Hell is Real Derby

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Hell Is Real Derby
MLS crest logo RGB - Columbus Crew SC.svg
Columbus Crew
MLS crest logo RGB - FC Cincinnati.svg
FC Cincinnati
Other namesOhio Derby
LocationOhio
First meetingCIN 1–0 CLB
U.S. Open Cup
(June 14, 2017)
Latest meetingCLB 3–2 CIN
MLS regular season
(August 27, 2021)
Next meetingCLB v CIN
MLS regular season
(July 17, 2022)
StadiumsLower.com Field, Columbus
TQL Stadium, Cincinnati
Statistics
Meetings total9
Most winsColumbus Crew
Top scorerGyasi Zardes (CLB)
(7 goals)
All-time seriesColumbus: 4
Drawn: 3
Cincinnati: 2
Largest victoryCIN 0–4 CLB
MLS is Back Tournament
(July 11, 2020)
Hell is Real Derby is located in Ohio
Columbus Crew
Columbus Crew
FC Cincinnati
FC Cincinnati
Location of the two teams in Ohio

The Hell is Real Derby, also known as the Ohio Derby, is a rivalry between the two Major League Soccer (MLS) clubs based in Ohio: the Columbus Crew and FC Cincinnati. Under current MLS regular season scheduling, the series occurs twice per season as both teams are members of the Eastern Conference. The teams first met in 2017 in the U.S. Open Cup before Cincinnati joined MLS in 2019.

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 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] The highest-scoring match came in 2021, when the Crew pulled off a late comeback at their new Lower.com Field; holding a 2–1 lead in the 75th minute, FC Cincinnati surrendered two late goals to lose 3–2.[12]

Name[]

The derby's name was inspired by a sign erected along the section of Interstate 71 that connects Columbus and Cincinnati.

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).[13] 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.[14]

Statistics[]

As of August 27, 2021
Competitions Matches CLB wins CLB goals Draws CIN wins CIN goals
Major League Soccer 8 4 18 3 1 9
U.S. Open Cup 1 0 0 0 1 1
Total 9 4 18 3 2 10

Match results[]

  Columbus Crew win   FC Cincinnati win   Draw

Season Date Competition Stadium Home team Result Away team Attendance Series (W–L–T) Ref
2017 June 14 U.S. Open Cup Nippert Stadium FC Cincinnati 1–0 Columbus Crew SC 30,160 CIN 1–0–0 [1]
2019 August 10 MLS Mapfre Stadium Columbus Crew SC 2–2 FC Cincinnati 20,865 CIN 1–0–1
August 25 Nippert Stadium FC Cincinnati 1–3 Columbus Crew SC 30,611 Tied 1–1–1
2020 July 11 MLS is Back‡ ESPN Sports Complex FC Cincinnati 0–4 Columbus Crew SC 0† CLB 2–1–1 [2]
August 29 MLS Nippert Stadium FC Cincinnati 0–0 Columbus Crew SC 0† CLB 2–1–2 [3]
September 6 Mapfre Stadium Columbus Crew SC 3–0 FC Cincinnati 1,500† CLB 3–1–2 [4]
October 14 Nippert Stadium FC Cincinnati 2–1 Columbus Crew SC 0† CLB 3–2–2 [5]
2021 July 9 MLS TQL Stadium FC Cincinnati 2–2 Columbus Crew 25,701 CLB 3–2–3
August 27 Lower.com Field Columbus Crew 3–2 FC Cincinnati 19,949 CLB 4–2–3 [6]
2022 July 17 MLS Lower.com Field Columbus Crew FC Cincinnati
August 27 TQL Stadium FC Cincinnati Columbus Crew

† 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.

Eastern Conference standings finishes[]

  Columbus Crew   FC Cincinnati

P. 2019 2020 2021
1
2
3 3
4
5
6
7
8
9 9
10 10
11
12 12
13
14 14 14

• Total: Columbus with 3 higher finishes, FC Cincinnati with 0.

Top goalscorers[]

Alex Crognale of Columbus and Baye Djiby Fall of Cincinnati battle for a header in the 2017 U.S. Open Cup.
As of August 27, 2021
Pos. Name Team Goals
1 United States Gyasi Zardes Columbus Crew 7
2 Spain Miguel Berry Columbus Crew 3
Portugal Pedro Santos
Argentina Lucas Zelarayán
5 Costa Rica Luis Díaz Columbus Crew 1
Morocco Youness Mokhtar
Argentina Luciano Acosta FC Cincinnati
Ghana Isaac Atanga
United States Edgar Castillo
Senegal Djiby Fall
United States Nick Hagglund
Japan Yuya Kubo
Argentina Emmanuel Ledesma
The Gambia Kekuta Manneh
Costa Rica Rónald Matarrita
Jamaica Darren Mattocks

Players who played for both clubs[]

As of July 9, 2021
Player Columbus career Cincinnati career
Span Apps Goals Span Apps Goals
Panama Cristian Martínez[a] 2016–2018 31 3 2017 1 0
The Gambia Kekuta Manneh 2017 19 4 2019–2020 29 4
Haiti Derrick Etienne 2020–present 24 2 2019 5 0
Nigeria Fanendo Adi 2020 12 0 2018–2019 25 5
United States Fatai Alashe[a] 2020 9 1 2018–2020 21 2
United States Saad Abdul-Salaam 2021–present 7 0 2020 8 0
  1. ^ a b Played for FC Cincinnati in the United Soccer League, before they joined MLS.

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "FC Cincinnati to join MLS as an expansion team next season". ESPN.com.
  2. ^ "FC Cincinnati 1, Columbus Crew SC 0 2017 U.S. Open Cup Recap". mlssoccer.com.
  3. ^ "Columbus Crew Angling Toward Relocation to Austin in 2019". SI.com.
  4. ^ "FC Cincinnati on the verge of losing its biggest MLS rival, Columbus Crew SC". WCPO.com.
  5. ^ "Hell is Real: Saving the Budding FC Cincinnati – Columbus Crew Rivalry is a Must". cincinnatisoccertalk.com.
  6. ^ "FC Cincinnati fans heading to Columbus to Save the Crew". abc6onyourside.com.
  7. ^ "Save The Crew stopped a bad sports owner from relocating their team, and so can you". SBNation.com.
  8. ^ "FC Cincinnati douses Columbus Crew SC in 'Hell Is Real Derby'". soctakes.com.
  9. ^ ""Hell Is Real": Welcome to the Ohio derby Columbus vs. Cincinnati". YouTube.com. Major League Soccer. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  10. ^ "Columbus Crew SC 2, FC Cincinnati 2 – 2019 MLS Match Recap". mlssoccer.com. MLS. August 20, 2019. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
  11. ^ "FC Cincinnati 1, Columbus Crew 3". MLSSoccer.com.
  12. ^ https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/soccer/fc-cincinnati/2021/08/27/fc-cincy-columbus-crew-battle-final-hell-real-match-2021/5618277001/
  13. ^ Bengel, Chris. "Ranking the best rivalry names in Major League Soccer ahead of Rivalry Week 2019". CBSSports.com. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  14. ^ 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.
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