Hell Is Real derby
Other names | Ohio Derby |
---|---|
Location | Ohio |
First meeting | CIN 1–0 CLB U.S. Open Cup (June 14, 2017) |
Latest meeting | CIN 2–1 CLB MLS regular season (October 14, 2020) |
Statistics | |
Meetings total | 7 |
Top scorer | Gyasi Zardes (CLB) (7 goals) |
All-time series | Columbus: 3 Drawn: 2 Cincinnati:2 |
Largest victory | CIN 0–4 CLB MLS is Back Tournament (July 11, 2020) |
Hell Is Real Derby, also known as the Ohio Derby, is a rivalry between the two Major League Soccer (MLS) clubs based in Ohio: Columbus Crew SC and FC Cincinnati. Under current MLS regular season scheduling, the series occurs twice per season as both teams are members of the Eastern Conference.
Background
On June 15, 1994, MLS announced that Columbus would be home to one of the ten founding members of the new top-flight North American professional soccer league. Cincinnati joined the league in 2019 as an expansion team under the same name as their United Soccer League club, which had started play in 2016, thus creating the first top-flight derby in Ohio.[1] Two weeks after the Cincinnati expansion announcement, the clubs met for the first time with lower-league Cincinnati winning 1–0 in the U.S. Open Cup.[2]
In October 2017, Columbus Crew owner Anthony Precourt threatened to move the team to Austin, Texas, putting the prospect of an MLS rivalry between the two Ohio teams in jeopardy.[3][4][5] Precourt's proposed relocation sparked outrage in the American soccer community, creating the #SaveTheCrew movement. After a year of support by fans, rival teams,[6] local businesses, and politicians, the Crew committed to staying in Columbus in November 2018, when the Haslam family (owners of the NFL's Cleveland Browns, which had been the subject of an even more controversial relocation in the 1990s) purchased the club.[7]
History
The two teams met for the first time in the fourth round of the 2017 U.S. Open Cup, while FC Cincinnati was still a member of the United Soccer League. Cincinnati won the match 1–0 on a goal from Djiby, knocking Columbus out of the tournament and advancing to the quarterfinals.[8][9]
On August 10, 2019, the two sides played against each other in MLS league play for the first time, ending in a 2–2 draw at Mapfre Stadium.[10] Columbus earned their first win of the series in that season's reverse fixture with a 3–1 victory.[11]
Moniker
The derby's name was created by fans of both teams in 2017, prior to the first competitive meeting in the U.S. Open Cup. It is derived from a religious sign that reads "Hell Is Real" and is located on Interstate 71, which connects Columbus and Cincinnati–a distance of 110 miles (180 km).[12] The sign was installed in 2004 on a local farm in Chenoweth by a Kentucky developer who had installed similar religious signs in other states.[13]
Match results
Columbus Crew win FC Cincinnati win Draw
No. | Date | Competition | Venue | Home team | Score | Away team | Attendance |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | June 14, 2017[14] | U.S. Open Cup | Nippert Stadium | FC Cincinnati | 1–0 | Columbus Crew SC | 30,160 |
2. | August 10, 2019[10] | MLS | Mapfre Stadium | Columbus Crew SC | 2–2 | FC Cincinnati | 20,865 |
3. | August 25, 2019[11] | Nippert Stadium | FC Cincinnati | 1–3 | Columbus Crew SC | 30,611 | |
4. | July 11, 2020[15] | MLS is Back‡ | ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex | FC Cincinnati | 0–4 | Columbus Crew SC | 0† |
5. | August 29, 2020[16] | MLS | Nippert Stadium | FC Cincinnati | 0–0 | Columbus Crew SC | 0† |
6. | September 6, 2020[17] | Mapfre Stadium | Columbus Crew SC | 3–0 | FC Cincinnati | 1,500† | |
7. | October 14, 2020[18] | Nippert Stadium | FC Cincinnati | 2–1 | Columbus Crew SC | 0† |
† Matches played behind closed doors or reduced capacity due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
‡ Although the match was part of the MLS is Back Tournament, group stage matches count toward regular season MLS statistics.
