EXERT & EXHALE
Louisville City:
Get on The Bandwagon Now
BY KEVIN KERNEN | PHOTO BY CHRISTIAN WATSON
IN A CITY AND A STATE DIVIDED along
college lines, Louisville City FC has become a
confluence of local fans, red and blue alike. Having
started their 2018 season in March, LouCity is on
the campaign to defend the laurels of the most
fruitful season to date, when the team collected
their conference regular season and playoff titles
en route to winning the league last November. occupies the second division of American soccer,
second only to Major League Soccer (MLS). The
USL counts cities such as San Antonio, Las Vegas,
Cincinnati, Phoenix and Indianapolis among their
markets and continues to add franchises each
season. The league has grown threefold since 2012,
and LouCity has kept pace with the exploding
number of competitive teams joining the fray.
If you’ve been living under a rock since 2015,
LouCity has quickly branded itself as the most
exciting sports experience in the area. The vocal
support has created a pressure cooker of a home
advantage at Louisville Slugger Field, a reputation
that precedes the team across the league. The team brings an exciting roster to Slugger,
managed by the scrupulous Irishman James
O’Connor.
The league that “The Boys in Purple” makes their
home in is the United Soccer League (USL), which
52 EXTOL : APRIL/MAY 2018
O’Connor imparts a pragmatic, y et positive
playing style on the international collection
of players. LouCity’s squad features members
from eight countries, a wealth of domestic and
international experience, as well as a number of
players with local ties, like Richard Ballard. The
Louisville native attended Manual High School and
Indiana University for four years before signing his
first professional contract last season for LouCity.
He cemented his reputation as an exciting young
player who played a part in eight goals.
From further afield, London, England, natives
Paco Craig and Cameron Lancaster have both
had a palpable impact on the club. Entering his
fourth season for the club, Lancaster scored the
decisive goal in last November’s USL Cup Final
for LouCity. On the opposite end of the field,
central Craig made headlines last season as the
only LouCity player to feature in the USL Team
of the Season, the leader of a defensive unit that
O’Connor hangs his hat on. From top to bottom,
the roster is full of talented players, all of whom are