User:Frank Anchor/box
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| Cleveland F.C. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Full name | Cleveland Football Club | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nickname(s) | The Dawgs | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Founded | 1992 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | Cleveland Browns Stadium Cleveland, Ohio (Capacity 42,640[1]) |
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| Chairman |  Randy Lerner |
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| Manager |  Timothy Taylor |
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| League | American Premier League | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2007–08 | American Premier League, 1st | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Cleveland Football Club (also known as the Dogs or Dawgs ) are an American professional association football (soccer) club based in Cleveland, Ohio, who currently play in the American Premier League. The club was founded in 1992 and have played at their current home ground, Cleveland Browns Stadium, since 1999. Cleveland were founding members of the American Premier League in 1995. The club was owned by Al Lerner, and upon his death, given to his son, Randy.
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[edit] History
[edit] 1992-1998: Early History
Cleveland Football Club were formed in March, 1992, by members of Holy Cross Parish in Euclid, Ohio which is a suburb of Cleveland. The four founders of Cleveland were Al Lerner, Ben Galandiuk, John McNulty, and John Jenkins. Cleveland's first match was a 1-1 draw at home to Oakland. The Club won the McDonalds Soccer Award (given to the club with the most points in the nation) in 1993 and 1995. Due to their success, Cleveland were one of the 18 teams selected to play in the American Premier League in 1995.
Cleveland's first season in the Premier League saw them earn x points and finish in 4th place, which allowed the club to play in a qualifier for the 1997 CONCACAF Champions League. Despite winning the home leg 3-1 over Winnipeg FC of Canada, Winnipeg took the return leg 4-1 in extra time and won on aggregate 5-4. Cleveland went to the McDonald's Cup tournament, but lost in the quarter-finals. This loss marked the end of a successful era of Cleveland football, as the club stayed near the middle of the table for the next few years.
[edit] 1998-2006: A long struggle
Like so many other Cleveland sports teams, Cleveland F.C. entered into a period of bad fortune and slowly trickled their way down the table. They finished 10th in 1998-99, 11th in 1999-00, 13th in 2000-01. After that season, manager Mike Hargrove was fired and replaced by longtime assistant Tim Henmanof England. Henman's leadership did not fare better, as Cleveland was 15th in 2001-02.
This struggle Continued in a 2002-03 season that saw the death of team owner Al Lerner. Cleveland finished 17th and faced possible relegation to the Football Open AAA Division. In order to avoid relegation, Cleveland would have to win a playoff with Oakland, New York II, and Liberals United of Boston. Cleveland defeated Oakland in the Semi-Final with two 3-0 victories. Liberals United forced Cleveland into extra time tied 1-1 on aggregate, but a goal by American Ben Davis in the final minute of extra time kept Cleveland in the Premier League.
Despite this, Henman was fired after two seasons and replaced by Australian Michael Paul. The next three seasons saw Cleveland finish 14th or 15th each year. Facing termination, Paul resigned.
[edit] 2006-Present: The Crocker/Fernandes Era
Before the 2006-07 season, Cleveland was able to sign two star players, Englishman Nigel Crocker, and Portuguese Miguel Fernandes. These two players, along with new coach Timothy Taylor led Cleveland to a surprise 2nd-place finish, just three points away from the top of the standings, behind Houston Dynamo. This impressive finish put Cleveland directly into the 2008 CONCACAF Champions League for the first time in team history.
Cleveland drew La Cruz of Costa Rica in the round of the tournament. Cleveland impressively won the home leg 3-0 and then drew 0-0 in the away leg to secure an 3-0 aggregate win. They faced fellow American club Philadelphia in the quarter-finals. Despite losing 2-0 in Philadelphia, Cleveland came back to win 3-1 at home but lost the leg on penalties.
Hope grew even greater after the 2007-08 American Premier league season. Fernandes was named MVP of the league and Cleveland finished in a first place tie with Houston. League rules say that a tie for the championship will be decided by a two-leg playoff. By a coin flip, Cleveland was given the first leg at home, and drew 0-0. The return leg in Houston was a completely different game. On the strength of a Ben Davis goal, Cleveland took a 1-0 lead to the break. In the second half, neither goal keeper appeared able to stop anything. Houston scored five goals, and cleveland scored four, including three by Fernandes, making the score 5-5 after regular time. Fernandes and Crocker scored goals for Cleveland in extra time, giving Cleveland a 7-5 win, and their first cup in any competition since the 1995 McDonalds Soccer Award and only the third in club history. The championship also clinched a spot in the 2009 CONCACAF Champions League.
[edit] Stadium
Cleveland have played all of their home games at Cleveland Browns Stadium, also home of the Cleveland Browns American Football team of the National Football League, since 1999. The Browns, also owned by Lerner, are the primary users of the stadium, and the football club is a tenant.
When the club began play in 1992, it played its home games at Cleveland Stadium. However, the demolition of Cleveland stadium during the 1995-96 season left the club without a home. The club played the rest of its games that season at Krensler Field at nearby Cleveland State University. Du to the small capacity at Krensler Field, Cleveland moved its home games to Bedford Bearcat Stadium at Bedford High School for the next three seasons, before moving to the new [[Cleveland Browns Stadium in 1999.
[edit] Colors and Crest
The Club colors have been orange and brown (officially seal brown) since the club's inception in 1992. These colors match those of the Cleveland Browns. The team's current home kit consists of a brown shirt, white shorts, and brown socks. Their away kit consists of a white shirt with brown sleeves, orange shorts, and white socks. The shirts have the crest on the top right corner, and the kit sponsor is the United States Army.
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| Home kit: 1992-1997 | |||||||||
Until 1997, Cleveland's home kit consisted of an orange shirt with black stripes and maroon stripes on the sleeves, silver shorts, and black socks. This design was unpopular with the fans, especially after the Cleveland Browns American football team suspended operations for thee seasons. Many fans saw these shirts as "tacky" and criticized the uniform for not incorporating brown. In 1997, it was changed to the pattern that is used today.
Cleveland's away kit has gone through minor revisions during the club's history, but the basic design has remained as it is now. Until 1996, the kit was a white shirt, orange shorts, and white socks. During the 1996-97 season, they changed the sock color to brown, but reverted it back the next season. Before the 2004-05 season, brown sleeves were added to the kit.
The kit supplier since 1992 has been Adidas. Sponsorshi has changed over the years, but it has been sponsored by the US Army since 2004-05, in a deal that expires after the 2008-09 season. Before the US Army Sponsorship, Cleveland had been sponsored by Pepsi, and displayed Pepsi of one of its other products (e.g. Mountain Dew) from 1992-99, and Gatorade from 1999-2004.
