Cleveland City Stars

Soccer club

Cleveland City Stars

Full name| Cleveland City Stars
Nickname(s)| City Stars, City
Founded| 2006
Dissolved| 2009
Stadium| Middlefield Cheese Stadium
Bedford, Ohio
Capacity| 5,000
Owner| Jonathan Ortlip
Head Coach| Rod Underwood
League| USL First Division
2009| Regular season: 11th
Playoffs: DNQ

Home colors

Away colors

|

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.

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

### Final roster

[edit]

[4]

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

| No. | Pos. | Nation  | Player

|
|
|

0  | GK |  USA | Evan Bush
1  | GK |  USA | Hunter Gilstrap
2  | DF |  USA | Anthony Peters
3  | MF |  USA | Eric Carpenter
4  | DF |  MLI | Ibrahim Kante
6  | FW |  USA | Kolby LaCrone
7  | MF |  USA | Gordon Kljestan
9  | FW |  SLE | Teteh Bangura
10  | MF |  GHA | Joshua Boateng
11  | FW |  HAI | Ricardo Pierre-Louis
12  | DF |  USA | Troy Roberts
14  | DF |  USA | Anthony Stovall
| No. | Pos. | Nation  | Player

|
|
|

15  | MF |  SEN | Alioune Gueye
16  | MF |  SLE | Warren Kanu
17  | MF |  TRI | Ryan Stewart
19  | DF |  HAI | Stéphane Guillaume
20  | DF |  TRI | Stephen Cruickshank
21  | MF |  USA | Steve Gillespie
22  | DF |  CAN | Paul Ballard
23  | MF |  TRI | Terrence McAllister
24  | FW |  LBR | Leo Gibson
25  | MF |  CIV | Arsene Oka
27  | MF |  USA | Jason Hotchkin
77  | MF |  BOL | Pato Aguilera

## Year-by-year

[edit]

Year  | Division  | League  | Reg. season  | Playoffs  | Open Cup  | Avg. attendance

|
|
|
|
|
|

2007 | 3  | USL Second Division  | 2nd  | Semifinals  | 2nd Round  | 1,417
2008 | 3  | USL Second Division  | 3rd  | Champions  | 3rd Round  | 1,634
2009 | 2  | USL First Division  | 11th  | Did not qualify | 2nd Round  | 1,491

## Honors

[edit]

* USL Second Division
* Winners (1): 2008

## Head coaches

[edit]

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

## Stadia

[edit]

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

## Television

[edit]

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

[edit]

* USL First Division teams

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Quarstad, Brian (December 2, 2009). "Cleveland City Stars Release Players from Contracts". Insidemn Soccer. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
2. ^ "City Stars To Play In Bedford At Newly Named Middlefield Cheese Stadium". clevelandcitystars.com. Archived from the original on April 2, 2009. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
3. ^ "United Soccer Leagues (USL)". Archived from the original on February 9, 2009. Retrieved February 5, 2009.
4. ^ "United Soccer Leagues (USL)". Archived from the original on January 7, 2010. Retrieved October 23, 2009.

## External links

[edit]

* Official Site of the Cleveland City Stars
* Official site of the United Soccer Leagues
* Official Green Army Forum

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*[No.]: Number
*[Pos.]: Position
*[GK]: Goalkeeper
*[DF]: Defender
*[MF]: Midfielder
*[FW]: Forward
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template