ST. LOUIS 鈥 The commissioner of Major League Soccer, in 最新杏吧原创 on Monday to meet with regional business leaders, said a local ownership group is just steps away from securing an expansion team.
Commissioner Don Garber lunched with more than two dozen chief executives and business owners from some of the largest companies in 最新杏吧原创, and called the show of support for a local franchise 鈥渇antastic and remarkable.鈥
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 fair to say that it was among the largest or, certainly, the most prominent group of 鈥楥-level鈥 leaders in any visit that I鈥檝e had,鈥 Garber told the Post-Dispatch, speaking of the chief executives.
Still, he said, proposed owners Jim Kavanaugh, chief executive of World Wide Technology, and Enterprise Holdings鈥 Taylor family must nail down corporate sponsorships, and quickly, to prove to the league鈥檚 other 27 owners that the 最新杏吧原创 market can support a team.
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鈥淚t would really help their bid if they had stadium naming rights and a jersey sponsor in place,鈥 Garber said. 鈥淪o there is a specific level of financial corporate support.鈥
Garber鈥檚 visit on Monday was part sales meeting, insiders say, to help Kavanaugh and the Taylors sell sponsorships, and part status check. The commissioner will report to league owners on progress in 最新杏吧原创. The stopover 鈥 Garber flew in for breakfast with four of the Taylors on Monday morning before lunch at the Four Seasons 鈥 signals a deepening interest in 最新杏吧原创 as the league looks to pick its next expansion city. The league owners meet in April in Los Angeles for their spring meeting, and could make a decision that soon.
Both sides see some urgency: Garber鈥檚 visit suggests concerns that the 最新杏吧原创 owners haven鈥檛 announced the big-dollar deals.
And Carolyn Kindle Betz, one of Jack Taylor鈥檚 granddaughters and a face of the local effort, said outright on Monday that, if this effort failed, her family would not try again.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to do it now,鈥 Kindle Betz said. 鈥淲e will probably not be here in a year.鈥
The league is looking to expand to 28 teams from 24 this year. Three of the slots are taken: New teams are set to kick off in Miami and Nashville, Tenn., in 2020 and in Austin, Texas, in 2021.
At least eight cities 鈥 Charlotte, N.C.; Detroit; Las Vegas; Phoenix; Raleigh, N.C.; Sacramento, Calif.; San Diego; and 最新杏吧原创 鈥 have expressed interest in the last spot.
Sacramento has recently emerged as 最新杏吧原创鈥 biggest threat. In January, Beverly Hills billionaire Ron Burkle bought into the city鈥檚 bid. League officials called Sacramento 鈥渁 strong expansion candidate.鈥
And, as with the addition of the Taylors to 最新杏吧原创鈥 bid, Burkle鈥檚 associates said that the billionaire grocery-store magnate if the Sacramento effort was speculation.
Garber called the competition good for the league.
鈥淟ife is good when you have options,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 believe that there are many cities in our country today that can support an MLS team. We鈥檝e got to get this last one over the finish line and then sit down and figure out what happens to those cities that were not part of the 28 that we set out to finalize a couple of years ago.鈥
This is the third time Garber has visited 最新杏吧原创 in connection with an expansion bid. The first came as the region fought to keep the National Football League鈥檚 Rams in 最新杏吧原创. The effort failed, but the idea to build a stadium that could be used by a soccer team started the conversation with MLS. Almost two years ago, a second attempt, headed by Kavanaugh and current Schnuck Markets President Dave Peacock, skidded to a stop when 最新杏吧原创 city voters turned down a request for $60 million in public stadium financing.
Garber said on Monday that he does not feel burned by any of the past attempts. Instead, he said he believed they set the groundwork for this one.
鈥淲e were missing a handful of things that have really changed in the last year or so,鈥 Garber said on Monday, Kindle Betz sitting to his left. 鈥淭he first is the involvement of the Taylor family. The second was a real confirmation on the stadium project.鈥
The league is confident that fans here will support a team. And the corporate showing at Monday鈥檚 lunch impressed him, Garber said. It included executives from the natural gas company Spire, electrical supplier Graybar, shoe company Caleres, financial powerhouses Edward Jones, Wells Fargo Advisors and Stifel Financial Corp., plus some of the region鈥檚 largest employers, such as BJC Healthcare and SSM Health.
But the last leg of the stool 鈥 corporate dollars 鈥 is key, Garber said.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 why I鈥檓 here today,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e very much need to see the corporate community get behind this team and show their financial support.鈥
Kindle Betz said the league has not asked her team to present at the April meetings.
