Dayton Dutch Lions

Rose Lavelle pulled on a Dayton shirt before she became a star of the US Women's National Team, and before she went first overall in the 2017 National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) College Draft. Gibson Bardsley went on to Real Salt Lake and Colorado Rapids, and Amass Amankona, Chris Froschauer and Stefan Cleveland were taken in MLS drafts.

Mike Mossel and Erik Tammer set it up in 2009 through their investment company, Dutch Lions Capital Group USA. After a first season in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier, the club promoted itself in 2011 and became a founding member of the new third-division USL PRO. That same year it agreed a partnership with FC Twente of the Eredivisie. In 2014 it added an affiliation with the Columbus Crew.

The 2012 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup was the high point of the professional years. Dayton beat two MLS sides, the Columbus Crew and the Chicago Fire, before Sporting Kansas City stopped them in the quarter-finals. They reached the last eight again in 2013.

In 2015 the Crew affiliation was gone, finances were tight, and the club closed its USL PRO franchise and dropped back to the PDL, now called USL League Two. Relocation to Cincinnati had been talked about the year before. Instead the organisation gathered itself in Dayton and moved its Cincinnati Dutch Lions side into DOC Stadium, on the campus of West Carrollton High School, which seats 3,500.

That move produced the rivalry the club is now known for. In 2018 Dayton clinched the Great Lakes Division title on Cincinnati's own field, and the fixture, already among the most physical in the league, grew sharper. When the Cincinnati Dutch Lions went on hiatus, Kings Hammer FC took over as the opponent after joining the league in 2021. Cincinnati is about 45 miles down the road.