When I penned The Evolution of the Dirty River Derby in July of 2017, there was already quite a bit of fuel for the fire in the nascent rivalry between Louisville City FC and FC Cincinnati. Aside from the predictable banter and animosity between the fans, there had been plenty drama on the pitch.
Chandler Hoffman’s hat-trick in the inaugural meeting between the teams, Djiby Fall biting Niall McCabe’s face and the subsequent denials, accusations, and conspiracy theories from FCC and their fans, the post game ‘handshake’ confrontation between James O’Connor and Alan Koch after the US Open Cup game, etc.
Needless to say, the rivalry is a a real one, and not just some USL marketing gimmick designed to drum up hype where there is none. Even the banal “River Cities Cup” name created by USL for the derby was roundly rejected by both sets of fans for the wholly more accurate and fitting title: “The Dirty River Derby”. The hostility was real, amongst both the teams and their supporters.
So what has happened since the publication of that original article on July 10, 2017?
On July 15, FCC shocked LCFC 3-2 in front of a then-record crowd of 11,632. Despite taking the lead in the 8th minute on a ridiculously cheeky Panenka by Ilija Ilic, City’s defense was uncharacteristically mistake prone, leading to a painful defeat, and much gloating and mockery from the FCC faithful.
Thankfully, LouCity didn’t have to wait long for retribution.
August 12, 2017 is a day that will go down in history for both sets of fans. In hindsight, the carnival-like pregame atmosphere at the Clay Street block party, and the subsequent epic Main Street March to the Match should have been a signal that something wild was about to happen, but no one could have predicted what followed.
Louisville City played FC Cincinnati off the pitch that day in front of another record crowd of 13,812. 5-0 was the final scoreline, and it could have been even more. Cincinnati’s golden boy goalkeeper, Mitch Hildebrandt, fresh off a hero-turn in the US Open cup, was utterly humiliated by LC’s rampant and relentless attack.
Five different players scored for Louisville City that day, capped off by Sean Reynolds’ 83rd minute cherry on the top and subsequent reminder to the traveling FCC support of the scoreline.
FCC fans have preferred not to remember the scoreline from that day, instead focusing almost completely on the Streamergate incident that occurred. I personally feel that the treatment of the FCC fans by security was unnecessarily heavy-handed and clumsy, and was embarrassed that fans were punished for behavior that occurs in soccer stadiums around the world on a regular basis. Nevertheless, for FCC fans, it seems that Streamergate has become their battle cry, their raison d’etre, their all-encompassing source of disdain for all things LouCity. When results don’t go your way, it is human nature to find a scapegoat. By giving them Streamergate, we gave them something akin to Gollum’s ring — we gave them their “precious”. It is a gift they will never grow tired of. We may be hearing about it for the rest of their time in USL, and quite likely far beyond.
As we all know, after the 5-0 victory over FCC, Louisville City went on to win the Eastern Conference with a six point cushion. On November 13, City hoisted the USL Cup trophy, finally reaching the peak after a remarkable three year run in which they compiled the best record in the USL. FC Cincinnati limped into the playoffs in sixth place and were unceremoniously dumped in the first round by the Tampa Bay Rowdies, marking their second straight first round playoff exit.
The off-season saw Louisville City break ground on their stadium in Butchertown, which is on schedule to open on time for the 2020 season. FCC, on the other hand, remained lovesick and frustrated in their seemingly never-ending quest to gain the affection of Don Garber and his coterie. Their potential stadium location has bounced around the Greater Cincinnati area like a hot potato, and fans have been left frustrated by the bureaucratic bumbling of the municipal government and club ownership.
The off-season also marked the second straight season in which FCC unceremoniously dumped a under-used and under-appreciated bench player, only to have them picked up by Louisville City. Last year it was Luke Spencer, and we all know how that turned out. This year it was Pat McMahon, who appears to have immediately solidified a starting position for the defending champions. It seems that Koch and company may not have the best eye for talent, or at least are very poor at working with what they’ve got (See Quinn, Aodhan and Dacres, Kadeem).
There are many other storylines which could be mentioned regarding the Dirty River Derby, as it is quite simply one of the best and most genuine rivalries in the United States at any level of professional soccer. Despite all the vitriol spewed in both directions, I think we can all agree that we are better off for having each other. When FC Cincinnati raptures and ascends to MLS Heaven, I’d imagine there will be a moment of longing and regret (and relief) when they realize they won’t be facing their purple nemesis downriver. Maybe they can toss a single sad streamer down from Nirvana to let us know that they still care.
