The wheel was last won on July 17, 2024 in a 1-0 Chicago Fire victory in Cincinnati

The RIPeters Memorial Derby is a Fanfreundschaft (fan friendship) between FC Cincinnati fan club Die Innenstadt and the Chicago Fire fan clubs Black Fires and Red Line SG. 

Leaders from those organizations formed a friendship over the mutual love of 1. FC Köln of the German Bundesliga. Two members from Chicago attended a Die Innenstadt pregame in Effzeh gear at Mecklenburg Gardens on September 16, 2017 during their visit for Oktoberfest Zinzinnati. They immediately struck up a conversation with the Effzeh fans in Die Innenstadt, and the friendship was born.

Two matches predate the official RIPeters Memorial Derby. A US Open Cup match at Nippert Stadium on June 28, 2017 ended in penalties and continued FC Cincinnati's historic Cup run that season. Following FC Cincinnati's ascension into MLS, the two teams clashed on July 13, 2019 in Bridgeview with a 1-2 victory for FC Cincinnati.

Despite the two previous meetings and the established friendship, the origin of RIPeters dates to Oktoberfest Zinzinnati 2019. As luck would have it, MLS scheduling placed the Fire in Cincinnati on September 21, 2019 during Oktoberfest - two years after the original meeting.

On Friday, September 20th the Chicago folks made their way to Downtown Cincinnati to participate in Oktoberfest before the match the next day. The day was off to raucous start when Jake Peters, who had arrived the night before and was staying with some other friends, was insisting he was at the intersection of Vine Street and Walnut. Astute geography nerds will note these two streets do not intersect. After eventually finding Peters and enjoying the festivities, the last stop of the night - and the last photo of Jake Peters that night - was at MOTR Pub on Main Street in Over-the-Rhine. Everyone went their separate ways for the night after MOTR, and planned on meeting at Mecklenburg Gardens the next afternoon.

Unbeknownst to the rest of the group, Peters' cell phone died that night, and no one could get ahold of him all morning and all afternoon. He missed breakfast a lunch with the group, and was nowhere to be found when we started our pregame at Mecklenburg Gardens. Legitimate fears about his wellbeing were spreading amongst the group. Just five minutes before kickoff, Peters walks into the away section at Nippert Stadium - He is risen!

According to the man himself, his dead cell phone meant he couldn't get in touch with anyone to get past the locked door in the breezeway of their apartment. His other friends assumed he simply went back with us, so he spent the night unable to contact anyone and slept in the breezeway of the building.

Every time we meet each other we look back at the miracle we witnessed that fateful September day. An avid urbanist and cyclist, the trophy to commemorate this really friendly fierce rivalry is a bicycle wheel. Plans are in place to modify the wheel as time goes on to properly celebrate the Fanfreundshaft. The RIPeters Memorial Derby Wheel is up for grabs every match. As soon as a new team wins, the wheel will change hands. Long live Peters! He is Risen!

Pre-RIPeters Matches (🔷🔶2 ; 🚲0 ;  🟥🟦0 )

• FC Cincy 0 (3) - 0 (1) Chicago Fire - 6/28/17 🔷🔶

• Chicago Fire 1 - 2 FC Cincy - 7/13/19 🔷🔶

Official RIPeters Matches (🔷🔶5 ; 🚲3 ;  🟥🟦4 )

• FC Cincy 0 - 0 Chicago Fire - 9/21/19 🚲

• Chicago Fire 3 - 0 FC Cincy - 8/25/20 🟥🟦

• FC Cincy 0 - 0 Chicago Fire - 9/2/20 🚲

• Chicago Fire 1 - 2 FC Cincy - 3/2721 🔷🔶

• Chicago Fire 0 - 1 FC Cincy - 6/23/21 🔷🔶

• FC Cincy 3 - 4 Chicago Fire - 10/20/21 🟥🟦

• Chicago Fire 1 - 2 FC Cincy - 5/14/22 🔷🔶

• FC Cincy 2 - 3 Chicago Fire - 10/1/22 🟥🟦

• Chicago Fire 3 - 3 FC Cincy - 3/18/23 🚲

• FC Cincy 1 - 0 Chicago Fire - 6/3/23 🔷🔶

• Chicago Fire 1 - 2 FC Cincy - 3/2/24 🔷🔶

• FC Cincy 0 - 1 Chicago Fire - 7/17/24 🟥🟦