Day one on my quest to find a USL side to support, and the examination begins in earnest.

First up is the Cleveland City Stars, a team that will compete in USL-1 for the first time in 2009, after a successful two-year stint in USL-2. CCS won the USL-2 championship last year in fact, so their move up makes sense in terms of both business and competition.

All the details on Cleveland, as well as my thoughts, after the jump.

Let's get right into it, and break down Cleveland City Stars according to my four predetermined categories:

Geography

I'm not from Cleveland, I don't have any family in Cleveland, and I've never even been to Cleveland. I'll refrain from sharing what I've heard about Cleveland, mostly because it's second-hand information that I shouldn't allow to color my opinion. I will say that it's not all bad. Cleveland isn't particularly far from my home base though (relatively speaking of course), so I won't completely shut out the club on geography. Still, not a good start for CCS on the MFUSA Arbitrary Scoring Scale.

Score: 2

History

Because the club is only three years old, Cleveland City clearly comes up short in this category. The history of soccer in Cleveland as a whole isn't much better, though a few professional teams have in fact called the area home. Throw in the usual smattering of indoor soccer teams (which any American city of decent size has in their sports resumes, unfortunately), and the city's complete footy legacy might just barely get to "mediocre". Still, things are moving quickly for Cleveland (see intro), something which saves this score from being a big fat zero.

Score: 2

Name/Colors

This is where Cleveland might make back some of those lost points. I'm a fan of the name of the club, as it melds the American "City, Nickname" convention with a more tradional soccer sounding moniker. The badge/logo also has a traditional feel, which nicely avoids the splashy/wacky minor league feel of so many American soccer clubs. Add in colors that don't offend and stay within what I deem acceptable for a sports franchise (i.e., no pastels, no purple, no odd combinations), and this category is a major scorer for Cleveland City Stars. I'm refraining from giving maximum points here, but only because a "10" would have to be absolutely pefect, and grab me completely.

Score: 9

Supporter Passion

Obviously, this element is best judged in person, and short of that, through a televised match. Since I can't use either of those methods, I'm relying on information relayed to me, as well as what can be gleaned through Internet sources. Cleveland City's supporters' group, the Green Army, is said to number around 20 or 30 for every home match, and has online groups with members totalling between fifty and 100. Although not directly related to supporter passion, the club has recently moved from a stadium on the campus of Cleveland State University to a high school stadium in Bedford, Ohio. I hate to do it, but I have to take off points for that; the club is Cleveland City after all, and moving out of the city can't really be rewarded.

On a side note, I'd love to be able to find video the supporter groups I talk about for each USL-1 club; maybe some of you can help me with that be either providing it directly or pointing me to the right Internet source.

Score: 7

Total Score: 20

Cleveland City Stars set the bar with a twenty, a score that will be impossible to put in proper context until we get through a few more of the clubs on the journey.

A few more thoughts on Cleveland, ones that may or not make not effect the final decision:

I like the idea of Cleveland as a soccer market, I'm just not sure it will work long-term. The culture of soccer in the U.S. was derailed from the blue-collar path that characterizes (even still, no matter corporate influence) the English game; a city like Cleveland might fill that void if a team like the Stars could capture the attention of the city. Unfortunately, I don't see how that can happen. The Stars are not only "minor league", they also have to compete with the Browns, the Cavaliers, and the Indians for the sports fan's attention (not to mention a minor league hockey team whose name escapes me). Perhaps an avenue for success can be laid through young, budget-conscious, urban-dwelling fans, though it will still be an uphill climb. After only three years, and with attendance averages less than 2,000 but climbing (or so I'm told), it's hard to be certain that CCS will remain solvent and on the scene for the foreseeable future. I don't know that any of that will weigh into my final decision, but it's definitely a concern.

I want to be sure to thank MFUSA reader and regular commenter Cody for much of the information included in this post; he took my call to action to heart (the only one who has so far) and given me strong reasons to back his hometown Stars.

Here are a few links that Cody provided me, plus the wikipedia page for the Stars, in case you'd like to check them out:

Cleveland City Stars Official Site
Green Army Message Board
Cleveland City Stars Wikipedia page