The Cleveland City Stars were an American professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

team based in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

, United States. Founded in 2006, the team played in the

USL First Division The USL First Division (USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the second tier of the United States league system. It was organized by the United Soccer League as its premier league for men from 1996 to 2010, above the USL Second ...

(USL-1), the second tier of the

American Soccer Pyramid The United States soccer league system is a series of professional and amateur association football, soccer leagues based, in whole or in part, in the United States. Although sometimes called the American soccer pyramid, teams and leagues are no ...

in 2009. The club folded soon after the 2009 season. The team played its home games at Bearcat Stadium (renamed Middlefield Cheese Stadium for sponsorship purposes) on the campus of Bedford High School in nearby Bedford, Ohio, where they played in 2009. The team's colors were green, black and white. Their final head coach was Rod Underwood.

History

The Cleveland City Stars were founded in 2006 as a member of the

USL Second Division The USL Second Division (commonly referred to as USL-2) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States, operated by United Soccer Leagues (USL). It was at the third tier of soccer in the United States, behind Major League Soccer ...

and played their inaugural season in 2007. The team found success early on, going undefeated for the first nine games before losing to the

Charlotte Eagles The Charlotte Eagles is an American amateur soccer team based in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1991, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The team plays its home games at the ...

in the tenth game of the season. They ended the regular season undefeated at home, and clinched the second seed for the USL-2 play-offs, where they progressed to the semi-final, and lost to eventual champions Harrisburg 1–0 after extra time. The team's success continued in 2008 as they finished the regular season unbeaten at home. City posted a 10–3–7 record, which proved good enough for third place in the USL Second Division, and playoff qualification. They faced the Western Mass Pioneers in the quarterfinals and won 4–2. They traveled to Richmond for the semi-final and won 1–0 after extra time. The City Stars hosted the championship game and defeated Charlotte 2–1 for the team's first championship. During 2007 & 2008 season the Cleveland City Stars operated a reserve team that competed against PDL, international & other U23 teams. The program was lead and coached by Kent Manson, James Jaggard and Marcelo Galvao. On December 4, 2008 the first team announced that they would compete in the

for the 2009 season. Soon after the end of the 2009 USL First Division season, the City Stars club folded due to financial issues.

Players

Final roster

Year-by-year

Honors

**Winners (1): 2008

Head coaches

* Martin Rennie (2007–2008) * Rod Underwood (2009) * James Jaggard (U23 Head Coach) (2007–2008)

Stadia

* Krenzler Field;

(2007–2008) * Middlefield Cheese Stadium at Bedford High School; Bedford, Ohio (2009)

Television

On April 7, 2008, the City Stars announced a deal with

SportsTime Ohio SportsTime Ohio was an American regional sports network which was last known as Bally Sports Great Lakes. At the time it left the air, the network was owned by Main Street Sports Group (formerly Diamond Sports Group) and operated as an affiliate ...

that saw all of the team's home games aired on the station. Each match aired tape delayed on game night with replays airing on Sundays. Play-by-play and color commentary was provided by Desmond Armstrong, 1994 World Cup TV commentator and former US national team player, and Glen Duerr, a former City Stars player. The broadcast included a half-time segment highlighting the team's weekly inner-city coaching and life-lessons program. On April 6, 2009, the City Stars announced a new deal with

to air 12 home games. Glen Duerr returned and was joined by two new TV commentators, Mark Zimmerman and Steve Bell, former A-League (USL-1) and MLS player. Bell also did play-by-play for three matches on

Fox Soccer Channel Fox Soccer (formerly Fox Soccer Channel & Fox Sports World before that) was an American television specialty channel specializing in soccer, owned by 21st Century Fox, which operated from 1997 to 2013. It formerly broadcast rugby and Australia ...

References

External links

Official Site of the Cleveland City Stars

Official site of the United Soccer Leagues

Official Green Army Forum
{{Ohio Sports Association football clubs established in 2006 Association football clubs disestablished in 2009 S USL First Division teams USL Second Division teams Soccer clubs in Ohio 2006 establishments in Ohio 2009 disestablishments in Ohio Bedford, Ohio