With record crowds in the stands, and a strong side on the field, FC Cincinnati’s inaugural season has been a resounding success just over two months into the regular season.

Last week, club President Jeff Berding sat down with USLSoccer.com for an in-depth Q&A, covering such topics as the club’s immediate success on the field and in the stands, what the keys to the club’s success have been and how expectations have changed since the club’s launch.

Q: Just over two months into the season, how pleased are you with where the club stands?

Jeff Berding: We’re excited for how things have gone so far. We’re a third of the way in, so we still have a lot of work to do, and we’re looking forward to it. The team has been competitive, and we’re pleased with that, but we have two-thirds of the season still to go, so the team, the players, we’re still new, they’ve played 10 games together in the league, so we still have a lot of growing to do, a lot of improving to do, getting stronger, taking care of our bodies, but if you’d told me back in February or March that 10 games in, five home matches, you’ll be averaging 17,000 fans, you’ll be selling enormous amounts of merchandise, and your team will be 6-2-2, I’d take that. We’re doing better than we maybe expected.

Q: Nippert Stadium has seen new highs in terms of the USL. How much has that exceeded the expectations you had going in?

JB: We had a lot of respect for the quality of the league. I do presentations all over town introducing FC Cincinnati, and tell people what the requirements were to make this work, and one of the requirements was a high-quality league. I always say, if you’re going to introduce professional soccer, it had better be great soccer. I think the teams we’ve played have been outstanding, every match has gone right down to the wire, so we’re thrilled, and I think our fans our thrilled with the level of play and the quality of the competition.