CINCINNATI — Thursday is going to be a long day for FC Cincinnati fan Reece Meister, but he hopes it’ll be one of his best days in recent memories as well.

Meister and a group of 106 other supporters of the Orange and Blue plan to depart from greater Cincinnati on Thursday at around 6:30 a.m. to head to Chester, Penn., a suburb about 25 minutes outside downtown Philadelphia.

The die-hard soccer fans are part of a caravan driving roughly nine hours to watch fifth-seeded FC Cincinnati faceoff against top-seeded Philadelphia Union in an MLS Eastern Conference semifinal at Subaru Park.

Kickoff is set for 8 p.m.

“We’re excited,” said Meister, who lives in Pleasant Ridge. “This team has meant so much to so many of us for so long. We’re just happy we’re going to have a chance to see them play one of the biggest matches in club history.”

Meister is a member of The Pride and Knights of the Bailey, two of several fan groups associated with FC Cincinnati. The traveling party for Thursday’s playoff game is an amalgamation of “ultra fans” from the team’s various supporter groups which is known as the Flying Pigs.

“I have traveled with this team to cities on both coasts and everywhere in between, so I wouldn’t miss a match of this magnitude for anything in the world,” said Dan Blumenfeld, 40, an FC Cincinnati fan from Fort Wright, Ky.

Celebrating FC Cincinnati from near and far

Confidence is riding high among FC Cincinnati, heading into the matchup against the Union.

The Orange and Blue came from behind to knock off the favored New York Red Bulls, 2-1, last Saturday in the opening round of the MLS Cup Playoffs. It was FC Cincinnati’s first playoff win in their inaugural playoff appearance since joining the league.

FC Cincinnati seeks to become the third expansion team in MLS history to advance in its first two postseason rounds — 1998 Chicago Fire, 2020 Nashville SC.

Meister was in the stands at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J., for the match along with dozens of other FCC fans. 

“Not to be offensive or mean or anything, but it didn’t quite feel like a playoff experience situation,” he added. “Philadelphia has some really great fans and we expect the environment to be surreal. It’s the most exciting thing I can imagine.”

While a handful have the chance to watch the Cincinnati-Philadelphia showdown from the stands, most fans will watch from the comfort of their own couches or bar stools.

FC Cincinnati defeated New York Red Bulls for its first MLS playoff win. (AP Photo)

The national broadcast for the game is on FS1 and FOX Deportes (Spanish audio), and over the radio locally on ESPN 1530.

There’s a soldout watch party at TQL Stadium that’s serving as a fundraiser for the FC Cincinnati Foundation. But the club also has 14 Pub Partners, which have broadcast every game this season.

One pub is Taft’s Ale House in Over-the-Rhine. It’s a popular meeting place for soccer fans before and after home matches at nearby TQL Stadium. 

For road games, it’s been “hit or miss” throughout the season, said Ben Kerr, the bar’s general manager. But they saw a nice spike of business during last weekend’s match and they’re looking forward to more of the same for the game against the Union.

Inside Subaru Park, seats will be hard to come by. 

The official supporters section is in Section 133. Other Cincinnati fans are expected to be elsewhere in the 18,500-seat stadium. A few standing room only tickets remained available as of Tuesday afternoon as well.

Meister feels a key to a successful game-day experience for all fans is avoiding the “bad sides of the sport,” such as shouting matches and physical fighting.

“We’re walking into someone else’s backyard,” he said. “They’re established and they’re a great group of fans, and we want to be respectful of that while still bringing our passion and energy to the stadium.”

From bottom to the top

Todd Carnes, a self-described middle-aged dad of two from the east side of Cincinnati, wasn’t able to make the trip to New York City. He’s hoping to make up for lost time Thursday night.

FC Cincinnati fan Reece Meister leads a chant during a game. (Photo courtesy of Reece Meister)

“Really looking forward to traveling with friends and other supporters so that our players know they have the support and backing from everyone in The Bailey (supporters section),” he said.

For Andrew Prentovic, 35, the fact FCC is even in this situation is incredible considering how far the team has come in just a few seasons.

The club began as an expansion franchise in the United Soccer League (USL) in 2016. Prior to the 2022 campaign, Cincinnati had finished with the worst record in the MLS every season since joining in 2019.

Prentovic and other FCC fans stuck by the team through “thick and thin,” even through those tough days. His last trip to Pennsylvania for a match was a bus trip to see FC Cincinnati take on Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC of the USL.

Coming into the season, most people expected them to finish no higher than 12th in the 14-team Eastern Conference. Now, the club is three matches away from a final in the domestic top league.

“There was no way that I’d miss this game,” said Prentovic, of Finneytown, Ohio, adding that he’s “cautiously optimistic” about the team’s chances..

Meister, a fan of FC Cincinnati since Day 1, described FCC’s late-season run as reminiscent of the club’s unexpected run to the U.S. Open in 2018. Still a member of the USL, Cincinnati knocked off a pair of MLS clubs en route to a berth in the quarterfinal.

Walking into enemy territory

Philadelphia had the best record in the Eastern Conference and earned a bye to the conference semifinals. But they’ve struggled this year against FC Cincinnati.

The clubs played to a 1-1 draw in their first matchup of the season at Subaru Park in June. They then handed Philadelphia one of their worst — and only — losses of the season, 3-1, in Cincinnati on Aug. 6. 

Philadelphia only surrendered 24 goals in 34 games this season. They had only five losses.

Pat Noonan, FC Cincinnati’s first-year head coach, marked the team’s mid-season success against the Union as helping set the team on its playoff trajectory.

“I think it helped with our confidence,” Noonan said. “We understand what it can look like in this game and how we can find success. But again, it’s a whole different animal in the playoffs, and we’re going to need to do all the things we did well, even better.” 

Noonan knows a bit about the team in the city of Brotherly Love. He was an assistant coach at the Philadelphia Union for the past four seasons under Jim Curtin, Union’s current coach.

Noonan isn’t the only connection between the two squads.

The outside of Larimer Beer Company, a brewery in Chester, Penn. It sits outside Subaru Park. (Photo courtesy of Larimer Beer Company)

A key member of the Orange and Blue’s turnaround this season has been Union legend Ray Gaddis, the Union’ who came out of retirement and signed with FCC in January.

Forward Sergio Santos and right back Alvas Powell also spent time with the Union prior to joining FC Cincinnati.

“It’s playing your brother who knows all your moves,” said Darin Urbaczewski, a longtime fan of the Union. He’s also the owner of Larimer Beer Company, a nanobrewery within walking distance of Subaru Park.

Most of the Cincinnati supporters plan to arrive in the early afternoon and head over to Larimer when it opens at 3 p.m. They’ll also have a tailgating spot in Lot A of the stadium’s parking area.

On a normal day, the brewery sees between 300 and 400 people come through the building, Urbaczewski said. He mentioned that attendance jumps to “nearly double” for playoff games.

“It’s usually mayhem — but in a good way,” he added.

Meister joked that the FCC Cincinnati fans were walking into a “hostile environment” but to understand that it’s just a game in the end. 

The Flying Pigs plan to hold a march to the stadium before the game, complete with singing, flag waving and drumming.

“I’m happy now to keep riding alongside FC Cincinnati for as long as they’re on this run,” Meister said.