Cleveland SC

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.”[6] One of those people contacted was Samuel Seibert, a native of Northeast Ohio who had been on the media relations staff for AFC Cleveland. He would go 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.[7][5] 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 be playing its inaugural season at Don Shula Stadium, located in University Heights, Ohio on the campus of John Carroll University.[8] 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.[9] 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.[6] 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.[10] 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 in the regional semifinals.[11]

Although the NPSL does not require clubs to stream matches, Cleveland SC streamed every home match in 2018 on Mycujoo.[17] Vince McKee served as the main commentator for the duration of the season, while the color commentator role was filled by a rotating cast of analysts.[18]

Although the two clubs are in different conferences, Cleveland has a friendly rivalry with fellow Ohioan NPSL club FC Columbus. Both clubs were founded in 2018, and their inaugural matches came against each other in a home-and-home friendly series in April 2018.[19] Supporters of the clubs dubbed the rivalry the Grandpa's Cheese Barn Derby, or simply the Cheese Barn Derby,[20] named after a landmark business that sits just off Interstate 71 in Ashland, Ohio.[21] The actual barn is roughly equidistant between the cities of Cleveland and Columbus. In 2018, the first year of the rivalry, neither team was able to claim the Derby title: both Cleveland and Columbus won their away game 3–2, meaning the inaugural Cheese Barn Derby ended in a 5–5 tie.[22]

The primary supporters' group for Cleveland SC is 6th City Syndicate, an "independent supporters' group for Cleveland soccer."[23] 6CS is unaffiliated with the club, and as such also provides support for WPSL club Cleveland Ambassadors. Prior to the foundation of Cleveland SC, 6th City Syndicate had supported AFC Cleveland,[24] migrating to the new club after AFC Cleveland folded in December 2017.

As of July 24, 2020[25]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 00 GK  USA Alex Ivanov 1 GK  BIH Marijo Musa 2 DF  USA Bobi Cancar 3 MF  USA Antonio Manfut 4 MF  USA Mike Derezic 5 DF  ITA Paolo Termine 6 DF  USA Joe Korb 7 FW  USA Tom Beck 8 MF  USA Alec Nagucki 9 FW  USA Vinny Bell 10 MF  BIH Admir Suljevic 11 FW  USA Riggs Lennon 14 FW  USA Griffin Meyer 15 MF  ZAM Samuel Mutemwa

No. Pos. Nation Player 16 MF  USA Chris Cvecko 17 DF  USA Tommy Marusic 18 FW  USA Danny Ruple 19 DF  USA Coletun Long 20 FW  USA Szabolcs Wiksell 23 MF  JAM Kevin Blackwood 25 DF  USA David Beattie 31 GK  ENG Conor Cable — FW  ESP Javier Borreguero — FW  ENG Jonathon Carr — MF  ENG Reece Daly — DF  USA Danny Kalic — GK  USA Liam McIntosh — GK  USA Peter Van Euwen