Soccer fans around the world are buzzing as the World Cup continues in stadiums across the country.
Central Ohio is not hosting any FIFA matches, although it hosted the Ecuadorian team for training, but Columbus still has a lot to celebrate. The city is welcoming a National Women's Soccer League expansion franchise, which is set to take the field in 2028.
It may seem to casual fans that professional soccer started in 1996 with the Columbus Crew. But the history actually stretches back much further, making for a vibrant and volatile soccer legacy.
Do you believe in Magic?
The year was 1979 and Paul Taylor was looking for his next job. A knee injury had just ended his playing career in the American Soccer League. The owners of his former team, the LA Skyhawks, recommended him for a head coaching position with a brand-new franchise, the Columbus Magic. Local fans picked the name in a public contest.
Taylor said he flew out to Ohio to meet with one of the team owners, Eric Henderson, and things moved quickly.
"He offered me the job, you know, and I signed a contract and I've got two months to put a team together," Taylor said.
Taylor traveled back home to England to recruit some seasoned footballers. He also hired players he knew from America and held tryouts in Columbus.
One of those players was Daniel Mammana, the 6-foot-6-inch Argentinian defender who caused the injury that cost Taylor his playing career. Taylor said Mammana was suspicious of the offer.
"I remember picking him up at the airport in my car, and he sat down and said, 'Paul, why are you signing me?' I think he thought I'd signed him to do something to him," Taylor said. "But, you know, I brought Daniel in because I thought he was a good player.”
In addition to coaching the team, Taylor actually ended up playing in several games. Some of the players he signed couldn't make it to Columbus right away because of scheduling conflicts. Despite his bad knee, Taylor said he jumped in to some of the early games if he thought he could make a difference.
"I think I might have played 10 or 12 games, you know, in that season to start off with," Taylor said.
The team played at Franklin County Stadium, later known as Cooper Stadium, which was also home to the Columbus Clippers at the time.
That 1979 season got off to a rocky start. The team wasn't performing well. In the front office, General Manager Alaina Jones-Fearnley— who is said to have been the first woman GM in American professional sports— was fired in June.
Eventually, things started to pick up.
"We started off with a good crowd at the baseball stadium, and started off a little bit slowly with the results, but began to move very quickly and win a lot of games and went on to win the Eastern Division," Taylor said.
The Magic beat the Pennsylvania Stoners to face the Sacramento Gold for the championship right on home turf. But that advantage did not work out. The Magic lost a nail-biter, 1-0.
The next season things seemed to be going well. The Columbus Magic were in first place. Taylor said he loved Columbus and had purchased a home in Worthington. However, things fell apart when the team was sold to a pair of investors from Zimbabwe. Taylor said he was fired.
"I'd signed a three-year contract, and they were bringing their own coaching, but...it was a scandal, really," Taylor said. "I don't know what happened, but they never played a game."
Shortly after the new owners took over, the Magic disappeared. The entire league vanished just a few years later in 1983 after 50 years.
Paul Taylor returned to England, worked for Gillingham FC and then had a successful career at Walsall FC, where he served as director of football from 1994 to 2002. Today, he helps oversee a soccer consulting company with his sons.
Inside with the Columbus Capitals
The next mile marker in Columbus pro soccer came in 1984 with the Columbus Capitals and the American Indoor Soccer Association.
The team only lasted two seasons. First, they played at the Columbus Convention Center. Then, at the Ohio State Fairgrounds Coliseum. By the third year, they could not find a venue to host home games and the team folded.
One standout from the team was star player Lesh Shkreli, who led the league in scoring and earned the MVP in the 84-85 season.
What the heck is a Xogg?
Pro soccer went quiet for several years after that. But enthusiasm for the sport got a boost when the United States hosted the 1994 World Cup.
Eric Nichols is the head coach for the Bowling Green State University men's soccer team. Back in 1994, he was coming off two years playing for Ohio State and looking for his next opportunity. That came from a new team in the United States Interregional Soccer League (USISL) called the Xoggs.
Nichols said he thought the name was weird.
"It was pure minor league, you know, just any kind of gimmick to get people excited about it," Nichols said. "So, there were different contests. What is a Xogg? And fans would get to define it or whatever."
The USISL was known for experimenting with unusual rules to attract crowds. Among them was the "stampede" rule. If a defending team committed seven fouls in a half, the opposing team was awarded a live shootout attempt from 35 yards away.
"The ref would blow the whistle, and you have one-on-one breakaway with the keeper and everyone would chase him," Nichols said. "And it was incredibly hokey, but at the same time kind of entertaining, kind of fun to watch."
The team's home field was in Dublin. First, they played at the Sports Ohio Complex, then they moved to the Dublin Coffman High School field.
The Xoggs played for three seasons. Their last, in 1996, coincided with the inaugural Columbus Crew season. Though some were skeptical that the MLS would succeed, Nichols said he could see the writing on the wall.
"I think we all knew it," Nichols said. "Like we could feel the momentum and we could feel...this league is going to do something. And at that point, it was pretty clear [to] those of us that were playing the USISL, our days were numbered."
The Invaders fail to launch
Nichols played for one more local team before his career took him elsewhere: the short-lived and ill-managed Columbus Invaders.
The franchise started its life as the Canton Invaders and won five championships in the indoor National Professional Soccer League (NPSL). After that success faded, a new owner decided to bring the team to Columbus.
The 1996-1997 season was rough for the team. They had the worst record in the league with five wins and 35 losses. They also struggled to fill Battelle Hall at the Columbus Convention Center and ended up with the worst attendance record in the league.
At the time, the Columbus Dispatch reported that the team was plagued with "a revolving-door roster, three coaching changes, reports of delinquent and unpaid bills and a playing surface that regularly drew criticism from opponents."
According to Nichols, the equipment and travel conditions were also poor. Players didn't always know if they would get paid.
“I would say it was just a circus," Nichols said. "We'd get our paychecks on Friday, or whenever... [and] it was almost like a car race to get to the bank to see who could get theirs cashed because a lot of times they would bounce."
After that single tumultuous season, the NPSL moved the franchise to Montreal under new ownership and a new name.
Looking back on his time with the Invaders, Nichols said he is still grateful for the opportunity.
"It was that season...unprofessional as it was...just training every day at that speed and intensity and playing those games was the best thing for my game," Nichols said.
These Columbus teams all had short runs, but they provided crucial stepping stones for players and laid the foundation for making Columbus a true soccer city.
