‘A badge of pride’ - How St. Louis helped build American soccer as CITY SC chase U.S. Open Cup glory against Columbus Crew

When the sport of soccer first arrived in St. Louis in 1875, it only vaguely resembled the sport we know. But every story starts somewhere, and St. Louis soccer began over 150 years ago with a game between the Blondes and the Brunettes. It was a game played for charity, and it was the start of a connection between sport and community that has never quite been broken.

The game's evolution came via the Catholic church. As the 19th century moved towards the 20th, local parishes used soccer to help unite their communities, which were filled with immigrants from all over Europe. Soccer, then, became something part of both the cultural and religious fabric of the city. The first league began in 1893.

"Men would play, and they'd teach it to their kids, and they would grow up and teach it to their kids," Lange says. "It went on and on, generation after generation, becoming a fabric of growing up in St. Louis. That was what separated St. Louis from other cities."

Decades later, the system remained strong. In fact, it only got stronger. As local leagues and teams became more entrenched in the community, the cultural element of the sport became more intertwined in the city. Soccer simply became a thing people in St. Louis did, not because they had to, but because they wanted to be the latest to be a part of it.

"That was the sport to play," says Jeff Robben, former goalkeeper and a member of the St. Louis Soccer Hall of Fame. "Of course, we had baseball and basketball, but soccer was the sport of the middle class. It was relatively inexpensive for parents to have their kids play, and I think there was a certain element of the history of St. Louis soccer. Even at a grade school level, we had heard the stories and were familiar with a lot of the history prior to that."

The history spoke for itself and, to this day, it's still debated. Modern stars Tim Ream, Josh Sargent, Becky Sauerbrunn and Lori Chalupny have become local icons, but how would they fare back in the day? How good were Brian McBride, Taylor Twellman or Mike Sorber? What about the five St. Louis products that were on the field representing the U.S. men's national team for the famous 1950 miracle on grass? The debates are spirited, but also contested with a sense of pride. So, too, are the rivalries.

The fiercest rivalry came from within: North vs. South. The battles remain legendary. Yet there was never hatred or scorn. Everyone was representing St. Louis, after all.

"There were natural rivalries growing up playing with guys, but also playing against guys," says Hall of Famer Joe Olwig, a former player and coach who has his fingerprints all over the city's soccer history. "The next step was high school, and now you're playing with guys that you played against and were rivals with, but now you're teammates, and now you're brothers, best friends, to this day. It just really lent itself to a very competitive situation. Growing up, playing with guys, playing against guys, you're competitively growing within the game."

For much of the city's soccer history, every kid playing in those rivalries had the same goal: to reach the college level, which would allow them to take their battles to a bigger arena.

There's a story Bill McDermott likes to tell about his college soccer career. It came years before he became the voice of the sport in the city, earning himself the nickname of "Mr. Soccer" from those around St. Louis. As he begins his story, those seated around him at the 1-2-3 Club groan and laugh. They've heard it before.

McDermott begins to detail his midfield partnership with the legendary Al Trost. The two played together at the height of Saint Louis University's dominance, lifting NCAA titles together. While Trost went on to become a National Soccer Hall of Famer with 14 USMNT caps, McDermott went into broadcasting. There's a reason why.

"I have to tell you about my injury," he says, setting off the aforementioned groans. "It was my back."

After a slight, but solemn pause, McDermott looks up and finishes the story with his punchline.

"It gave out on me from carrying Al Trost all over the field!"

Both McDermott and Lange emphasize how much talent St. Louis was producing at its peak, back injuries notwithstanding. It was so much talent, in fact, that programs from far outside the city began recruiting in St. Louis before that was such a big thing. Michigan State and Indiana were frequently involved. At one point, UConn coach Joe Morrone, so the story goes, arrived in the city and offered an entire high school team the opportunity to come play for him out in Connecticut.

For most kids, there was no need and no desire. College soccer in St. Louis was the pinnacle.

Saint Louis University remains the most decorated program in NCAA Division I men's soccer, with 10 national titles - two more than second-place Indiana. All 10 of those titles were won between 1959 and 1973, with Trost and McDermott playing a part in that era of unprecedented dominance. For those years, while the NASL was making waves in professional soccer, Missouri was the hotbed of the amateur game.

The Billikens weren't alone, though. SIU Edwardsville was just 20 miles up the road. They won the title in 1979. The University of Missouri–St. Louis won an NCAA title in 1973. St. Louis Community College–Florissant Valley had their moments, as did Quincy University. The foundations of those teams were all built on local talent, and there was enough of it, particularly in the 60s and 70s, for multiple teams in the city to dominate.

"It wasn't the intention just to play for a specific school, but just to play at the college level," Lange says, "because there are plenty of colleges who wanted St. Louis guys. If you were a decent or a good St. Louis player, you had a really good chance to play for a high-level college team."

Years before publishing his books chronicling St. Louis' soccer history, Lange himself had a front-row seat to one of the biggest games in the sport's history. In 1973, SIU Edwardsville was first in the nation, unbeaten with no goals conceded. They played St. Louis University, then second in the nation. The game was played at Busch Stadium, home of the St. Louis Cardinals. Over 20,000 people showed up to watch.

