If You Build it They will Come

Pro-Soccer Returning to St. Louis
By Roger Cole
Publisher

A famous quote from an equally famous movie (Field of Dreams, 1989, Ray Kinsella) may soon become a reality in the greater St. Louis Metropolitan Area. Thanks, in part to Jeff Cooper and the St. Louis United Soccer LLC, the beautiful game will be returning to our area. Play is scheduled to kick off in April of 2008. Teams will play a 20 game schedule. This time around they are pulling no punches. The team will most likely find its home in its own stadium located of I-255 near Horseshoe Lake Road in Collinsville. Ultimately the Stadium will double as the home to a new MLS franchise. Wheels have been set in motion and details are being worked out. Local Club teams like Metro United of Southern Illinois have joined in the effort by gathering names of supporters through the petition process. The official numbers on these documents has not been released.

St. Louis has long been thought of as the Soccer Capital of the U.S. Support from the soccer community at large will play a huge role in the success of this venture. Recent trends are a good indication of the backing for these teams. The St. Louis Lions and River Cities F.C. – also owned by Jeff Cooper -- are two amateur teams in the area sanctioned by the United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA) as an affiliate of the United States Soccer Federation (USSF), and FIFA. Both teams are achieving great results as they help local St. Louis talent make the transition to the next level.

The new league will begin play with a minimum of Six organizations. The initial members of the new league include:
Jeff Cooper, St. Louis United Soccer LLC - Territory: St. Louis, Mo.; AEG - Territory: Greater Los Angeles, Calif.; John Hendricks, Freedom Soccer LLC - Territory: Washington, D.C.; Soccer Initiative, LLC - Territory: TBD, pending its final decision to select a market; Jack Hanks and Brent Coralli, Dallas Franchise Group - Territory: Greater Dallas area, Texas; and WGLSI, LLC and an additional investor TBD - Territory: Chicago and Bridgeview, Ill..