 | |||
| Full name | Cleveland Internationals Soccer | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Internationals | ||
| Founded | 2004 | ||
| Dissolved | 2010 | ||
| Ground | Pinnacle Sports Complex Medina, Ohio | ||
| Capacity | ???? | ||
| Owners | George Nanchoff Louie Nanchoff Zdravko Popovich | ||
| Head Coach | George Nanchoff | ||
| League | USL Premier Development League | ||
| 2010 | 9th, Great Lakes Playoffs: DNQ | ||
Cleveland Internationals was an Americansoccer team based inCleveland, Ohio, United States. Founded in 2004, the team played in theUSL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of theAmerican Soccer Pyramid, in the Great Lakes Division of the Central Conference. The franchise folded at the end of the 2010 season and left the league thereafter.
The team played its home games at the Pinnacle Sports Complex in nearbyMedina, Ohio. The team's colors were blue and white.
In addition to the PDL team, the Internationals had a sister club -Cleveland Internationals Women - in theUSL W-League, as well as an entry in theSuper Y-League.
The Cleveland Internationals were first entered into the PDL in 2004 byGeorge Nanchoff, aYugoslavian ex-NASL player who now runs the Internationals Soccer Club, which was established in 1976 as an outlet for young Ohio players who had graduated from college but still had a desire to continue to play competitively.
The Internationals' first competitive season was a difficult one. Despite winning their first ever game 3-0 over Toledo Slayers (goals byAnthony DiBello,William Kletzien andJohn Sand) they only managed to pick up one more win all season (ironically also over Toledo), and suffered through several tough defeats, including a 5-0 drubbing at the hands ofMichigan Bucks, a 5-1 loss toIndiana Invaders, and a 4-1 defeat byKalamazoo Kingdom. By the end of the year the team was dead last in the Great Lakes Division, with just 7 points on the board, and 28 behind divisional championsMichigan Bucks.
2005 started more brightly for the Internationals, who began the year with two wins and a tie in their first three games. However, the sharp start proved to be something of a false dawn for the team, as from mid-June to mid-July the Internationals endured a 7-game winless streak that included a 4-0 drubbing byKalamazoo Kingdom, and a heartbreaking 3-2 loss toIndiana Invaders, who scored two goals in injury time to register a come-from-behind win. A couple of late-season triumphs - 3-0 over Toledo Slayers and 2-1 overFort Wayne Fever - provided a ray of sunshine in an otherwise rather bleak season, but they still finished the year 7th in the Great Lakes, 25 points behind divisional champsChicago Fire Premier.William Kletzien was the Internationals' top scorer with 9 goals, whileChris Green andGeorge Nanchoff himself contributed 4 assists each.
If 2005 was bad for the Internationals, 2006 was a disaster. Having failed to secure their usual home atSt. Edward High School inLakewood for the entire season, the team was forced to travel all over Ohio, and even as far as westernPennsylvania in search of a field to play on, and the lack of stability clearly influenced results. The team registered just a single victory all year - 4-2 overKalamazoo Kingdom on the final day of the season, in front of just 53 fans - eventually ending with just six points, rock bottom of the Great Lakes for the second time in two years. The Internationals' defense was like an open door, conceding four or more goals on five different occasions, including a dismaying 5-0 thrashing byChicago Fire Premier in July, and this was compounded by their lack of success in front of goal: top scorerDanny Bartulovic netted just four times all year.
2007 was an improvement for the Internationals, in that they picked up more wins and did not finish last in the division, but they remained one of the least effective teams in the entire Central Conference. Things started badly with a sequence of seven straight defeats at the beginning of the season, including a 5-0 lashing byMichigan Bucks in early June. However, July provided an unexpected turn in form, as the team rattled of five victories, including a comprehensive 3-1 home win over PDL new boysToronto Lynx, and a hugely impressive 2-0 victory over traditional regional powerhouseChicago Fire Premier at home on the last day of the regular season. StrikersCorey Sipos andMatt Tutich saw some success in the goal scoring stakes, netting 10 times between them, whileChris Korb led the team in assists.
