“We are thrilled to bring the NPSL to Columbus, one of the truly great soccer markets in North America,” NPSL Chairman Joe Barone said. “We have been working with this group since early summer and we are excited to have them as part of the NPSL family. Ohio deserves great soccer and we are confident that FC Columbus will deliver an exemplary product on and off the field.”

The leadership of the team will include Owner/Coach Maziya Chete, Co-Founder/Coach Seymour Alleyne, General Manager Darrell Hughes, and Game Day Manager Analisa Trares.

FC Columbus is a newtoday.Maziya Chete made it clear that this has been in the works for some time and has nothing to do with what is going on with MLS Columbus Crew SC's potential move to Austin, TX.It's an obvious hot-button issue. Crew fans are embroiled in an existential crisis right now as their favorite meeting place for the last 20+ years (or last few, for most of them) is being taken away from them. With that, it's a very important fact that FC Columbus ownership made it clear that the formation of the team is completely separate from that activity.I moved to Columbus nearly 10 years ago. I've always been struck by the strong soccer community here. Having lived in two other hotbeds of youth soccer (Northern Virginia and Raleigh, NC), I have found the relationship to the sport to be real and firmly placed, especially at the youth level. Almost to the point of operating completely outside the drama that comes with the pro game (MLS, USL, NASL, USSF).It's an exciting and refreshing development in Columbus and will open up parts of the game to the community that most haven't seen before.For more head over the great interview over at