CINCINNATI – USL President Jake Edwards praised FC Cincinnati for the success it had achieved on and off the field in a record-setting inaugural season. The 2016 season saw the club finish third in the USL’s Eastern Conference to earn a berth in the 2016 USL Cup Playoffs and set USL records for single-game and single-season attendance throughout the year.

As FC Cincinnati gears up for its second home opener at Nippert Stadium on Saturday night against current USL Eastern Conference leader Saint Louis FC, the club’s sights are set even higher for 2017.

“They achieved tremendous success,” Edwards told the Cincinnati Business Courier’s Steve Watkins. “It’s a great example of what’s possible. To draw 30,000 for a playoff game, I wouldn’t have thought that was possible.”

Cincinnati’s success has also been reflective of the growing movement within the USL, which has seen major rises in total attendance in each of the past two seasons. The league set a new opening weekend record with almost 60,000 fans in attendance during Week 1’s action after welcoming almost 1.5 million fans during the 2016 USL regular season.