FC Cincinnati’s 2020 home opener was supposed to be a celebration – the beginning of the end, when the club would start its final season at Nippert Stadium before moving into its future soccer cathedral.
That home opener never came.
The one we got instead was an empty shell of what the Orange and Blue dreamed when the 2020 schedule was released.
Yes, FCC played in their home opener on Friday night against D.C. United, but it was hardly a celebration. The club is back home, but it won’t be home until fans return.
Photo by Aaron Doster | USA TODAY Sports.
FC Cincinnati are an MLS club for multiple reasons, but none more so than the team’s rabid fanbase. Those who gave a third-tier club a chance back in 2016 are now months away from seeing their team in the best soccer-specific stadium in the country. While there's certainly gratefulness in that reality, it’s also deserving.
Of course, no one expected a pandemic was looming. And back in March, when the season was suspended, we wondered if we’d even see the team play again in 2020. FCC have since played in the MLS is Back Tournament inside a bubble, and on Friday, they began what the league hopes will be 18 more in-market games.
So, this is what it’s like to be in Nippert when fans aren’t allowed.
It’s quiet. (Even the press box felt like a library and not the first FCC home game in 11 months.)
While the teams played on the turf, the only sign of life in the bleachers were security guards and Gary, the mascot.
It also felt lonely. We all know a soccer team is nothing without its supporters, but we all thought that was a cliché more than the new normal.
Banners were draped in The Bailey – which was a nice gesture – but it can’t replicate the wall of sound we’re accustomed to inside Nippert Stadium’s north end.
After the match, Joseph-Claude Gyau called the experience “weird.” Tom Pettersson joked, “It wasn’t exactly what I imagined when I signed.” For head coach Jaap Stam, the last match he coached in a stadium was a sold-out derby – an atmosphere that felt much farther away than just an ocean.
Now that this is the new standard, it’ll start feeling more regular. With so many games to play, players can develop routines, and maybe even fans could make guest appearances at some point.
As for FCC’s on-field performance Friday night, a scoreless draw, it was satisfactory, but not satisfying.
When the pandemic started, all of us would gladly take clean sheets. Of course, that’s still the case, but the club’s recent success has left us hungry for more. And we almost got it if it wasn’t for the post denying Jürgen Locadia in the 84th-minute.
There’s a quick turnaround between now and Tuesday, when FCC play at Chicago Fire FC. That’ll be another match in a hollow football stadium.
Next Saturday night is the #HellisReal derby, of course. Given the history of the rivalry – and last occasion’s lopsided score line, that should be a spicier affair than what the home opener offered.
That’s not a knock on anyone. The players, the coaches and those who kept Nippert Stadium safe and sterile did their best and should be applauded. But with that being said, it’s impossible to be at Nippert and feel like it’s not missing something.
That’s because it is. It’s missing all of you.
