Soccer hot spot

The world sport, without a doubt, is soccer, but its popularity within the United States has always lagged.  St. Louis, however, has long been a U.S. soccer hot spot. 

Slay's soccer days

Mayor Francis Slay

Like St. Louis, Francis Slay (Mayor 2001-)has soccer in his background.

After a successful high school career at St. Mary's, Slay went to Quincy College, where he was an unrecruited walk-on.  He won a place on the soccer team and was a significant part of three Quincy NAIA championships.  He even met his wife-to-be at a soccer game.

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Días de fútbol
una producción de Telespan Producciones, Picasso Estudios con la participación de Via Digital ; producida por Tomás Cimadevilla ; escrita y dirigida por David Serrano.
Burbank, CA : Warner Home Video, [2005]
  1. DVD, Dolby 5.1. Widescreen.
  2. In Spanish with optional English or Spanish subtitles; closed captioned in English.
  3. Cast: Alberto San Juan, Natalia Verbeke, Ernesto Alterio, Fernando Tejero, María Esteve, Roberto Álamo, Secun De La Rosa, Pere Ponce, Luis Bermejo, Nathalie Poza, Diego Martín, Pilar Castro, Andrés Lima, Diego París, Eva Santolaria, Lola Dueñas.
  4. Music by Miguel Malla ; director of photography, Kiko de la Rica ; editor, Rori Sáint de Rozas ; art director, Beatriz San Juan.
  5. Videodisc release of the c2003 motion picture.
  6. Antonio, an ex-convict and amateur shrink, convinces his pals that the best way to overcome their midlife crises and lack of success with women is to reassemble their old soccer team and win something in life, even if only a local championship.
     
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Backyard soccer drills
produced by Thomas Craven Film Corporation ; director, cameraman, Ernest Barbieri ; producer, editor, Michael Craven.
Valley Cottage, N.Y. : Youth Sports Club, c2004.
  1. DVD.
  2. Host: Lou Fratello.
  3. Includes drill list.
  4. Demonstrates over fifty soccer drills for individuals and small groups that can be done in the yard or other small space.
     
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Bloody confused! : a clueless American sportswriter seeks solace in English soccer
Chuck Culpepper.
New York : Broadway Books, 2007.
After covering the American sports seene for fifteen years, Chuck Culpepper suffered from a profound case of Common Sportswriter Malaise. He was fed up with self-righteous proclamations, steroid scandals, and the deluge of in-your-face PR that saturated the NFL, the NBA, and MLB. Then in 2006, he moved to London and discovered a new and baffling world-the renowned Premiership soceer league. Culpepper pledged his loyalty to Portsmouth, a gutsy, small-market team at the bottom of the standings. As he puts it, "It was like childhood, with beer."
     
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Once in a lifetime : the extraordinary story of the New York Cosmos
Miramax Films & GreeneStreet Films present in association with ESPN Original Entertainment a Passion Pictures and GreeneStreet Films production in association with Cactus Three ; written by Mark Monroe ; produced by Fisher Stevens, Tim Williams, John Battsek ; directed by Paul Crowder, John Dower.
Burbank, Calif. : Miramax Home Entertainment : Buena Vista Home Entertainment, c2006.
  1. DVD, Dolby 5.1. Widescreen (1.85:1).
  2. In English with optional French or Spanish subtitles or English captions.
  3. Narrator, Matt Dillon.
  4. Story by Mark Monroe, John Dower ; editor, Paul Crowder.
  5. Videodisc release of the documentary motion picture.
  6. MPAA rating: PG-13; for language and some nudity.
  7. Special features: Game highlights of the 1980 and 1981 Soccer Bowls: Cosmos vs. Ft. Lauderdale Strikers and Cosmos vs. Chicago Sting; Pelé's farewell game; deleted scene; stories of Pelé, SportsCentury interviews.
  8. Documentary about the rise and fall of the New York Cosmos, America's first great soccer team, and its larger-than-life superstar, Pelé. The Cosmos kicked off America's first love affair with the world's most popular sport in the 1970s.
     
