A “Soccer Made in St. Louis” Celebration: Interview with Author Dave Lange

On Wednesday evening, local soccer in St. Louis, and in essence, the growth of the game in the United States, was celebrated at the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park.  The event centered around the publication of Dave Lange’s beautiful new book, “Soccer Made in St. Louis” (see review).  A wonderful group of important individuals in the history and development of the beautiful game in our country were in attendance, all with local roots. Those included USSF Secretary General and CEO Dan Flynn, US Hall of Fame players Pat McBride and Al Trost, USWNT Lori Chalupny, former NASL and MISL player and PDL St. Louis Lions owner/coach Tony Glavin, who came to St. Louis for five months and has stayed more than 30 years, Mr. St. Louis Soccer Bill McDermott and those two venerable gentlemen who led the USMNT to the great upset of England in the 1950 World Cup, captain Harry Keough and goalkeeper Frank Borghi.

Also present were pioneers in the women’s game, including Ruth Harker of the first USWNT and twins Joan and Jan Gettemeyer, who were stars on the first University of Missouri-St. Louis women’s soccer team. The sport was so new at the university that the players wore field hockey uniforms, but that didn’t stop the squad led by the twin sisters from having a perfect record in 1980 followed by a 16-0-0 record in 1981 that took the squad to the first AIAW women’s collegiate tournament, where UMSL finished fourth, with Anson Dorrance and his UNC Lady Tar Heels winning the tournament.

Click “read more” for the Dave Lange interview

A panel discussion led by McDermott that included Flynn, McBride, Trost, Glavin and Chalupny talked about the game’s past, present and future, and various dignitaries in the crowd were recognized.  Opportunities to get autographs and speak with the panelists and others in the audience, such as former US international Ty Keough and long-time successful Florissant Valley Community College coach Pete Sorber (father of US international and USMNT assistant coach Mike Sorber), made for a fun evening. So much soccer talent and wisdom were in the room that just breathing in the atmosphere seemed to give one greater expertise on the game we love. And most striking, among all these individuals that I had the pleasure to talk to, was not only their humility about their accomplishments but their sense of humor and joy.

Before the gala, author Dave Lange shared with IMSoccer News readers his purpose in writing the story of St. Louis soccer and his thoughts about the role of his native city in the development of the game in the U.S.

IMS:  What was the inspiration for writing Soccer Made in St. Louis?

Dave:  First of all, there has never been an in-depth history of soccer in St. Louis available to the general public. As the sport has grown in the last 30 years and more areas of the country, consciously or not, modeled the St. Louis youth development system in place since the 1890s, the key role of St. Louis in the evolution of U.S. soccer has faded. So it was important to put the story of St. Louis soccer in writing, on the public record. Secondly, it was important to get the recollections of St. Louis soccer people before it was too late. For example, Msgr. Louis Meyer was pivotal in Catholic youth soccer developing an early form of select soccer, for opening the sport to girls, and for getting corporate sponsorship from major players such as Anheuser-Busch, Pepsi and Coke. I had two long interviews with him before he passed away last May.

IMS:  When did you begin the project? Do you have any idea how many hours you put in doing research, interviews and actually writing the book?

Dave:   The project began in 2006 as a writing-by-committee effort. Different sections of the book were assigned to different people. That didn’t work out, and in October 2009, the publisher, Reedy Press, asked me to take on the project. The timing was right in that I had retired from Anheuser-Busch in December 2008. From October 2009, the book became almost a full-time job with interviews, research, writing, fact-checking, proofreading, and promotion, continuing right up to the present and into the foreseeable future as the book sales begin.

IMS:  If you had to choose only one individual, who would you pick as most responsible for growing St. Louis as a soccer town?

