Cleveland Internationals was an American soccer team based in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Founded in 2004, the team played in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American 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 nearby Medina, 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 the USL W-League, as well as an entry in the Super Y-League.
History
The Cleveland Internationals were first entered into the PDL in 2004 by George Nanchoff, a Yugoslavian 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 by Anthony DiBello, William Kletzien and John 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 of Michigan Bucks, a 5-1 loss to Indiana Invaders, and a 4-1 defeat by Kalamazoo 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 champions Michigan 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 by Kalamazoo Kingdom, and a heartbreaking 3-2 loss to Indiana 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 over Fort 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 champs Chicago Fire Premier. William Kletzien was the Internationals' top scorer with 9 goals, while Chris Green and George Nanchoff himself contributed 4 assists each.
If 2005 was bad for the Internationals, 2006 was a disaster. Having failed to secure their usual home at St. Edward High School in Lakewood for the entire season, the team was forced to travel all over Ohio, and even as far as western Pennsylvania 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 over Kalamazoo 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 by Chicago Fire Premier in July, and this was compounded by their lack of success in front of goal: top scorer Danny 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 by Michigan 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 boys Toronto Lynx, and a hugely impressive 2-0 victory over traditional regional powerhouse Chicago Fire Premier at home on the last day of the regular season. Strikers Corey Sipos and Matt Tutich saw some success in the goal scoring stakes, netting 10 times between them, while Chris Korb led the team in assists.