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The miracle match
Bristol Bay Productions presents in association with Peter Newman Productions, InterAL and Baldwin Entertainment Group ; produced by Ginger T. Perkins ... [et al.] ; written by Angelo Pizzo ; directed by David Anspaugh.
Burbank, Calif : Buena Vista Home Entertainment, [2006]
  1. DVD, Dolby 5.1. Widescreen (2.40:1).
  2. In English with optional French or Spanish subtitles or English captions.
  3. Title from opening credits.
  4. Cast: Gerard Butler, Wes Bentley, Jay Rodan, Gavin Rossdale, Patrick Stewart, Terry Kinney, John Rhys-Davies, Costas Mandylor, Louis Mandylor, Zachery Bryan, Jimmy Jean-Louis, Richard Jenik, Nelson Vargas, Craig Hawksley, Bill Smitrovich.
  5. Director of photography, Johnny E. Jensen ; production designer, Linda Burton ; editors, Bud Smith, Scott Smith, Ian Crafford, Lee Grubin ; costume designer, Jane Anderson ; music composer, William Ross.
  6. Based on the book, The game of their lives, by Geoffrey Douglas.
  7. "Filmed entirely on location in St. Louis, Missouri, Washington, D.C. and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil."
  8. Videodisc release of the c2005 motion picture, The game of their lives.
  9. MPAA rating: PG; for some mild language and thematic elements.
  10. Drama about the 1950 United States World Cup soccer team, which was formed two weeks before the match from recreational soccer players from the Hill neighborhood in St. Louis, yet managed to beat the English national team in Brazil.
     
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Goal! : the dream begins
Touchstone Pictures presents a Milkshake Films production ; produced by Mike Jefferies, Matt Barrelle, Mark Huffam ; story by Mike Jefferies and Adrian Butchart ; screenplay by Dick Clement & Ian La Frenais ; directed by Danny Cannon.
Burbank, Calif. : Touchstone Home Entertainment : Buena Vista Home Entertainment, c2005.
  1. DVD; Dolby 5.1. Widescreen (2.40:1).
  2. In English with optional French or Spanish dubbing and optional English or Spanish subtitles.
  3. Cast: Kuno Becker, Stephen Dillane, Anna Friel, Marcel Iures, Alessandro Nivola, Sean Pertwee, Robert Dixon, Gary Lewis, Miriam Colon, Tony Plana, Stephen Graham, Lee Ross, Kieran O'Brien, Ashley Walters, Frances Barber.
  4. Director of photography, Michael Barrett ; production designer, Laurence Dorman ; editor, Chris Dickens ; costume designer, Lindsay Pugh ; music by Graeme Revell.
  5. Videodisc release of the 2005 motion picture.
  6. MPAA rating: PG-13; for some sexual content, language and a brief drug reference.
  7. Includes soccer featurette; featurette, Behind the pitch; audio commentary; music video, Playground Superstar.
  8. Santiago Munez, an immigrant in Los Angeles, is given the chance to go to England to pursue his dream of becoming a professional soccer player. This underdog must prove he has the talent, passion, and determination to triumph against all odds.
     

When the 1950 national soccer team pulled off its legendary World Cup defeat of  England (as shown in the 2005 film, The Game of Their Lives), the nucleus of that team was from St. Louis.  Immigrants have been behind the local soccer success--Italians to start with, with players from Bosnia and even Botswana in more recent years.

St. Louis club and high school teams have been superb, but the standard-bearer for the area has been the St. Louis University Billikens.  The SLU team won the first NCAA title ever, in 1959, and has remained a national power ever since.  No American college program has participated more often in  NCAA tournaments, or won as many titles .

The real surprise with St. Louis's soccer success is how homespun it is.  Early Billiken teams were made up almost exclusively of St. Louis athletes.  Even today, better than half the team is typically local. 

People expected St. Louis teams to do well without extra effort.   A case in point would be Harry Keough, who coached SLU to five national titles as a part-time employee.  His main job was with the post office.

Some SLU stars go on to be international soccer stars.  St. Louisan Brian McBride's SLU career left him with school records for goals and assists.  The first pick of the MLS's original draft, he's starred for the Columbus Crew and Britain's Fulham Club.  Described as 'the best American ever, in the air,' he is the only U.S. player to score in two World Cups and is second in all-time international goals.

St. Louis is no longer as dominant as it once was; soccer has caught on across the country, and other colleges are now sharing the national spotlight, but SLU remains a national power.  The years in which the Billikens do not take part in the post-season tournament are not just disappointments, but genuine statistical anomalies.  St. Louis has dominated collegiate soccer to an extent that other local sports try to match.

Article by: St. Louis Public Library staff.