I refuse to write a story about FC Cincinnati losing.

So Instead, I am going to write about all the ways they have won.

It has been 28 years since The Cincinnati Reds have won The World Series and 27 since The Bengals have won even a playoff game. That was in the 90s when the song topping the charts was I Want it That Way by the Backstreet Boys and the movie of the year was Beauty and the Beast.

This year however, after a crushing defeat last USL season, FCC won their first playoff game against Nashville FC in penalties, beating them 6-5. This was the first time a major Cincinnati professional sports team has advanced in the postseason since the Reds beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1995.

FCC was the first team to break the Cincinnati curse and ironically the youngest team. On August 12th 2015 it was announced a professional soccer team was coming to Cincinnati, and from that point on they broke nothing but records. Their first year as a club in 2016 they broke the single and average game attendance records which they broke in 2017 and again in 2018.

They also hold five other USL attendance records, including total season attendance (437,197), average attendance (25,717), season-opener attendance (25,667), midweek attendance (22,407) and season ticket sales (18,007).

FCC’s attendance this year, averaging around (25,000) a match, is first in the USL and 3rd in the MLS only behind Atlanta and Seattle.

FCC also sports an unprecedented 24 game unbeaten streak achieved in the 2018 season, the highest on record in the USL, higher even than the MLS.

Going into this season FCC also signed two new players Fatai Alashe signed as a Midfielder and Fenendo Adi, a Nigerian born striker, signed at the beginning of the season, being the first two strictly MLS players to be signed to the team.

However, what is more impressive than any record, stadium, or player is the atmosphere brought to Cincinnati. No matter how many playoff games FCC does or doesn’t win, the fans will be there sure and true.

The fans are what make FCC so great and if you’ve ever been to a game you know exactly what I’m talking about. Since their start in 2016 multiple fan groups have cropped up all around Greater Cincinnati. The Bailey, a seperate section of the crowd for the dedicated fans, is hard to miss with all of its chants, throwing smoke bombs when a goal is scored sporting orange and blue. If you have watched a game on TV, their unmistakable chants can be heard sometimes muffling the announcers. Even the march to the stadium is thrilling where people either stand and watch in awe or join in knowing the words of the chants by heart.

Whether you grew up watching soccer, you’ve played all your life, or are a first-time fan, there is a thrill everyone feels when a goal is scored.

It truly is the little things that make FCC something to be proud of, because it isn’t just soccer. It never really was about the games they win the games they lose, or the records they set. Nobody ever really thought the little USL team from Cincinnati would make it big, but here they are.

With a ride to the MLS and a whole city to back them, soccer just might be the sport Cincinnati never knew they needed.

I refused to write a story about FC Cincinnati losing, and maybe that’s my personal bias, or maybe it’s because it doesn’t matter whether or not they lose the biggest game of the year or win the league. The experience is the same: with great atmosphere, greater people, and a team that in the eyes of many can never truly lose.