Cleveland’s first women’s soccer team finally got its name and colors: the Cleveland Astra.
The Astra, which will play in the Women’s Premier Soccer League, is the Cleveland Pro Soccer group’s second team set to play at what is envisioned as a future stadium in the South Gateway District downtown. Both squads, including the Forest City men’s team, are tentatively set to kick off games in 2028.
Astra — Latin for stars — is a brand awash in Lake Erie Midnight blue and Golden Era gold, said CPS chief Michael Murphy, and meant to convey a sense of hope for a city that’s gone far too long without a women’s soccer team.
Especially when MLS Next Pro, the league in which Forest City Cleveland will play, has expanded light years beyond any comparable lower division league for women.
MLS Next Pro “has a little more than 70 teams throughout the country,” Murphy told Scene in a call. “On the women’s side, there’s zero. There’s no lower division women’s professional soccer league right now.”
“That’s what we’re committed to joining,” he said.
Women’s soccer, and women’s sports in general, are having a spotlight moment. The celebrity of Caitlin Clark, popularity of the WNBA, and the record viewership for the 2024 NCAA Women’s Final Four have ushered in new eyes for women’s sports.
Cleveland’s WNBA team, which is set to debut in 2028, is a sign of the times..
It’s a cultural shift in sports, Murphy said, that dovetails nicely with Forest City’s debut and plans for the $50 million stadium. (CPS has secured about $20 million of the funding needed for that project.)
Although Cleveland had a women’s basketball team, the Cleveland Rockers, in the early aughts, there’s been no sizeable push for a women’s soccer team on the same level as Murphy and crew.
It’s a reality Murphy attributes to infrastructure. Huntington Bank Field, Progressive Field, Rocket Arena, Nautica Pavilion—arenas have gone up downtown in the past few decades. But not of the right niche or size to host soccer of this level.
“And during that same time period? There’s been zero dollars spent on women’s professional facilities,” he said. “So, you ask what’s going on? Well, there haven’t been the same opportunities.”
“We’re trying to change that in a smart, scalable way,” Murphy said.
CPS has secured the site, just east of Bedrock’s new development on the riverfront, yet ground hasn’t been broken yet. The site does have its drawbacks: I-90 to the north could be bar to foot traffic, or even create a bottleneck on big game days.
A new RTA South Gateway stop on the Red Line, which runs to the north of the site, could help ease those logistics, Murphy said. (RTA has yet to confirm it’s actually expanding Red Line access.)
As with Forest City, CPS will be announcing team development and tryout details later this year.
“It’s why we chose the Cleveland Astra: we’ve always wanted to be the North Star — that point to look for when you consider what elite and professional soccer can be in Northeast Ohio,” Murphy said.
Subscribe to Cleveland Scene newsletters.
Follow us: Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter
