Charlie Hatch

Enquirer contributor

Paul Nicholson grew up in Whitehaven, England, dreaming that some day he could play in the Premier League. Now 29, those dreams haven’t come true for Nicholson.

“It took me a long time to realize it wasn’t going to happen,” he said.

Instead, a Barclays Premier League club is coming to America to play him.

Futbol Club Cincinnati will play Crystal Palace Football Club on July 16 at Nippert Stadium, the club announced Thursday morning in a press conference. Crystal Palace is the first Premier League team to visit Cincinnati for a friendly.

“From the first press conference, we’ve said we want to bring soccer of the highest level to Cincinnati,” said FC Cincinnati President and General Manager Jeff Berding. “We hope people say at this point, ‘the jury is in and the verdict has been good for Cincinnati and soccer fans.’”

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Berding and Cincinnati head coach John Harkes said discussions about possible international friendlies began as the club was being officially launched in August.

When the United Soccer League schedule was announced in late January, Berding and Harkes saw that Saturday, July 16, was free. Typically, European soccer clubs go on their international tours around the same time.

Since January, Berding said the club juggled multiple inquiries and opportunities for a possible international friendly. He mentioned European, South American and Mexican clubs were interested in a match.

Ultimately, the club decided on Palace, and paid an “affordable” price to get the Barclays Premier League side to come to Nippert Stadium, Berding said.

“Discussing it with the players, they smile and raise to a whole new level,” Harkes said. “Not that this justifies what we’re doing…but to be a young club it’s a great opportunity to compete."

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Crystal Palace, which is based out of South London and is also known as the Eagles, finished 15th this past season in the Barclays Premier League, which ended Tuesday.

The Eagles still have one match, however. They play Manchester United on Saturday in the FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium. The FA Cup pins every professional club in England in a tournament, similar to the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, which FC Cincinnati advanced in on Wednesday.

If Palace beats United, it automatically qualifies to play in Europa League next season — a tournament with some of the best soccer clubs in Europe.

Regardless of the outcome at Wembley, the July fixture with Cincinnati and Palace should have the most attacking play FC Cincinnati fans have seen this season.

Much like Cincinnati, Palace plays with an attacking style, known for pacey wingers on the outside flanks who generate crosses into the area. Cincinnati, through its first 10 competitive matches as a club under Harkes, has gone with a similar approach.

“It creates an exciting style of play from both sides,” Harkes said. “It’s the entertaining, beautiful part of the game.”

Perhaps the club with some of the flashiest wingers in the Premier League, Palace uses Yannick Bolassie, a Congo international, and Wilfried Zaha, an English winger, to sneak into space along the flanks.

The two most notable players for the club are forward Emmanuel Adebayor, a Togo international, and Yohan Cabeye, a clever French midfielder who might miss the match due to international duties with France in the UEFA Euro 2016. The Euros are considered the most prestigious international competition after the FIFA World Cup.

This isn’t the first time Crystal Palace has travelled to America.

In 2014, the Eagles actually played in Columbus, drawing Crew SC 2-2. They also played Philadelphia Union of the MLS and the Richmond Kickers, who were in the modern-day USL.

General admission tickets for the friendly will become available sometime in mid-June. Prices will be $10-$30, Berding said.