FC Cincinnati: Building a winning culture from scratch | OneFootball

By J. Sam Jones

You can find the blueprint for FC Cincinnati on a legal pad.

“There was a lane for FC Cincinnati,” co-founder and club co-CEO Jeff Berding said. “This is literally what I wrote down on a legal pad: If we were a winning team, a family-friendly, inclusive club and a franchise that gave back and made the community better—to be givers to the community, not takers—that we could be relevant very quickly.

"Because I believe that people in Cincinnati were looking for a new kind of sports team. A sports team that really did believe that we have an obligation to lead, inspire and unite the community and to help create a different brand for Cincinnati as a winning city.”

Ten years after FC Cincinnati’s founding in August 2015, Cincinnati hasn’t quite turned into a town known for titles. But the club itself has turned into a success story across multiple leagues. They began as a record-setting attendance draw in the USL. Last week, with a 2-1 win over Nashville, Cincy set an MLS record for wins over three seasons (55).

Before becoming the 2023 & 2025 Supporters’ Shield winners and perennial MLS Cup contenders, they had to establish themselves as a relevant product in the city. It seemed to happen instantly. On April 9, 2016, FC Cincinnati drew 14,658 fans to the University of Cincinnati’s Nippert Stadium to watch a 2-1 win over Charlotte Independence. A week later, they broke the USL attendance record when 20,497 fans showed up. They’d break that record three more times during their stint in USL.

For those who grew up in Cincinnati, like then-future FC Cincinnati center back Nick Hagglund, that didn’t come as a total surprise.

“I feel like everyone wanted an outlet to enjoy soccer,” Hagglund said. You know, in Cincinnati, I feel like we just never had anything that. You'd have US national team games that were nearby and Cincinnati people would go to Columbus and drive out there. But I don't think there was just like an outlet that was close enough for Cincinnati people to get professional soccer. But I felt the opportunity was there.

"Everyone, at least at my age, was playing soccer, or had played, or was interested in soccer, and there was this group of people that were just kind of yearning for an opportunity to have high-level soccer available to them.”

Early MLS struggles

Those people made the most of that opportunity. The attendance records and a famous US Open Cup run to the semifinals that included wins over the Columbus Crew and Chicago Fire earned the club an expansion spot in MLS.

That announcement came in May of 2018. FC Cincinnati were set to play their first game in March of 2019. That’s…not a whole lot of time to put together a competitive expansion team. They did make solid moves—like adding Hagglund via a trade with Toronto FC—but… man, they struggled out of the gates.

The 2019 side allowed 75 goals, earned 24 points and finished the year with a goal differential of negative 44. In the shortened 2020 season, they finished last again. And in 2021, they managed to outdo themselves, earning just 20 points. That’s three straight Wooden Spoons.

Sticking with Cincy

Now, futility isn’t totally foreign to Cincy sports fans. The Reds haven’t won a World Series since 1990. The Bengals have made the Super Bowl three times and never won it. In general, Cincinnati sports have been in the wilderness more often than not for a long, long time.

Fortunately, FC Cincinnati found an escape route. It took a little longer than some expansion teams. But the payoff has been immense.

“I think the biggest thing for me is that when mistakes happen or things don't go right, you either can continue to let them happen, or you're going to say, ‘You know what, I'm going to right my wrong and just learn from the opportunity,’” Hagglund said. “I feel like the front office and the entire staff and our president and our owner said, ‘You know what, I'm going to continue to put money in. I'm going to continue to do all the things to make this successful.’ And I think you've seen that over the past three years.

“The first couple years were not great, but in terms of results, but in terms of their ability to continue to push the envelope and try and put money towards the team and put a world-class stadium in and put a world-class training facility in, I think you see that they're constantly pushing the envelope of what FC Cincinnati can be.”

The breakthrough

The first glances of what FC Cincinnati could truly be came in 2022. The arrival of general manager Chris Albright and head coach Pat Noonan signaled a major change. Key figures like midfielder Obinna Nwobodo and center back Matt Miazga bolstered a squad that already included Lucho Acosta and a young striker named Brandon Vazquez. And FC Cincinnati, of all teams, found themselves in the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs for the first time.

“I mean, people ask me, ‘What's your favorite sports moment?’” Hagglund said. “I’ve won a couple of things. I've won MLS Cup, I’ve won the Supporters’ Shield. And I still say in 2022 when FC Cincinnati made playoffs for the first time after three years of Wooden Spoon and just grinding through the years. I feel like that moment for me was probably my favorite moment as a soccer player. Because for me, it was about the commitment to Cincinnati. To seeing it through.”

Hagglund isn’t the only one who celebrated that post-season like a title. When Cincy earned their first-ever playoff win—a 2-1 win over the Red Bulls that featured an 86th-minute winner from Vazquez—Berding, a former Bengals executive, didn’t know what to do.

​​”Brandon Vasquez scored a late winner, and we won the game, and I had been 0-and-7 in the playoffs,” Berding said. “I didn't know how to act. We all remember the historic scene of the vintage Jimmy Valvano running around the court looking for someone to hug after Lorenzo Charles scored. That was me in the suite.”

Dedicated support

The next year, FC Cincinnati finally outdid themselves for the better. Two years after a 20-point season, Cincy earned 69 points and the Supporters’ Shield. They nearly earned a double too. But a late collapse against their archrivals from Columbus in the Eastern Conference Final meant Cincinnati would have to wait a little longer for its first title since 1990.

“I still remember. I still remember them celebrating on our field and yeah, it was difficult. But I think it also motivated me even more for the next coming seasons,” Hagglund said. “I think all the teams know the history and feel like we want to right a wrong and do the right thing by Cincinnati. So I think there's an onus on all the sports teams to want to do well and break this curse, so to speak. But yeah, I would say that at the end of the day. FC Cincinnati wants to do right by the city of Cincinnati and bring it something special.”

Regardless of whether or not the team has been a Spoon contender or an MLS Cup contender, the fan base that set records back at Nippert Stadium has been a constant. They’ve never finished lower than eighth in average attendance in MLS. Even in 2019 and 2021.

Even if everything on that legal pad didn’t come good immediately, there’s no denying the club has established itself as a critical piece of the culture in Cincinnati.

“It really is a true love affair with the city, with the community,” Berding said. “We're very relevant in our market. I mean, I just came from a breakfast meeting, and some woman I didn't know her, but she just grabbed me as I was walking out and said, ‘I'm not a huge soccer fan, but I love what you guys are doing for the city.’ I think that's probably a little unique.”