Dave:   That’s really impossible to answer. Remember, the sport in St. Louis goes back to at least the 1870s, and during each generation a new wave of players, coaches and administrators came on the scene to push the sport to the next level. Thirty-eight guys who are from St. Louis or who spent parts of their careers in St. Louis are in the U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame, and St. Louis teams have won 89 national titles (Open, Amateur and Junior Cups, and NCAA, NAIA and NJCAA championships). In the beginning, the Catholic clergy pushed soccer into the large network of Catholic parishes, leading St. Louis to become the only city in the country to develop generation after generation of top-quality, native-born players. From 1900 until the mid-1920s, Tom Cahill, who grew up in St. Louis, brought an English team to the U.S. (and St. Louis) to play exhibitions that raised interest and participation, helped start what became the U.S. Soccer Federation, sent the first “U.S. national teams” overseas in the late 1910s, and started the American Soccer League in the 1920s. In the 1940s, St. Louisan Walter Giesler headed the federation and was responsible for selecting the U.S. team that beat England in the 1950 World Cup. In the 1950s through the 1970s, Bob Guelker and Harry Keough were instrumental. Bob started soccer at St. Louis U. and SIU-Edwardsville, both national powers, and won seven NCAA titles, as well as coaching the Olympic team, heading the U.S. Soccer Federation, and bringing foreign coaches such as Dettmar Cramer to town to conduct clinics. Harry played on the 1950 U.S. team, and was essentially the player-coach of Kutis, which won six consecutive U.S. Amateur Cups and pulled “the double” (U.S. Open and Amateur Cups) in 1957, the last team to do so. Harry followed Bob at St. Louis U. and led them to five NCAA titles.

In the 1980s, Denny Long, the No. 2 executive at Anheuser-Busch, directed the company to become the biggest local and national sponsor of soccer. Those close to Anheuser-Busch and the soccer federation credit Anheuser-Busch’s financial backing for saving the U.S. Soccer Federation from insolvency in the late 1980s. Even today, St. Louis continues to turn out great players such as Taylor Twellman and Steve Ralston, who both retired in 2010; Lori Chalupny and Becky Sauerbrunn, both USWNT players in recent years; Tim Ream, who was just named to the USMNT for upcoming friendlies; and Brad Davis in MLS. And the No. 2 guy in U.S. Soccer, Dan Flynn, is a St. Louisan.

IMS:   Who were some of your favorite players in the old NASL, either with the Stars or other teams?

Dave:  It begins and ends with two guys: Pat McBride and Al Trost, both center midfielders. I was fortunate enough to see both of them. Pat was a non-stop, two-way player who was equally adept at scoring goals and setting them up. Shep Messing, the great goalkeeper for the New York Cosmos, says that Al was the first midfield player Shep saw who could dominate a game. In a league that was heavily foreign, both Pat and Al were three-time all-NASL selections. Both are in the U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame.

IMS:  After time for  research and reflection, what caused the demise of the St. Louis Athletica and AC St. Louis clubs in 2010?

Dave:  Boy, that’s a long story, but it comes down to lack of money: lack of money to operate and market the teams, and lack of money to upgrade the existing stadium or build a new stadium. As Dan Flynn, the CEO and general secretary of U.S. Soccer, says in the book, “St. Louis’s challenge is from the top.” Jeff Cooper tried awfully hard, and for that he deserves a great deal of credit. MLS, NASL and WPS just became too expensive for the financial resources that were available. St. Louis needs a person, a group or an organization with the passion and the money to build a stadium and to put MLS and WPS in that stadium.

IMS:  Are there any particular teams in the U.S. or abroad that you root for?

Dave:   I follow the Houston Dynamo because of Brad Davis and Will Bruin, both St. Louis guys. I watch Atlanta and magicJack in WPS because ex-Athletica players I knew a little bit in St. Louis are playing on those teams. Internationally, I follow Manchester United and Liverpool. We saw them play other teams during a trip to England in August 2009 and the atmosphere, especially at Anfield, is incredible.

Dave’s “Soccer Made in St. Louis” is very well-written history with great graphics and contains interesting old photographs that would appeal not only to soccer buffs but those interested in history too.  It is available through Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble and you can visit Dave’s online site for the book here.