But she said they鈥檙e ready.
A look back at the rich history of 最新杏吧原创 soccer
最新杏吧原创 ownership group lands MLS expansion slot
Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber stands with Carolyn Kindle, senior vice president and executive director of the Enterprise Holdings Foundation, in March 2019.
The bid to land a Major League Soccer team for 最新杏吧原创 began publicly in聽October 2018. Members of the Taylor family and of the Kavanaugh family joined forces to prepare a formal bid for an聽expansion team.听
Carolyn Kindle Betz (pictured with Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber) joined with Jim Kavanaugh, Andy Taylor,聽Jo Ann Taylor Kindle, Christine B. Taylor, Alison Kindle Hogan, Kelly C. Taylor, Patricia A. Taylor and Barbara Taylor. The team will be the first in the league majority-owned by women.听
The group has聽deep pockets, with ties to Enterprise Holdings and World Wide Technology.
A formal announcement that 最新杏吧原创 will get a team was held Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2019. The debut has been postponed a year, to 2023.听
In August 2020, the team's leadership announced its name, crest and colors: 最新杏吧原创 City SC.
In February, 最新杏吧原创 City SC won its first game against Austin FC, 3-2.
Joesy Cramer-Herrea, 6, of Lebanon, Illinois, waves a 最新杏吧原创 City SC scarf as soccer staff members shoot video during a promotional tour for the newly named MLS soccer club on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2020. Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com
Five 最新杏吧原创 players were on team that defeated England in 1950 World Cup
1950 US World Cup soccer team that upset England 1-0. -- Members of the 1950 US World Cup team included Frank Wallace (front left) Ed McIhlvenney, Gino Pariani, Joe Gaetjens, John Souza, Eddie Souza, Joe Maca (back left), Charley Columbo, Frank Borghi, Harry Keough, Walter Bahr and Coach Bill Jeffriey. Photo from REUTERS
A 最新杏吧原创an was the keeper for the 1950 match against England in Brazil, holding a blank slate against the side considered to be the best in the world.听
Frank Borghi, who died in 2015, was one of five 最新杏吧原创ans on the team that beat England 1-0.
He made a key save in the second half on a header, knocking it wide of the net. 鈥淚 was lucky to jump in the air and deflect it with my right hand,鈥 he said in a 2009 interview.
Brazil's fans, ecstatic to see their main rival lose, carried Borghi off the field on their shoulders.听
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know what they were doing at first,鈥 he said later. 鈥淚 was kind of nervous. They picked me up and carried me 110 yards to the dugout. It was kind of exciting.鈥
In addition to Borghi, Harry Keough, Gino Pariani, Frank (Peewee) Wallace and Charley Colombo were the 最新杏吧原创ans on the field for that historic win over England. (Also on the team from 最新杏吧原创 were Bob Annis, a reserve who didn鈥檛 play, and assistant coach William 鈥淐hubby鈥 Lyons.) Keough died in 2012, Pariani in 2007, Colombo in 1986 and Wallace in 1979.
Pictures from the 1950 World Cup
In 1995, a local team won a professional soccer title
FILE PHOTO APRIL, 1995 -- Kansas City's #14 Lee Tschantret is knocked down by the Ambush's #6 Steve Maurer as they pursue a loose ball.
On April 25, 1995, the Ambush staged a comeback to sweep the Harrisburg Heat in four games to become the only team in 最新杏吧原创 professional soccer to win a title.
The title was won three years after Dr. Abraham Hawatmeh brought the Tulsa Ambush to 最新杏吧原创.听
With the NHL locked out in 1994, the Ambush had the honor of playing the first regular-season game at the new Kiel Center (now the Enterprise Center).
The team would lead the league in attendance that season, averaging 7,881 a game.
The Ambush folded in 2000; a team with the same name now plays in the Major Arena Soccer League. The area has a men's team, 最新杏吧原创 FC, in the USL Championship, a league one step below the top professional level, Major League Soccer.听
A team in the failed Women's Professional Soccer league, 最新杏吧原创 Athletica, didn't win a championship in its short-lived tenure.听
Other now-defunct professional soccer teams include: Steamers (Major Indoor Soccer League), Storm (MISL), and Steamers (World Indoor Soccer League/MISL). In October 2020, 最新杏吧原创 FC, a United Soccer League Championship team, played its final game.听
The last top-level men's professional soccer team was the Stars
The 最新杏吧原创 Stars were a team in the North American Soccer League, which was the top-level pro league from 1968 to 1984.听
The Stars played from the start of the league until 1977, when the team moved to California.听
Well-known national players were on the team, including Al Trost. (He taught at McCluer North High during the offseason.) Other well-known players included Pat McBride and English goalie Peter Bonetti.
