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'''Soccer in St. Louis''' has long had a reputation as being one of America's soccer hotbeds, and is home to what is arguably the richest soccer history in the nation, despite not hosting a [[Major League Soccer]] franchise. [[St. Louis]] has a strong tradition of prep and select soccer, which is followed closely by many people in the metropolitan area.
'''Soccer in St. Louis''' has long had a reputation as being one of America's soccer hotbeds, and is home to what is arguably the richest soccer history in the nation, despite not hosting a [[Major League Soccer]] franchise. [[St. Louis]] has a strong tradition of prep and select soccer,<ref>[http://www.soccerbyives.net/2009/01/monday-morning-centerback-time-for-mls-to-add-st-louis.html "MONDAY MORNING CENTERBACK: TIME FOR MLS TO ADD ST. LOUIS"], Soccer By Ives, January 5, 2009.</ref> which is followed closely by many people in the metropolitan area.
==Professional teams==
==Professional teams==
===St. Louis Soccer League (1907-39)===
===St. Louis Soccer League (1907-39)===

Revision as of 13:13, 3 May 2014

Soccer in St. Louis has long had a reputation as being one of America's soccer hotbeds, and is home to what is arguably the richest soccer history in the nation, despite not hosting a Major League Soccer franchise. St. Louis has a strong tradition of prep and select soccer,[1] which is followed closely by many people in the metropolitan area.

Professional teams

St. Louis Soccer League (1907-39)

Main article: St. Louis Soccer League

The St. Louis Soccer League was founded in 1907 as the country's only fully professional soccer league. St. Leo's, the league's only fully professional squad, dominated the standings for seven years.

Before 1914, most teams participated only in local competitions. In 1913, the St. Louis Soccer League came to national attention when St. Leo’s tied the Paterson True Blues, winners of the American Cup. At the time, the American Cup was the most recognized regional cup and was the de facto East Coast championship.

In 1914, the new United States Football Association established the National Challenge Cup. When the St. Louis teams entered the competition in 1918, it became the first truly national competition; over the next few years, it replaced the regional cups. St. Louis teams initially had difficulty getting past Chicago and Cleveland teams, but in 1920 Ben Millers stunned the East Coast teams by knocking off Fore River to become the first club outside of the northeast to win the cup. SLSL teams went to the next four finals, winning the cup again in 1922. SLSL team also went to the final in 1926, 1929 and every season from 1932 to 1939.

In 1935, the SLSL began to see internal strife, including lawsuits between teams over player tampering, which led in 1939 to its dissolution.[2]

Stars (NASL) (1967—77)

Main article: St. Louis Stars (NASL)

The St. Louis Stars played in St. Louis from 1967-1977 in the North American Soccer League. The Stars were known for playing mostly American players, many from the St. Louis area, in contrast to other NASL teams' reliance on foreign players.[3] The team relocated to Anaheim in 1978 and became the California Surf.

Steamers (MISL) (1979—88)

Main article: St. Louis Steamers (1979–88)

The St. Louis Steamers were an indoor soccer team that played in the Major Indoor Soccer League from 1979-88. The Steamers averaged over 17,000 fans during their peak, outdrawing the St. Louis Blues NHL team.[4] Their home fixtures were held at the St. Louis Arena. The Steamers were popular for a number of years, with average attendance exceeding 12,000 for each season from 1980-81 through 1984-85, and outdrawing the NHL's St. Louis Blues for four consecutive seasons from 1980-81 through 1983-84.

The Major Indoor Soccer League awarded St. Louis a franchise on July 31, 1979.[5] The home opener on December 14, 1979 drew over 18,000 fans to the Arena.[6] Part of the Steamers' attraction was that their roster was drawn in large part from local talent.[7]

The Steamers' popularity reached its peak during the 1981-82 season, when the team averaged 17,107 fans per game, including 19,298 fans in the Steamers' match at the Arena against the Denver Avalanche.[8] In 1981-82, the Steamers won their second straight division title, and reached the MISL Championship finals, where they lost to New York in a five-game series.

The Steamers played their final match on April 15, 1988 in front of 4,839 fans.[9] Following the 1987-88 season, the club folded, and the MISL terminated the Steamers' franchise.

Pro soccer (2000—present)

Officials attempted to pave the way for a St. Louis area Major League Soccer expansion team based in the suburb of Collinsville, Illinois, to enter Major League Soccer; instead, in 2008 MLS awarded the 16th franchise to Philadelphia, which began play in MLS in 2010.

St. Louis bid again in 2008 for one of two expansion slots for 2011. St. Louis was considered one of the early front runners,[10] due in part to the city's soccer history and a stadium plan.[11] But the St. Louis bid lacked an ownership group with deep pockets, and MLS awarded the expansion slots to Portland and Vancouver instead.

St. Louis-native Jeff Cooper then started two short-lived professional teams in St. Louis.

Founded in December 2009, AC St. Louis played its only season in 2010 in the NASL Conference of the temporary Division II Pro League. A.C. St. Louis played its home games at the Anheuser-Busch Soccer Park in nearby Fenton, Missouri. The team's colors were green, white, and yellow. A.C. St. Louis was first coached by Claude Anelka, the older brother of French international striker Nicolas Anelka;[12] however, he was replaced by Dale Schilly midway through the club's only season.[13] Despite plans to join the new North American Soccer League in the 2011 season, the club folded in January 2011 under unmanageable financial strain.[14]

Cooper's other team was the Saint Louis Athletica, which competed in Women's Professional Soccer from 2009 to 2010. Athletica initially played its home matches on the campus of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, and later moved to Scott Gallagher Soccer Park in west county. The team folded in May 2010 when donors did not continue to fund the team.

