When FC Cincinnati laid out its plans last year for the club’s first season, President Jeff Berding knew what it would take to bring it to fruition.

On Saturday night that work will be fully evident, when the club welcomes more than 11,000 fans to Nippert Stadium for the club’s home opener.

“There’s no question that we felt a high level of confidence that we were going to bring professional soccer at the highest level that this community had ever seen,” Berding said this week. “In that respect, things are going according to plan.”

The signs have been there for the club prior to this week. Anticipating a few-hundred of the club’s season-ticket holders to join them for a “Meet the Team” last week, they ended up welcoming more than 1,000 fans as players continued to sign autographs and meet their new supporters well into the night.

The club’s fans have also had big showings at the watch parties put on around the city for both its preseason games at IMG Academy in Bradenton, and its first two games of the USL season – which drew an average of 7,480 viewers on YouTube.

Now Berding and his team are looking to put on a memorable night at Nippert Stadium for those in the stands or watching on local television that will have fans coming back throughout the season.

“We’re trying to produce this at a similar level to what people would expect at a Reds or a Bengals game, professional sports at the highest level,” Berding said. “That’s what the USL is, and that’s what we represent, and that’s what we’re introducing into this community.

“The key to sustaining it is the 11,000-plus people who will be at the game on Saturday will leave and say, ‘boy, what a great time. The experience was great, the soccer was excellent, and we want to come back.’ The word-of-mouth that goes with it, where people are telling folks that didn’t make it to the first game, they saw it on TV, they’re saying that this is something this spring and summer you really need to check out.”

On the face of it, the club has a team that will certainly provide a high level of quality on the field. Cincinnati’s first victory last Sunday against Bethlehem Steel FC featured the first goals in club history, including a highlight-reel finish by former New England Revolution forward Sean Okoli.