The team wanted a better home field than Washington University's Francis Field (which had a 10,000-person capacity), and had trouble getting Busch Stadium for more than a few games during their season.
For the 1977 season, the team drew an average of 9,111 fans, but that included a crowd of more than 32,000 at Busch Stadium (the game featured Pel茅).
Robert R. Hermann was one of the owners of the team.听
Several local teams were once best in the nation
Several 最新杏吧原创 teams have won the National Challenge Cup, now known as the U.S. Open Cup.听
The tournament matches soccer teams from various levels, including Major League Soccer teams, in a single-elimination tournament to decide the best soccer team in the country.听
In May 1920, in what the 最新杏吧原创 Star described as "the greatest soccer game ever witnessed on any American field," the Ben Millers, a 最新杏吧原创 team, beat a Massachusetts team to win the title.
More than 10,000 people watched the game at Federal League Park, a stadium near the current 最新杏吧原创 University campus. The 最新杏吧原创 team was the first outside the East coast to win the title.
Many of the teams in the early decades were owned by companies, hence the familiar names.
Other 最新杏吧原创 teams went on to play, and win, the Challenge Cup, including:
鈥 Scullin Steel: 1922 (The team went to the finals again in 1923, but had to forfeit a replay after a tie.)
鈥 Stix, Baer and Fuller: 1933, 1934
鈥 Central Breweries: 1935
鈥 Simpkins-Ford: 1948, 1950
鈥 Kutis: 1957, 1986聽
鈥 Busch: 1988
Pictures from the Cup game
European clubs used to come here to play against local teams
From the 1930s through '70s, 最新杏吧原创 was a regular stop for foreign clubs making American tours. There were no professional American leagues, so teams played top amateur clubs.
Over the years, clubs came from: Canada, Mexico, England, Chile, Germany, Brazil, Czechoslovakia, Sweden, Scotland, France and Turkey, among others. Manchester United came twice, in 1950 and 1960, playing matches at old Public Schools Stadium. The 最新杏吧原创 teams almost always lost, though there was a 1-1 tie with Liverpool in 1964.
The games may have been regular events, but that didn鈥檛 mean they weren鈥檛 special.
鈥淚t was fun playing against (those teams),鈥 said Bob Kehoe, a defender who took part in several of them in his long career. 鈥淭hey were almost always better than we were. We鈥檙e fledglings, newcomers to the game and they鈥檝e been playing for hundreds of years. We were rarely, if ever, successful. But we鈥檇 learn from them, pick up nuances, say, 鈥業 never saw a team do that before.鈥 It was enjoyable, even if you got embarrassed.鈥
Manchester City played a team of CYC All-Stars in 最新杏吧原创 in 1958, in front of about 4,000 people. The teams played at the Public Schools Stadium.听
"As expected, the all-professional English League team won the match, by a score of 6-2," read the Post-Dispatch article. "The 最新杏吧原创 players, all amateurs, were delighted to have held the First Division team to a 1-1 score at half time and to have escaped with only six goals charged against them, one of those a penalty kick."
The day Pel茅 played Busch Stadium
Soccer great Pele, then playing for the New York Cosmos, maneuvers past Gary Rensing of the 最新杏吧原创 Stars during a North American Soccer League exhibition match in 1975 at Washington University's Francis Field. (AP Photo)
The greatest soccer player of all time had scored 1,268 goals over his illustrious career when the New York Cosmos faced the 最新杏吧原创 Stars on June 23, 1977. But with tenacious marking from Bob O'Leary and Roger Verdi and acrobatic goaltending by John Jackson, the Stars kept the incomparable聽Pel茅聽and the rest of the Cosmos off the scoreboard in a 2-0 victory.
Among his three shots, Pel茅 sent a header over the net and fired wide on a free kick. His frustration showed with 5 minutes to play when he literally tackled the Stars' Al Trost from behind.
"He should have had a caution for that but I guess because it was Pele' the referee decided to let it go," Trost said.
