When Louisville City FC first took to the field for its debut in the USL Championship in 2015, Niall McCabe was in the starting lineup.

Ten seasons on, the Irish midfielder is still going strong.

More than that, he’s also now the last man standing from that original squad, which set the standard for everything that LouCity has achieved over its first decade as a club.

“It feels like a lifetime ago, and it seems like only yesterday as well,” McCabe told USLChampionship.com this week. “Obviously, 10 seasons at one club, especially at this level, you don’t see many players doing it. I’m obviously very proud of it. It’s something I’ve worked hard to do, to stay at a high level, and hopefully it’s something I’ve earned as well. It’s an honor.”

Across 214 appearances and 13,655 minutes in the USL Championship’s regular season and playoffs, McCabe has seen it all. Two league titles, two more Eastern Conference titles, nine consecutive trips to the Eastern Conference Final and 153 regular season victories – the most in the Championship since the club launched in 2015 – have made LouCity the league’s flagship club.

Four years after opening Lynn Family Stadium – which on Saturday will welcome the national television spotlight for the first network broadcast in league history as LouCity hosts Indy Eleven on CBS – the side has continued to go from strength-to-strength on and off the field.

That’s placed Louisville at the forefront of the USL Championship’s growth as a league, in which, from McCabe’s perspective, the standard and competition has never been higher.

“I think we had a really good group,” said McCabe. “James was obviously at the helm as well back then, and he didn’t mess around. It was win-or-bust, every game. We trained like every Saturday was a cup final. It sounds cliché, we had a very small roster at that point – 18 or 19 players and three of them were goalkeepers – so in terms of outfield players it was quite small, so you knew everyone was going to be needed.

“I think it really kind of set the standard for us the next year, because we got to the Eastern Conference Final and lost to Rochester 1-0. It really leaves a sour taste in your mouth, and the next preseason you want to come back and do it all again.”

LouCity fell at the same hurdle the following year, eliminated in a penalty shootout by eventual title-winners Tyler Adams, Aaron Long and the New York Red Bulls II, but by the start of the 2017 season the core of the group that would lead the side’s success had formed.

McCabe and the club’s all-time leading goalscorer Cameron Lancaster were part of the original squad. In Year 2 arrived recently-retired captain Paolo DelPiccolo and center back Paco Craig, and then for Year 3 the trio of Brian Ownby, Oscar Jimenez and Sean Totsch, all of whom played important roles for the side that would win consecutive Championship titles in 2017 and 2018 and reach the Final again in 2019 before seeing its bid for a three-peat ended by Real Monarchs SLC.

McCabe has evolved and grown as well. Having played as a more attacking midfielder early in his career – recording a career-best six goals and six assists in the 2018 title-winning campaign – he’s moved into a deeper-lying role as the years have gone on. The influence of former coaches O’Connor and John Hackworth and current LouCity boss Danny Cruz have added more tactical insight and awareness to his game, making him a more versatile player.

By his estimation, McCabe’s individual preparation has also become better as he’s become older. That’s allowed him to keep pace with the level of talent that can be found across the league, which continues to rise each season.

“I think the league has gotten so much better,” said McCabe. “In the last five years, I’d say it’s gotten drastically better, so the level of professionalism that you have to show also needs to be higher. I’m way more professional now over the last five years or so than I was.”

The other part he’s working on? Trying to take more time to embrace the successes he and the club have achieved more fully in the moment.

“It’s hard to say now, but when you're wrapped up and competing out here every day, it’s so intense,” he said. “When you win a game, I move very quickly on to the next one, and I’m even like that now. It’s hard to enjoy because you’re so focused on winning, I don’t really take the step back to enjoy it. I haven’t enjoyed it since ’17 and ’18 when we won it all.”

After all these years, that’s still what drives McCabe each day. Whether it’s in 5-on-2s or training drills during the week or on gameday itself, the 33-year-old is always aiming to come out on top. With LouCity having claimed three wins from three to start the season, the chances are another shot at claiming a third league title – and becoming the first club to do so in the USL Championship era – will be there for the taking.

As far as he’s come, the hunger to stay on top remains.

“When I win, I’m happy, and when I lose, I’m not. I think that’s a big part that drives me. I always want to prove myself. Even now, I’m desperate to win more.”