Cleveland City Stars

Last updated
Cleveland City Stars
Cleveland City Stars logo.svg
Full nameCleveland City Stars
Nickname(s)City Stars, City
Founded2006
Dissolved2009
Stadium Middlefield Cheese Stadium
Bedford, Ohio
Capacity5,000
Owner Jonathan Ortlip
Head Coach Rod Underwood
League USL First Division
2009 Regular season: 11th
Playoffs: DNQ

The Cleveland City Stars were an American professional soccer team based in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Founded in 2006, the team played in the USL First Division (USL-1), the second tier of the American Soccer Pyramid in 2009. [1] The club folded soon after the 2009 season.

Contents

The team played its home games at Bearcat Stadium (renamed Middlefield Cheese Stadium for sponsorship purposes [2] ) 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. [3]

History

The Cleveland City Stars were founded in 2006 as a member of the USL Second Division 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 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 USL First Division 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

[4]

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

No.Pos.NationPlayer
0 GK Flag of the United States.svg  USA Evan Bush
1 GK Flag of the United States.svg  USA Hunter Gilstrap
2 DF Flag of the United States.svg  USA Anthony Peters
3 MF Flag of the United States.svg  USA Eric Carpenter
4 DF Flag of Mali.svg  MLI Ibrahim Kante
6 FW Flag of the United States.svg  USA Kolby LaCrone
7 MF Flag of the United States.svg  USA Gordon Kljestan
9 FW Flag of Sierra Leone.svg  SLE Teteh Bangura
10 MF Flag of Ghana.svg  GHA Joshua Boateng
11 FW Flag of Haiti.svg  HAI Ricardo Pierre-Louis
12 DF Flag of the United States.svg  USA Troy Roberts
14 DF Flag of the United States.svg  USA Anthony Stovall
No.Pos.NationPlayer
15 MF Flag of Senegal.svg  SEN Alioune Gueye
16 MF Flag of Sierra Leone.svg  SLE Warren Kanu
17 MF Flag of Trinidad and Tobago.svg  TRI Ryan Stewart
19 DF Flag of Haiti.svg  HAI Stéphane Guillaume
20 DF Flag of Trinidad and Tobago.svg  TRI Stephen Cruickshank
21 MF Flag of the United States.svg  USA Steve Gillespie
22 DF Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  CAN Paul Ballard
23 MF Flag of Trinidad and Tobago.svg  TRI Terrence McAllister
24 FW Flag of Liberia.svg  LBR Leo Gibson
25 MF Flag of Cote d'Ivoire.svg  CIV Arsene Oka
27 MF Flag of the United States.svg  USA Jason Hotchkin
77 MF Flag of Bolivia.svg  BOL Pato Aguilera

Year-by-year

YearDivisionLeagueReg. seasonPlayoffsOpen CupAvg. attendance
2007 3USL Second Division2ndSemifinals2nd Round1,417
2008 3USL Second Division3rdChampions3rd Round1,634
2009 2USL First Division11thDid not qualify2nd Round1,491

Honors

Head coaches

Stadia

Television

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

See also

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References

  1. ↑ Quarstad, Brian (2009-12-02). "Cleveland City Stars Release Players from Contracts". Insidemn Soccer. Retrieved 2024-06-19.
  2. ↑ "City Stars To Play In Bedford At Newly Named Middlefield Cheese Stadium". clevelandcitystars.com. Archived from the original on 2009-04-02. Retrieved 2024-06-19.
  3. ↑ "United Soccer Leagues (USL)". Archived from the original on 2009-02-09. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
  4. ↑ "United Soccer Leagues (USL)". Archived from the original on 2010-01-07. Retrieved 2009-10-23.
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