FC Cinci shows MLS readiness

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FC Cinci shows MLS readiness

Sunday, September 18, 2016 3:10 pm | Updated: 10:44 pm, Sun Sep 18, 2016.

Claude Thompson

If there was ever a fitting way to show that Cincinnati deserves to be in the conversation for Major League Soccer expansion, it would be to outdraw the 2015 attendance of seven different MLS clubs during their inaugural season ― including the local Columbus Crew.

“We’ve constantly talked about, from the beginning, building a club and how much adversity we’re going to have to deal with along the way,” said Futbol Club Cincinnati head coach John Harkes. “We still have a lot of work ahead of us and there’s a lot of teams that are going to fight and compete here.”

FC Cincinnati announced Saturday that the team had broken its own United Soccer League single game attendance record ― a record it had already broken earlier in the year ― with 24,376 fans showing up to witness them defeat Orlando City B 1-0, clinching a home playoff match.