"The New York Times is there, Sports Illustrated is there, and almost every player in that field was a St. Louis guy," Lange recalls. "That was the moment, I think, that really struck me at how important the sport is in St. Louis and how important St. Louis is to the sport on the national level. Seeing all those guys and all those people there to support them was really an eye-opener. For me, that was the moment that really imparted that sense of the importance of St. Louis to the sport."

Games like that support Lange's belief. So, too, do all of the national team players who have emerged from the city. There was no shortage of on-field moments, though, that have defined St. Louis' soccer importance, particularly in the tournament they now hope to win again this week after nearly forty years.

While Wednesday's battle with the Columbus Crew will be St. Louis City SC's first chance to win the U.S. Open Cup, success in that tournament is nothing new to the city. It is something, though, that disappeared for generations. The hope is that it can return this week.

The city of St. Louis has seen 10 U.S. Open Cup titles, trailing only New York City in the competition's long history. A total of six different clubs have claimed those titles. There were Stix, Baer and Fuller / St. Louis Central Breweries winning thrice in the 1930s after Ben Millers and Scullin Steel each claimed a trophy in the 1920s. St. Louis Simpkins Ford won two titles, as did St. Louis Kutis SC. The most recent win came in 1988 when the St. Louis Busch Seniors triumphed in the finale against Greek-American A.C. in extra time.

Robben was the goalkeeper on that team. Olwig was his coach. Both remember that day fondly. They remember the emotions when they went behind. They also remember the euphoria of the equalizer, scored by Pat Olwig in the 71st minute, and the winner in extra time.

"The fact that we were able to get the equalizer and give ourselves a chance, thanks to Jeff here," Olwig says. "He kept us in the game."

At that point in American soccer history, the U.S. Open Cup was the pinnacle. The NASL had folded. MLS was still years away from its arrival. For American soccer players, that tournament was the best place to test yourself, and it wasn't easy. Just finding a team was, at times, a hurdle.

"It was always, 'Hey, where are we playing? What team am I going to be on this year? Who am I playing with?'," Robben recalls. "Obviously, the Amateur and the Open Cup were two of the tournaments that we really were focusing on, but it wasn't like, 'Let's try to win it'. First things first, do we have enough guys for a team? Are we in the league yet? When are the games? Where are they?

"Then it progressed from there to 'Hey, we've got a really good team here, and this team could probably compete'. Without the NASL, there was a chasm, but for us, we were just filling it with what we knew."

The path through the U.S. Open Cup was gruelling, largely because any team would first have to escape the Midwest. Just getting out of Missouri was tough for any one particular team because, again, local talent shone through. When you did, though, you'd eventually work your way east or west.

"Both coasts had a lot of former professional players," Olwig says, "and maybe not all of them from the NASL, but former professional players from either Europe or elsewhere. Just the gauntlet of getting through those players, at certain times you felt like it was men against boys, but again, it comes back to that teamwork, that camaraderie, that work ethic, that underdog approach that I think a lot of successful St. Louis teams want to embody."

The hope is that, on Wednesday, St. Louis City SC can become the latest team to channel that spirit. The hope is that they can become the latest in a long line of champions and write a new chapter for a city that is finally redefining itself on the highest levels after such a long wait.

Despite the city's history of success at various levels, MLS was never in a rush to arrive in St. Louis. As the league expanded, the situation was never quite right - until it was. St. Louis City SC was founded in 2019, 31 years after the city's last major soccer title.

"I think this run to the Open Cup is so special," Olwig says, "because I think the more the newer soccer fans understand the history of St. Louis soccer, the more passion and more energy we can continue to create."

The club has routinely looked to honor its history. Ahead of the U.S. Open Cup final, Energizer Park played host to a reunion of that 1988 team. In some ways, though, it wasn't much of a reunion at all. Most of the team is still local. They see each other often, which means the stories that define that group are never too far away.

"Jeff and ran into each other a couple of seasons ago at the St. Louis City match," Olwig says, "and it's like we never lost a beat. He's one of the best goalkeepers I've coached and had the good fortune of playing with, but this has been special, and for our team, I think we're very blessed.

"I'm very blessed to have soccer be the common thread to my life. It's given me some of my best friends I've met. The sport of soccer has been very good to my family and to me personally. Whether there was a professional league at that time or not, the love of the game was still so strong."

On any given Monday at the 1-2-3 Club, soccer is part of the agenda. Weeks before the Open Cup final, anticipation is already building. Representatives of other major sports are wearing St. Louis City SC gear and asking about the recent undefeated streak and the big games ahead. Lange answers questions, as does McDermott. Excitement is building. Even those who don't follow the sport as closely have thoughts and hopes for the game.

Might it be the next great chapter in a story full of them? Regardless, the story will go on in one of America's great soccer cities. And those stories will be told and retold for years to come.

"There have always been good players coming out of St. Louis," Langesays, "and I think there's always going to be good players coming out of St. Louis, no matter how far advanced the sport gets in other cities... St. Louis is a place that is always going to have that reputation for turning out great players. It's somewhere you can always go to find them."