Soccer star Pele looks over his shoulder during a farewell match at Busch Stadium in 1977. Karen Elshout/最新杏吧原创 Post-Dispatch.听
After the game,聽Pel茅 raced over to Jackson and shook his hand.听Pel茅, then 37, retired at the end of the '77 season with his Cosmos winning the NASL title. The crowd of 32,605 at Busch Stadium was the largest to see a professional soccer game in 最新杏吧原创.
Billikens' 10 NCAA soccer championships
Bob Guelker, shown here after leading 最新杏吧原创 University to a soccer national championship in 1959, one year earlier coached a group of CYC all-stars in a 6-2 loss to Manchester City.
The Billikens men's soccer team won 10 NCAA soccer championships from 1959 to 1973.
Bob Guelker coached the team through 1966, then the team was coached by Harry Keough, a defender who played on the 1950 U.S. World Cup team.听
SLU played against Southern Illinois University Edwardsville 27 times from 1971-1998 in the "Bronze Boot" matches. The rivalry was resurrected in 2018.听The 1980 match holds the record as the largest soccer crowd at an NCAA men's game (22,512).
Guelker coached at both colleges.听
U.S. Soccer has played several World Cup-qualifying matches here
Fans hold aloft the U.S. flag before a FIFA World Cup Qualifier match between the United States and St. Vincent and the Grenadines聽at Busch Stadium聽on Friday, Nov. 13, 2015.
In November 2015, the U.S. Soccer men's team defeated St. Vincent and the Grenadines in Busch Stadium.
Before that, the national team played a qualifier in November 1989, against El Salvador at the Soccer Park in Fenton.
The 2015 game drew 45,000 people; the 1989 game had a sellout crowd of 8,500.
The team had played two previous matches in 最新杏吧原创 in the run-up to the November game.听The Americans had come to 最新杏吧原创 twice before in qualifying for the 1990 World Cup. The first was in the preliminary round, when it beat Jamaica to advance into the final round of qualifying. In their second match in that round, the Americans beat Costa Rica.
The November聽1989 match ended in a tie, but the U.S. team later qualified for the 1990 World Cup in Italy, losing all three matches. It was the first time the American team made the World Cup since 1950.
The women's team has played at least two friendly matches in town, with one in May 2019.
最新杏吧原创an Lori Chalupny (right) controls the play as the U.S. women's soccer team plays New Zealand in a friendly on April 4, 2015 at Busch Stadium. Chalupny scored a goal in the Americans' 4-0 win. (Post-Dispatch photo by Huy Mach)
Hermann Trophy is annually awarded here
1.6.2017--2016 MAC Hermann Award--Christen Press (center) of the U.S. women鈥檚 national team and a 2010 winner of the MAC Hermann Trophy, with 2016 honorees Kadeisha Buchanan and Ian Harkes. Photo by Joe Angeles/WUSTL Photos
Soccer's version of the Heisman Trophy, the Hermann Trophy, is awarded through the Missouri Athletic Club, and presented at the club in 最新杏吧原创 every year.
The top NCAA Division I women's and men's soccer player receives the trophy. Previous awardees include players who went on to be on the national roster, including Americans Christen Press, Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly, Michelle Akers and Tisha Venturini; and Canadian Christine Sinclair; men who went on to the national team include Alexi Lalas and Al Trost.
The award is the result of a merge of previous awards for soccer players given by Robert R. Hermann and the club.听
Youth and high school soccer thrive here
CBC players Nolan Deweese (15), Tyler McAllister (12) Bryce Starzyk (7) rush to celebrate with teammates Connor Lonero (5) and Cameron Meyer after the Cadets' win in penalty kicks over Rockhurst in the Class 4 state championship on Saturday, November 12, 2016 at Soccer Park in Fenton, Mo. Paul Kopsky,
From the soccer program at Christian Brothers College High School, which was inducted into the Missouri sports Hall of Fame this year, to the myriad youth clubs, hundreds of children and teens play soccer in 最新杏吧原创.
Some of those players grow up to play for the U.S. national teams, including聽Ruth Harker, a goalkeeper for the University of Missouri-最新杏吧原创. She was named to the first-ever U.S. Women's National Team in 1985, a team that played one game in Italy.听
Other players include:聽Lori Chalupny (Nerinx Hall),聽Kevin Grimes (Rosary),聽Chris Klein (De Smet),聽Pat Noonan (De Smet), Steve Ralston (Oakville), Tim Ream (St. Dominic), Josh Sargent (St. Dominic), Becky Sauerbrunn (Ladue Horton Watkins) and Taylor Twellman (SLUH).
