| Club: | FC Cincinnati |
| Season: | 2016 |
| Manager: | John Harkes |
| Mgrtitle: | Head coach |
| Chairman: | Jeff Berding |
| Chrtitle: | General manager |
| Stadium: | Nippert Stadium |
| League: | USL |
| League Result: | Third, Eastern Conference |
| Cup1: | USL Playoffs |
| Cup1 Result: | Lost Round 1 |
| Cup2: | U.S. Open Cup |
| Cup2 Result: | Third Round |
| League Topscorer: | Sean Okoli (16) |
| Season Topscorer: | Sean Okoli (17) |
| Highest Attendance: | League: 24,376 (September 17 vs. Orlando) All: 35,061 (July 16 vs Crystal Palace) |
| Lowest Attendance: | League: 11,278 (Jun. 4 vs. Richmond) All: 8,668 (May 18 vs. Indy NPSL) |
| Average Attendance: | League: All: |
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| Nextseason: | 2017 |
The 2016 FC Cincinnati season was the club's first season of existence, and their first in the United Soccer League, the third-tier of the American soccer pyramid. FC Cincinnati play in the Eastern Division of USL. On April 16, the club set the USL's regular season attendance record, with 20,497. They broke this record twice more later in their season, first on May 14 with 23,375 attendees, then again on September 17 with an attendance of 24,376.[1] On July 20, with five games left, the club broke the USL's single season attendance record.
| Position | Staff |
|---|---|
| Head coach |  John Harkes |
| Assistant coach | Ryan Martin |
| Goalkeeper coach | Jamie Starr |
See main article: 2016 U.S. Open Cup.
| No. | Pos. | Name | USL | USL Playoffs | U.S. Open Cup | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GK | Mitch Hildebrandt | 30 | - | 1 | 31 |
| 2 | MF |  Jamie Dell | - | - | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | DF | Tyler Polak | 20 (1) | - | 1 | 21 (1) |
| 4 | DF |  Harrison Delbridge | 19 (1) | - | 1 | 20 (1) |
| 5 | MF | Ross Tomaselli | 10 (5) | - | 1 (1) | 12 (6) |
| 6 | MF | Kenney Walker | 18 | - | 1 | 19 |
| 7 | FW | Luke Spencer | 0 (8) | - | 1 | 1 (8) |
| 8 | MF | Paul Nicholson | 13 (2) | - | 2 | 14 (2) |
| 9 | FW | Sean Okoli | 21 | - | 1 | 22 |
| 10 | MF | Eric Stevenson | 9 (7) | - | 1 | 10 (7) |
| 12 | DF | Evan Lee | 1 (9) | - | 1 (1) | 2 (10) |
| 13 | MF |  Francisco Narbón | 0 (4) | - | 1 | 1 (4) |
| 14 | MF |  Omar Cummings | 6 (9) | - | 1 (1) | 7 (10) |
| 15 | DF | Pat McMahon | 20 | - | 1 (1) | 21 (1) |
| 18 | MF |  Omar Mohamed | 1 (13) | - | 1 | 2 (13) |
| 19 | DF | Corben Bone | 21 | - | 1 | 22 |
| 20 | MF | Jimmy McLaughlin | 21 | - | 1 (1) | 22 (1) |
| 22 | DF | Austin Berry | 9 (1) | - | - | 9 (1) |
| 23 | FW | Andrew Wiedeman | 18 (3) | - | 1 | 19 (3) |
| 24 | DF | Derek Luke | 2 (17) | - | 1 | 3 (17) |
| 29 | FW |  Antoine Hoppenot | 1 (9) | - | 1 (1) | 2 (10) |
| 30 | GK |  Dallas Jaye | 0 (1) | - | 1 | 1 (2) |
| No. | Pos. | Name | USL | USL Playoffs | U.S. Open Cup | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | DF | Harrison Delbridge | 1 | - | - | 1 |
| 6 | MF | Kenney Walker | 1 | - | - | 1 |
| 8 | MF | Paul Nicholson | 1 | - | - | 1 |
| 9 | FW | Sean Okoli | 16 | - | - | 16 |
| 10 | MF | Eric Stevenson | 3 | 1 | - | 4 |
| 14 | FW | Omar Cummings | 3 | - | 1 | 4 |
| 15 | DF | Pat McMahon | 1 | - | - | 1 |
| 20 | MF | Jimmy McLaughlin | 4 | - | 1 | 5 |
| 22 | DF | Austin Berry | 3 | - | - | 3 |
| 23 | FW | Andrew Wiedeman | 7 | - | - | 7 |
| No. | Pos. | Name | Matches Played | Clean Sheet % | USL | USL Playoffs | U.S. Open Cup | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GK | Mitch Hildebrandt | 30 | 37% | 11 | - | 0 | 11 |
| 27 | GK | Dan Williams | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 30 | GK | Dallas Jaye | 3 | 33% | 1 | - | 0 | 1 |
