For the previous six seasons, from 2012 to 2017, AFC Cleveland had represented the city of Cleveland in the National Premier Soccer League. That run had included an NPSL national championship in 2016, as well as two appearances in the U.S. Open Cup. However, the club was expelled from the NPSL due to "not in good financial standing with the league." That announcement came on December 12, 2017, just months before the new NPSL season was set to begin.
Inaugural season
The catalysts for founding Cleveland SC were two former AFC Cleveland players, Coletun Long and Chris Cvecko. According to Long, the two "started having a conversation in the car and talked further in a Chipotle parking lot outside the city. We wrote down ideas and called teammates and others previously associated with AFC Cleveland.” One of those people contacted was Samuel Seibert, a native of Northeast Ohio who had been on the media relations staff for AFC Cleveland. He would go on to take the lead on the NPSL expansion process, culminating in an official announcement of Cleveland SC as an NPSL expansion club on February 19, 2018. That announcement came just 90 days before the club was set to play its first regular season match. Prior to the season beginning, CSC announced that the club would be playing its inaugural season at Don Shula Stadium, located in University Heights, Ohio on the campus of John Carroll University. In conjunction with local designers, a crest and kits featuring an orange and black color combination were launched in mid-March, less than a month before the club's inaugural match. Ryan Osborne was announced as the club's first head coach and the first two matches in club history took part in April, the inaugural edition of the Cheese Barn Derby against FC Columbus. The first-ever league match in CSC history took place on May 19, 2018, ending in a 2–0 victory over Rochester Lancers courtesy of goals from Declan McGivern and American futsal international Antonio Manfut. After a second-place finish in the Midwest-East, the club qualified for the playoffs and defeated Erie Commodores in the quarterfinals before falling to AFC Ann Arbor in the regional semifinals.
Stadium
During the 2018 season, Cleveland SC played home matches at Don Shula Stadium, located in University Heights, Ohio on the campus of John Carroll University. The stadium has a capacity of 5,416, which made it the second-largest stadium in the Midwest-East behind only Marina Auto Stadium. Cleveland played its first match at Shula Stadium on May 19, 2018, defeating Rochester Lancers 2–0 in front of a crowd of a couple hundred. Cleveland finished with four wins, one draw, and one loss in home matches during its lone season at the stadium. Due to renovation work at Shula Stadium over the summer of 2019, Cleveland moved to Baldwin Wallace University's George Finnie Stadium, located in Berea, Ohio. The 7,800 capacity stadium still holds the title of being the second-largest stadium in the Midwest-East, behind Marina Auto Stadium. Cleveland debuted at Finnie Stadium on May 5, 2019, with a 2-1 win an international friendly match against Monarcas Morelia Reserves.
Club culture
Broadcasting
Although the NPSL does not require clubs to stream matches, Cleveland SC streamed every home match in 2018 on Mycujoo. Vince McKee served as the main commentator for the duration of the season, while the color commentator role was filled by a rotating cast of analysts.
Rivalries
Although the two clubs are in different conferences, Cleveland has a friendly rivalry with fellow Ohioan NPSL club FC Columbus. Both clubs were founded in 2018, and their inaugural matches came against each other in a home-and-home friendly series in April 2018. Supporters of the clubs dubbed the rivalry the Grandpa's Cheese Barn Derby, or simply the Cheese Barn Derby, named after a landmark business that sits just off Interstate 71 in Ashland, Ohio. The actual barn is roughly equidistant between the cities of Cleveland and Columbus. In 2018, the first year of the rivalry, neither team was able to claim the Derby title: both Cleveland and Columbus won their away game 3–2, meaning the inaugural Cheese Barn Derby ended in a 5–5 tie.
Supporters
The primary supporters' group for Cleveland SC is 6th City Syndicate, an "independent supporters' group for Cleveland soccer." 6CS is unaffiliated with the club, and as such also provides support for WPSL club Cleveland Ambassadors. Prior to the foundation of Cleveland SC, 6th City Syndicate had supported AFC Cleveland, migrating to the new club after AFC Cleveland folded in December 2017.
