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 May 26, 2019[25][26]

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

No. Position Player 00 GK Dylan Morris 1 GK Marijo Musa 2 DF Bobi Cancar 3 MF Antonio Manfut 4 MF Mike Derezic 6 DF Ian Larson 7 MF Tom Beck 8 MF Alec Nagucki 9 FW Vinny Bell 10 MF Admir Suljevic 11 FW Szabolcs Wiksell 12 GK Daniel Nagy 14 MF Vinny Worner 15 DF John Duldner 16 DF Chris Cvecko 17 MF Kurt Raney 18 FW Lolo Karpeh

No. Position Player 19 DF Coletun Long 20 MF Reece Daly 21 MF Dan Koniarczyk 22 FW John Vrablic 23 DF Joe Korb 24 DF Ben Hryszko 25 FW Danny Ruple 26 MF Hayden Parente 27 DF Corban McAvinew 28 FW Justin Libertowski 30 DF Dan Manolache 31 GK Liam McIntosh 32 MF Jon Schroeder 34 DF Lovo Duvjnak 35 MF Alex Ligeti 77 MF Ben Fitzpatrick

As of July 27, 2019

#	Name	Years	Signed from	NPSL	Playoffs	Total
1	Chris Cvecko	2018–present	AFC Cleveland	21	5	26
	Antonio Manfut	2018–present	Florida Tropics	22	4	26
3	Bobi Cancar	2018–present	AFC Cleveland	18	5	23
4	Vinny Bell	2018–present	AFC Cleveland	18	4	22
	Coletun Long	2018–present	AFC Cleveland	17	5	22
	Kurt Raney	2018–present	Baldwin Wallace Yellow Jackets	17	5	22
7	Marijo Musa	2018–present	St. Louis Ambush	15	5	20
	Admir Suljevic	2018–present	AFC Cleveland	16	4	20
9	Danny Ruple	2018–present	Baldwin Wallace Yellow Jackets	15	4	19
10	Mike Derezic	2018–present	AFC Cleveland	14	3	17
	Dan Koniarczyk	2018–present	AFC Cleveland	12	5	17

Bold denotes players still playing for the club.

As of July 27, 2019

#	Name	Years	Signed from	NPSL	Playoffs	Total
1	Vinny Bell	2018–present	AFC Cleveland	16	7	23
2	Antonio Manfut	2018–present	Florida Tropics	9	2	11
3	Mike Derezic	2018–present	AFC Cleveland	7	2	9
	Admir Suljevic	2018–present	AFC Cleveland	9	0	9
5	Tom Beck	2018–present	AFC Cleveland	5	2	7
6	Danny Ruple	2018–present	Baldwin Wallace Yellow Jackets	3	0	3
7	Chris Cvecko	2018–present	AFC Cleveland	2	0	2

Bold denotes players still playing for the club. Only players with multiple goals are included.

As of July 27, 2019

#	Name	Years	Signed from	NPSL	Playoffs	Total
1	Marijo Musa	2018–present	AFC Cleveland	6	1	7
2	Mikal Outcalt	2018	Pittsburgh Panthers	2	0	2
3	Daniel Nagy	2019–present	Notre Dame Falcons	1	0	1

Bold denotes players still playing for the club.