Statistics
Competitions | Matches | CLB wins | CLB goals | Draws | CIN wins | CIN goals |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Major League Soccer | 6 | 3 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
U.S. Open Cup | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Total | 7 | 3 | 13 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
Top goalscorers
- As of October 14, 2020
Players who played for both clubs
- As of 2020 Season
Player | Columbus career | Cincinnati career | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Span | Apps | Goals | Span | Apps | Goals | |
Cristian Martínez[a] | 2016–2018 | 31 | 3 | 2017 | 1 | 0 |
Kekuta Manneh | 2017 | 19 | 4 | 2019–2020 | 29 | 4 |
Derrick Etienne | 2020–present | 24 | 2 | 2019 | 5 | 0 |
Fanendo Adi | 2020 | 12 | 0 | 2018–2019 | 25 | 5 |
Fatai Alashe[a] | 2020 | 9 | 1 | 2018–2020 | 21 | 2 |
- ^ a b Played for FC Cincinnati in the United Soccer League, before they joined MLS.
See also
- MLS rivalry cups
- Bengals–Browns rivalry, American football rivalry between the NFL's two Ohio franchises
- Ohio Cup, baseball rivalry between the Cincinnati Reds and the Cleveland Indians of MLB
References
- ^ "FC Cincinnati to join MLS as expansion team next season". ESPN.com.
- ^ "FC Cincinnati 1, Columbus Crew SC 0 2017 U.S. Open Cup Recap". mlssoccer.com.
- ^ "Columbus Crew Angling Toward Relocation to Austin in 2019". SI.com.
- ^ "FC Cincinnati on the verge of losing its biggest MLS rival, Columbus Crew SC". WCPO.com.
- ^ "Hell is Real: Saving the Budding FC Cincinnati – Columbus Crew Rivalry is a Must". cincinnatisoccertalk.com.
- ^ "FC Cincinnati fans heading to Columbus to Save the Crew". abc6onyourside.com.
- ^ "Save The Crew stopped a bad sports owner from relocating their team, and so can you". SBNation.com.
- ^ "FC Cincinnati douses Columbus Crew SC in 'Hell Is Real Derby'". soctakes.com.
- ^ ""Hell Is Real": Welcome to the Ohio derby Columbus vs. Cincinnati". YouTube.com. Major League Soccer. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
- ^ a b "Columbus Crew SC 2, FC Cincinnati 2 – 2019 MLS Match Recap". mlssoccer.com. MLS. August 20, 2019. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
- ^ a b "FC Cincinnati 1, Columbus Crew 3". MLSSoccer.com.
- ^ Bengel, Chris. "Ranking the best rivalry names in Major League Soccer ahead of Rivalry Week 2019". CBSSports.com. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
- ^ Myers, Jacob (August 9, 2019). "How the 'Hell Is Real' rivalry between Columbus Crew and FC Cincinnati got its name". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved August 9, 2019.
- ^ King, Andrew (June 14, 2017). "FC Cincinnati 1, Columbus Crew 0". MLSsoccer.com.
- ^ Liljenwall, Ari (July 12, 2020). "FC Cincinnati 0, Columbus Crew SC 4 | MLS is Back Tournament Match Recap". Major League Soccer. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
- ^ West, Phil (August 29, 2020). "FC Cincinnati 0, Columbus Crew SC 0 | 2020 MLS Match Recap". MLSsoccer.com.
- ^ Wood, Abbie (September 6, 2020). "Columbus Crew SC 3, FC Cincinnati 0 | 2020 MLS Match Recap". MLSsoccer.com.
- ^ Sigal, Jonathan (October 14, 2020). "FC Cincinnati 2, Columbus Crew SC 1 | 2020 MLS Match Recap". MLSsoccer.com.