Hours after New York Red Bulls II defeated FC Cincinnati, 4-0, in August 2017, they posted and then deleted a tweet making fun of FCC. For context, Cincinnati also lost to the Red Bulls – the MLS side – in the 2017 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup semifinals just days earlier. The deleted tweet basically asked which New York team could FCC face and actually beat.
It wasn’t appreciated in the Queen City.
When the organizations met yet again on Sept. 16, 2017, FCC was on the verge of potentially missing the 2017 USL Cup Playoffs. Ahead of the meeting at Nippert Stadium, FC Cincinnati went into overdrive to gain revenge on the Baby Bulls and show the USL how big FCC could be.
All of this set the scene for FCC’s 2017 regular-season home finale between the sides, where Cincinnati – needing a win – defeated Red Bulls II, 4-2, in front of 30,417 fans – setting a then-USL single-game record. (One which FCC broke in 2018.)
On Saturday, FCC re-aired that match and simultaneously streamed this week’s Buffalo Wings & Rings Second Screen Experience
The show was packed with players from that match – Andrew Wiedeman, Kenney Walker, Corben Bone, Austin Berry and Jimmy McLaughlin. Plus, Harrison Delbridge joined the chat from the early hours in Australia.
You can watch the Buffalo Wings & Rings Second Screen Experience here, which was hosted by Voice of FCC Tommy Gelehrter. These were some of the best moments from the show:
How this match had a little extra heat
The FC Cincinnati-New York Red Bulls II matchup always produced difficult games when the clubs met in the USL. In fact, New York eventually knocked FCC out of the 2018 USL Cup Playoffs – Cincinnati’s final match in the USL.
But in 2017, the Orange and Blue were looking for payback in more ways than one when they beat the Baby Bulls. The first reason was revenge from the big loss a month earlier; the second was that deleted tweet – which hung in the locker room as bulletin-board material.
“It didn’t sit well with us or the coaching staff about their tweet,” said Berry, who captained the team at the time. “I feel like there were a lot of front office people who were pissed off about that, so they were really driving the energy before this game. It definitely felt good to win how we did against these guys because they gave us a lot of trouble for a while.”
Berry scored the opening goal, while birthday-boy Bone delivered the second with a long-range strike – his first goal for FC Cincinnati in USL play.
“It was pretty special”
The goal and win ended a self-described “roller-coaster week” for Bone, whose son, Brooks, was born on Sept. 9.
“It was probably the most emotional week of my life,” the midfielder said. “He was born on the ninth, leading up to the game. It was an incredible moment in my life. It wasn’t 100% smooth, so it was something that made my heart pretty heavy throughout that week.
“To end that week with that win the way we did … after the game I said some words and I just kind of broke down because at that point I was just letting everything out that had been building up to that game. It’s definitely something I won’t forget, and it was really fun.”
The match was also a memorable one for Walker – even if he doesn’t remember a lot of it himself.
The win was one of the midfielder’s top performances for the Orange and Blue, as he scored off a free kick and provided two assists.
“To be honest, all I remember is Corben’s goal, Harry’s rocket and then the free kick,” Walker said. “After the goals rolled in, I kind of just completely forgot about the playing of the game and just remember how much fun we had celebrating in front of New York.”
Delbridge talking from the Land Down Under
The center back’s appearance on the Buffalo Wings & Rings Second Screen Experience was the first time he’s talked about FC Cincinnati since he left the club following the 2017 season. This win against Red Bulls II was the last time he played at Nippert Stadium before joining Melbourne City FC in the A-League.
While the Australian discussed plenty of memories from Cincinnati, he mentioned the passion of fans as a huge motivation.
“It was unbelievable,” Delbridge said. “It was just one of those things where every time we had a home game, it was like the best feeling ever playing in front of that many supporters. It put the club on a bigger stage, and for us players, it helped our careers, as well.
“Since then, watching the club keep growing has been special for me because I still have a place in my heart for the club. It’s been awesome watching it continue to grow.”
While he hasn’t returned since, he said he’s hoping to watch the club play soon in West End Stadium. Now with Melbourne City, he has three matches left in the 2019-20 A-League season.
Funniest memories
A fan asked what were some of the top moments of that season off the field. What was the response?
Something gross.
At first, Wiedeman started talking about how McLaughlin was approached by cops at a concert at Riverbend because they thought he was underage. He was not, but a bunch of teenagers ran up to him wondering if the police stole his “fake.”
McLaughlin didn’t appreciate it, and mentioned how Wiedeman dropped his girlfriend’s phone in a Porta Potty.
“I got it out,” Wiedeman said.
Apparently when his then-girlfriend, now wife, went to the bathroom, she asked the former FCC player to hold her fan. Well, he had to go too, so he brought her phone inside his Porta Potty and accidently dropped the phone.
Wiedeman then told McLaughlin, who told the girlfriend.
“I mean, he wasn’t going to tell her!” he said. “I had to speak up.”
