colspan=2, N/A
, Vinny Bell, , 11
, -
, 2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
, 10, , 8, , 2, , 0, , 29, , 9, , +20, , 24, , 2.4
, 1st, , 5th
, Nat.SF
, DNQ
, Vinny Bell, , 12
, -
, 2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...
, colspan=12, Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
[
, rowspan=2, NH
, ]NPSL Members Cup
The 2019 National Premier Soccer League season is part of the 107th season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer in the United States and the 17th season of the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL). Miami FC, formerly "Miami FC 2," are the defending champi ...
NISA Independent Cup
The National Independent Soccer Association (NISA) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States. The league is in the third tier of American soccer and began play in 2019. NISA initially used a fall-to-spring season format with a ...
, 2nd, Rust Belt
, Five players, , 1
, -
, 2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...
, 10, , 8, , 0, , 2, , 25, , 9, , +16, , 26, , 2.6
, 1st, , 6th
, Nat.SF
, NISA Independent Cup
The National Independent Soccer Association (NISA) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States. The league is in the third tier of American soccer and began play in 2019. NISA initially used a fall-to-spring season format with a ...
, 3rd, Great Lakes
, Vinny Bell, , 7
, -
, 2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...
, 12, , 8, , 3, , 1, , 33, , 14, , +19, , 25, , 2.08
, 1st, , 25th
, Reg.F
, R2
, rowspan=2 colspan=2, N/A
, Vinny Bell, , 8
Cleveland SC has a record of five wins, one loss, and one tie in friendly matches
An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...
. That record includes one international friendly, a victory against Mexican side Monarcas Morelia Reserves in 2019 as part of the Neighbor Nations Showdown.
See also
* Cleveland City Stars
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 (USL-1), the second tier of the American Soccer Pyramid in 2009. The club folde ...
(2006–2009) – previous professional soccer club in Cleveland
* Cleveland Crunch – indoor soccer
Indoor soccer or arena soccer (known internationally as indoor football, fast football, or showball) is five-a-side version of minifootball, derived from association football and adapted to be played in walled hardcourt indoor arena. Indoor s ...
club, member of Major League Indoor Soccer
* Cleveland Pro Soccer – upcoming MLS Next Pro
MLS Next Pro is a men's professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that is affiliated with Major League Soccer. It launched in 2022 with 21 teams and will expand to 28 in 2023. The league comprises 27 reserve sides for MLS clubs ...
club set to play in 2025
* List of Cleveland sports teams
* List of National Premier Soccer League teams
* Sports in Cleveland
The Cleveland sports community is anchored by three major league professional sports teams: the Cleveland Browns (National Football League), Cleveland Guardians (Major League Baseball), and Cleveland Cavaliers (National Basketball Association). Th ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cleveland SC
Cleveland SC
Association football clubs established in 2018
2018 establishments in Ohio
National Premier Soccer League teams
Soccer clubs in Cleveland