Patrick Brennan

pbrennan@enquirer.com

SAN JOSE – The two-person Futbol Club Cincinnati delegation that spent the time this week networking and studying among U.S. soccer's power brokers at the 2016 Major League All-Star festivities will return to the Queen City bolstered by the praise and admiration of peers and observers.

It was a successful couple of days in San Jose, said team president and general manager Jeff Berding, and the team has a clearer vision for how to build on Cincinnati's upstart soccer sensation, and toward possible inclusion in MLS expansion.

Praise came from many sources throughout the week, and the guidance on how to continue building toward MLS came from perhaps the best-positioned person Berding could have sought for advice.

The path forward is an underdog's path

For Warren Smith, FC Cincinnati's road to MLS will have to be that of the small-market, scrappy underdog.

Smith would know. He's President of the United Soccer League's MLS-minded Sacramento Republic FC, a team MLS Commissioner Don Garber has already said is ready for American soccer's version of the big leagues.

While meeting with Berding, Smith put forth a basic framework for success that he modeled after Orlando City SC, a club that quickly ascended from USL to MLS in a recent expansion, and has successfully implemented in Sacramento.

The tenets of the hybrid Orlando City-Sacramento approach include a marketplace that's proven its inclination for soccer, a strong ownership group and a soccer-specific stadium, Smith said.

From there, Berding used his meetings with Smith and others to fill in some of the other desired components of an emerging soccer power, including youth programs, developmental teams (in lower leagues like the NPSL) and professional-quality training facilities – all things FC Cincinnati currently lacks.

Berding said the team has no plan to move forward with a full development academy like Sacramento has. However, FC Cincinnati has enough requisite components in place that the rest should become increasingly attainable, Smith said.

"(Cincinnati) has a lot of things that are going well for you," Smith said. "You've proven it. People are showing up. And you have an ownership group that's very well known."

But even after all that, FC Cincinnati will remain an underdog because of its market size, Smith said.

Berding said he doesn't mind the stigma of being perceived as an underdog.

"I like being the underdog," he said in a text message in the middle of Thursday's MLS All-Star Game. "America loves underdogs."

Berding on fact-finding mission to take FC Cincinnati to 'next level'

The stadium issue

The last piece of the MLS puzzle, Smith said, is a stadium solution – a reoccurring topic in Cincinnati these days.

MLS requires soccer-specific stadiums of most of its member teams, but Berding noted the few exceptions to this rule as well as the demand for his club in defending FC Cincinnati's deal to stay at the University of Cincinnati's Nippert Stadium. The deal is for up to 15 years and includes five renewable three-year phases.

Smith didn't render a verdict on whether FC Cincinnati's Nippert deal can work for MLS.

"I just listened to Jeff explain it to me," Smith said.

But other experts, such as current TV soccer analyst and former U.S. men's soccer international Alexi Lalas, have said anything less than a soccer-specific stadium can't work.

But Berding on Thursday remained unflinching in his commitment to Nippert. Even as he sat in the glittering Avaya Stadium in San Jose, which houses the San Jose Earthquakes of MLS, Berding didn't blink with regard to his Nippert stance.

"(Avaya) is a tremendous venue. The canopies kind of remind me of Paul Brown Stadium," Berding said. "But we're always going to look to partner with UC to improve Nippert."

Takeaways: Day 1 of FC Cincy at MLS meetings

Sunil Gulati, others weigh in on FC Cincinnati

Berding and Chief Financial Officer Sarah Huber didn't come to San Jose seeking praise. Success tends to find praise, though, so maybe it shouldn't come as a surprise that peers and Sunil Gulati, president of the U.S. Soccer Federation, said they're happy with what they're seeing from Cincinnati's soccer team.

"It's great what's happening with FC Cincinnati," Gulati told The Enquirer Thursday. "It's a successful team on and off the field, which is great to see."

Gulati declined to comment on FC Cincinnati's viability as a candidate for MLS expansion – "Oh, no. That's a question for (Don) Garber," he said – but his praise might be the most significant for FC Cincinnati to date.

Berding's first knowledge of Gulati's remarks came from The Enquirer. He also noted there wasn't a particular compliment that stood apart from others. He tries to block the compliments out to an extent as part of his admittedly modest, midwestern approach to his business.

But compliments still came pouring in regardless of Berding's attempts to tune them out and not let it go to his head. Amanda Duffy, president of rival Louisville City FC, also lauded FC Cincinnati's success, saying it was good for the entire league.

Preview: FC Cincy off to MLS All-Star events to 'promote'

Where the rubber meets the road

There's always been belief in what FC Cincinnati could become, Berding said. The difference now, nearly a year on from the public announcement of the club, is that there's evidence to support the early, lofty ambitions, and that more is attainable.

"We accept these challenges," Berding said. "We had no expectation that we would rise to the top of these discussions. We're thrilled to be a part of the consideration and I think that's a great achievement for year one."

Berding said some of the tasks born of his time in San Jose, such as getting MLS officials into Cincinnati to see Nippert, are already being undertaken. Other initiatives will be launched after the plans formally develop.

"We're bullish on Cincinnati," Berding said, "and we're going to stay true to our core principle and values."