2008 turned out to the best season in Internationals history; they started the season well, winning both their opening fixtures 3-0 overCincinnati Kings andWest Michigan Edge, and continued their impressive form pretty much throughout the year. They overcame new boysKalamazoo Outrage 4-1 the first week in June (with all four goals being scored bySteve Zakuani), batteredWest Virginia Chaos 5-0, and took down Cincinnati again 5-1 at home, leaving the club on the verge of the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. Despite dropping points on the road in Kalamazoo at the end of June, the Internationals finished the season with a strong 6-game unbeaten streak which included a pair of 3-1 wins overFort Wayne Fever andIndiana Invaders and a battling 3-3 tie withWest Michigan Edge, and eventually finished second in the Great Lakes behindMichigan Bucks, and in the post season for the first time. They overcameToronto Lynx in the play-in round off a late winner byBen Zemanski, but were outplayed by eventual PDL champsThunder Bay Chill in the Central Conference semi-final, losing 2-0 despite playing against 9 men for 45 minutes; nevertheless, Cleveland's season was by far their most successful, and is testament to head coach Nanchoff's longevity in the league.Justin Morrow andSteve Zakuani - the younger brother of English proGabriel Zakuani - were the team's top scorers, with 11 and 9 goals respectively, whileMatt Tutich contributed 8 assists.
The Internationals did not fare as well in 2009, finishing sixth in the Great Lakes division, and out of the playoffs. Despite a convincing 2-0 win overFort Wayne Fever in their second fixture, the Internationals lost four and tied two of their next six (including conceding a 90th-minute goal in a 3-2 loss to theMichigan Bucks) and were struggling to catch up with the league leaders halfway through the year. A 1-0 road win over high flyingKalamazoo Outrage off a 90th minuteYoram Mwila penalty kick briefly raised hopes of a resurgence, but the 4-1 loss toForest City London in their vert next game brought the Cleveland team back down to earth with a bump. Their record was made a little more respectable with three wins in their last five regular season games, including a 4-1 hammering ofToronto Lynx that represented their biggest win of the season, but ultimately the peak in form was too little too late.Darlington Nagbe was Cleveland's top scorer, with 5 goals, whileChris Korb contributed three assists.
This list is a historical record of the final group of players on the last Internationals roster for their final game in August 2010.Source:[1]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
This list of notable former players comprises players who went on to play professional soccer after playing for the team in the Premier Development League, or those who previously played professionally before joining the team.
| Year | Division | League | Regular Season | Playoffs | Open Cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 4 | USL PDL | 7th, Great Lakes | Did not qualify | Did not qualify |
| 2005 | 4 | USL PDL | 7th, Great Lakes | Did not qualify | Did not qualify |
| 2006 | 4 | USL PDL | 7th, Great Lakes | Did not qualify | Did not qualify |
| 2007 | 4 | USL PDL | 6th, Great Lakes | Did not qualify | Did not qualify |
| 2008 | 4 | USL PDL | 2nd, Great Lakes | Conference Semifinals | Did not qualify |
| 2009 | 4 | USL PDL | 6th, Great Lakes | Did not qualify | Did not qualify |
| 2010 | 4 | USL PDL | 9th, Great Lakes | Did not qualify | Did not qualify |
George Nanchoff (2005, 2009-2010)Tony Dore (2006-2008)Attendance stats are calculated by averaging each team's self-reported home attendances from the historical match archive athttps://web.archive.org/web/20100105175057/http://www.uslsoccer.com/history/index_E.html
| Men's |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Women's |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Youth |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| By city | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other topics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sports teams based inOhio | ||
|---|---|---|
| Baseball |
|  |
| Basketball | ||
| Football | ||
| Hockey | ||
| Roller derby | ||
| Rugby league | ||
| Rugby union | ||
| Soccer | ||
| Volleyball | ||
| Australian rules football | ||
| College athletics (NCAA Division I) | ||
