The City Lions have been on the move since 2014 first at the Orioles Stadium in St Louis Park where they played their first season of the MRSL, and then to Hopkins and the Einer Anderson Stadiums in 2015 and 2016 consecutively where they spent their two seasons of play in the now-defunct American Premier League, before moving to the Gordy Aarmoth Stadium located at the border of Saint Louis Park and Hopkins for their exhibition season.
In 2018, after joining the United Premier Soccer League, the City Lions moved to Brooklyn Park, Minnesota and set their home at the Pride Stadium where they realized only one victory against Turbo Sports in an end of season exhibition campaign.
This poor performance that marked itself as a stain of unending frustration on the City Lions at home last year wasn’t, in fact, a new plague. The blue-blooded boys have often struggled to win at home regardless of where they have played before leaving the home fans in a continuous feel of disappointment and with piles unrealized dreams.
Now Sendi Ian leads his Lions to Osseo, the club’s new home, and the first challenge he will have will be facing Barron Soccer Club from Wisconsin in the first round of the US National Cup next Saturday, April 20th at 5:00 pm. Will he break the curse and the spell that has kept a dark cloud of poor results over the City Lions’ brand for years during his third season in charge as the club’s player-manager? We don’t know! What we do know though is that the Ugandan middle-fielder said in a brief interview last year that “the club had been forged into a better state by its past, and that it will continue to be guided by the strength of its vision”. Whether he meant that this season will be different or that this year will have a different performance trajectory, we will find out soon enough.
There have been some changes in the City Lions camp since the close of last season. In addition to including more international players on the squad, the club brought back Varney Cole to assist in technical matters of the team. Michael Wright and the former Nigerian International James David Oluranti were also added to the coaching staff, and at the training ground, we have noticed some surprising yet experienced local talents that are believed to have been signed for one purpose; winning games and competing for the championship.
Most signs around FC Minneapolis today show that the club is moving in the right direction, and working towards the continued effort of improving its reputation on and off the field. For now let’s hold and hope that the best is yet to come.
For a full schedule of all the club’s home games check out the BUY TICKET tab on the website.
About Osseo:
Osseo is a small city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 2,430, and in 2016 the estimated population was 2,752. It is said that “Osseo” is derived from the Ojibwe name waaseyaa meaning “there is light”, although more commonly known as “Son of the Evening Star”.
