So...WHY DOES AN MLS (Major League Soccer) FRANCHISE MATTER AS PART OF ST. LOUISS NEW STADIUM PROJECT ? ......WELL..... *BECAUSE St. LOUIS ISNT ONLY BASEBALL HEAVEN...ITS ALSO SOCCER HEAVEN TOO.... So if your Thinking Soccer is Small Potatoes...READ ON......Remember MLS plays a 34 game schedule. 17 at home -17 Away- Not including MLS Playoff Games.....Along With The NFLs 2 Pre-Season games...8 Regular Season...Games...Not to Mention 2 potential Playoff games, providing We make the Playoffs....Your looking at ...27 Home Dates with potential For another 2 home Playoff dates Not including the MLS Playoff / Championship Games ....All of a Sudden your Looking at a Very Lucrative Situation. SO........Why Does An MLS Team Matter In St.Louis ? Well.....Heres Why The MLS Makes this a Sweeter Deal Than You Think......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. 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. Several current or former Major League Soccer players are from St. Louis, including: Mike Sorber, Chris Klein, Pat Noonan, Jack Jewsbury, Matt Pickens, Brad Davis (#5 in MLS career assists), Steve Ralston (#1 in MLS career assists), Taylor Twellman (MLS MVP 2005), and Tim Ream. REMEMBER THE ST. LOUIS STEAMERS ? .......The St. Louis Steamers played in the Major Indoor Soccer League in 1979-88. The league awarded St. Louis a franchise on July 31, 1979, and the home opener on December 14, 1979, drew over 18,000 fans to the teams home field at the St. Louis Arena. Part of the Steamers attraction was that their roster was drawn in large part from local talent. Their average seasonal attendance exceeded 12,000 fans from 1980-81 to 1984-85, and 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. They outdrew the NHLs St. Louis Blues in four consecutive seasons: 1980-81 through 1983-84. .....HOW ABOUT THE ST, LOUIS BILLIKINS ? .....The Billikens were dominant in mens collegiate soccer during the late 1950s through the mid-1970s, the Billikens have won 10 NCAA Division I Mens Soccer Championships, the most of any mens college soccer program. The SLU mens 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. 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. 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. Three of the four highest attended NCAA mens 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).........HOW ABOUT THE St. LOUIS AMBUSH......Were They Any good....The St. Louis Ambush was a professional indoor soccer team that played in the National Professional Soccer League from 1992-2000. The team was founded in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where they played one season before coming to St. Louis. The Ambush made the playoffs every year that they played in St. Louis, except their final year of 1999-2000. The Ambush won one National Professional Soccer League championship (1994-95 season), defeating the Harrisburg Heat. They played in four NPSL Championship series (1994, 1995, 1998, 1999.... And Ill Leave you With This.......... Where DID Professional Soccer REALY Begin in The United States? .....The St. Louis Soccer League (1907-39) The St. Louis Soccer League, founded in 1907, was the countrys only fully professional soccer league of its day. St. Leos, the leagues 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 They 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. The club Stix, Baer and Fuller F.C. was successful during the 1930s, reaching the finals of the National Challenge Cup for six consecutive years from 1932—1937, and winning titles in 1933, 1934, and 1935. NOBODY WILL DRAW FANS FOR MLS....BETTER THAN ST. LOUIS....PERIOD...THAts Why The MLS Matters in this Deal...And THATS..NOT Small Potatoes.....
Posted on: Sat, 17 Jan 2015 02:20:11 +0000