In May 2014, the Division III USL Pro league announced that it had awarded an expansion franchise to St. Louis, which would begin play in the 2015 season at the St. Louis Soccer Park in the St. Louis suburb of Fenton.[15]

International friendlies

The Edward Jones Dome hosted a soccer match on August 10, 2013, when Real Madrid and Internazionale played a friendly game in front of 54,184 fans, a record attendance for a soccer match in St. Louis.[16] St. Louis also hosted a friendly in May 2013 between Chelsea and Manchester City in front of a sell-out crowd of 48,000 at Busch Stadium.[16]

College

SLU Billikens (NCAA)

Main article: St. Louis Billikens men's soccer

The Saint Louis University Billikens men's soccer team competes in the NCAA Division I in the Atlantic 10 Conference, and play at Hermann Stadium.

The Billikens were dominant in men's collegiate soccer during the late 1950s through the mid-1970s, the Billikens have won 10 NCAA Men's Soccer Championships, the most of any men's college soccer program. The SLU men's soccer team has made 16 NCAA Final Four appearances and has won 10 national championships. During their dynasty run from the 1960s through 1970s, the team was coached by Bob Guelker during their first five championships, who retired with an 89% winning percentage.[17] Harry Keough coached the last five championship teams. SLU had a winning streak of 19 games from 1969-70 and another winning streak of 24 games (including 14 consecutive road wins) during 1970-71, in addition to a 45 game unbeaten streak from 1969-71.[18]

Soccer is the main fall sport at SLU, which has not sponsored American football since 1949. The team consistently ranks among the top of all Division I soccer teams in attendance. The Billikens led the NCAA in average attendance for the 1999, 2001, and 2003 seasons.[19] Three of the four highest attended NCAA men's soccer regular-season matches of all time were between St. Louis University and SIU Edwardsville at Busch Stadium in St. Louis (22,512 in 1980, 20,122 in 1973, and 15,000 in 1972).[20]

The Billikens have not appeared in an NCAA national championship finals since 1974. Dan Donigan was the head coach from February 2001 until January 2010. Presently, the Billikens are coached by Mike McGinty.

Notable SLU soccer graduates — who went on to play for the U.S. national team or play Division I professional soccer — include Brian McBride and Mike Sorber.

Noted players

Taylor Twellman, Major League Soccer MVP in 2005.

Every U.S. team in World Cup history has included at least one St. Louisan on its roster, and 29 St. Louisans have been inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame.[21]

The U.S. team for the 1950 World Cup, which defeated England 1-0 in one of the most noted upsets in World Cup history, had five of the eleven players on the team from St. Louis, including many from the historically Italian neighborhood of The Hill. This event was chronicled in the 2005 film The Game of Their Lives (released on DVD as The Miracle Match).

Several current or former Major League Soccer players are from St. Louis, including: Mike Sorber, Chris Klein, Pat Noonan, Matt Pickens, Brad Davis (#5 in MLS career assists), Steve Ralston (#1 in MLS career assists), Taylor Twellman (MLS MVP 2005), and Tim Ream.

St. Louis Soccer Hall of Fame

The St. Louis Soccer Hall of Fame, established in 1971, is located at the Midwest Soccer Academy and includes a museum with various exhibits.[21][22][23][24] The first annual dinner was held in 1971.[25]

See also

References

  1. ^ "MONDAY MORNING CENTERBACK: TIME FOR MLS TO ADD ST. LOUIS", Soccer By Ives, January 5, 2009.
  2. ^ [1]
  3. ^ "History of Soccer in St. Louis", David Litterer.
  4. ^ "Ambush return to St. Louis", St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 22, 2013.
  5. ^ Our St. Louis Steamers
  6. ^ Our St. Louis Steamers
  7. ^ Our St. Louis Steamers
  8. ^ Our St. Louis Steamers
  9. ^ Our St. Louis Steamers
  10. ^ "MONTREAL BOWS OUT OF MLS EXPANSION RACE", Soccer By Ives, November 21, 2008.
  11. ^ "Montreal in pole position for one of the expansion spots", ESPN FC, October 17, 2008.
  12. ^ It’s AC St. Louis
  13. ^ "Claude Anelka Relieved Of Coaching Duties", A.C. St. Louis, June 24, 2010. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
  14. ^ "AC St. Louis Closes its Doors for Good", IMS Soccer News, January 17, 2011. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
  15. ^ "USL PRO announces 2015 expansion to soccer hotbed St. Louis", MLSsoccer.com, May 1, 2014.
  16. ^ a b "Real Madrid dominates Inter to close American tour", Sports Illustrated, August 10, 2013.
  17. ^ SLU Record and History Book (2013)
  18. ^ SLU Record and History Book (2013)
  19. ^ NCAA Soccer Men’s Attendance Records, 2012.
  20. ^ NCAA Soccer Men’s Attendance Records, 2012.
  21. ^ a b Homepage. St. Louis Soccer Hall of Fame website. Retrieved 2011-06-05.
  22. ^ Museum Renovation webpage. St. Louis Soccer Hall of Fame website. Retrieved 2011-06-05.
  23. ^ Our Location webpage. St. Louis Soccer Hall of Fame website. Retrieved 2011-06-05.
  24. ^ Our Museum webpage (including photos of exhibits). St. Louis Soccer Hall of Fame website. Retrieved 2011-06-05.
  25. ^ Our History webpage. St. Louis Soccer Hall of Fame website. Retrieved 2011-06-05.


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