As Futbol Club Cincinnati picked up steam this summer, particularly in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, Alan Koch became a sought-after commodity on the coaching market.

A move wasn't necessarily imminent, nor did Koch even want to leave Cincinnati, but the whispers were growing into chatter. There was definitely outside interest in obtaining Koch's services.

"You win games, people start talking. That's the reality of it," Koch said.

FC Cincinnati decided to get out ahead of the chatter and end that conversation early.

Koch, along with assistant coach Yoann Damet, put pens to paper on respective multi-year agreements to stay in the Queen City, FC Cincinnati announced Thursday.

"To be quite honest, I don't want to go anywhere else. Not for one second," Koch told The Enquirer Thursday. "We could go win the U.S. Open Cup and I don't want to go anywhere else. I want to be here. That's it. I want to continue to build something very, very special. What we have here, in all honesty, doesn't exist in many places. What we have from the club perspective, the city perspective, our fan base. It's something truly special and I'm grateful for the opportunity to be here."

Koch signed his deal during the club's first trip to Miami for its U.S. Open Cup match against Miami FC more than three weeks ago. The match, originally scheduled for July 12, was postponed due to weather and made up Wednesday.

The news of Koch's extension came as a welcome relief to some of the astute FC Cincinnati fans who began to grow concerned that Koch's Queen City successes could result in his departure for a bigger opportunity.

The announcement was made sweeter because Koch guided FC Cincinnati on Wednesday to a fifth successive win in U.S. Open Cup play, this time with a 1-0 win in the rescheduled quarterfinal-round game against Miami.

The win, which triggered a home semifinal date with the New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer, echoed across Cincinnati. Scenes of boisterous fan celebrations around the region were posted to social media.

The party continued into Thursday afternoon when Koch and his players were greeted at the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport by about 100 fans and nearly every major media outlet in Cincinnati.

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Airport police had to corral the fans at one point as they gathered and chanted at the edge of the TSA-protected boundaries of the airport exit.

The club's return to Cincinnati Thursday bookended a whirlwind two-day stretch that saw the club represent itself well in Miami, as well as in Chicago for the MLS All-Star Game festivities.

While FC Cincinnati's coaches and players were taking care of business against Miami FC, President and General Manager Jeff Berding and Chief Financial Officer Sarah Huber, met with MLS officials, attended the league's owners meeting and rubbed elbows with U.S. soccer powerbrokers at the MLS All-Star Game.

Like previous summer trips to MLS All-Star games in San Jose and Denver, Berding and Huber were gathering input, providing updates and mingling in the company of MLS decision makers as part of their ongoing efforts to see Cincinnati awarded one of four MLS expansion spots.

Two of those expansion spots will be awarded by the end of 2017 – a timeline MLS Commissioner Don Garber again committed to during a Wednesday press conference at Soldier Field.

Garber lauded FC Cincinnati during his Wednesday press conference remarks, saying "what's happening in Cincinnati is remarkable."

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Garber also raised eyebrows when he mentioned Cincinnati within the favorable context of three perceived leaders in the expansion race – Sacramento, Nashville and Detroit – and the energy around their respective bids.

"We understand the process," Berding said of the feedback he received from MLS in Chicago. "Nothing's changed. We know what we've got to do."

As part of the club's ongoing expansion efforts, Berding said FC Cincinnati has held talks with some of Cincinnati's biggest companies regarding MLS jersey, or "kit," sponsorship.

Stadium naming rights deals for FC Cincinnati's proposed soccer-specific stadium have also been discussed, Berding said.

"We've been visiting businesses around town and getting great reception from multiple companies," Berding said of the ongoing talks for the prospective kit and naming-rights deals that would kick in if FC Cincinnati was selected for MLS.

With one eye on the MLS All-Stars as they battled against Real Madrid at Soldier Field Wednesday, Berding also said his organization has continued to make progress on the stadium front.

"I used to be an elected official. Elected officials are going to be very cautious, and just given the feelings in our community as it relates to stadiums and stadium deals, there's a hesitation," Berding said. "We understand that. We're not critical of Todd Portune or anyone. We're asking for help. We're asking if you share our vision. And maybe they don't, and that's OK. We've got a great thing going in this city. We're not looking to make it less a great thing by creating some contentious stadium issue. We have a vision for our city of promoting it on the global stage in (soccer) and what it can do – the economic impact of what this can do for our city. We know it, and we're asking people to buy into that. Maybe they can't get there, and if they can't, that's OK. This isn't a battle. There's no deadline. There's no ultimatums.

"People have learned their lessons. The community has moved ahead, moved forward, but there's an opportunity to do something pretty extraordinary and we believe in that vision. If they can't share our vision in Ohio, we have a great, winning site in Kentucky that we think is ready to go. At a certain point, we may shift our attention there."

Asked during the Wednesday press conference by The Enquirer about FC Cincinnati's three proposed stadium sites in the Cincinnati neighborhoods of Oakley and West End, and Newport, Kentucky, Garber said MLS likes all three sites and the initial renderings put forth by the club.

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Few moments in time have typified FC Cincinnati's boom onto the American soccer scene like the period that started Wednesday morning and concluded when the players and coaches touched down at CVG Thursday.

When asked if Wednesday was the most important day in club history, Berding laughed.

"I would say maybe," Berding said, "but they keep getting more exciting... We're just getting started. This city's just getting started with what we're all about."