American soccer writing, history & data.
After a financially dismal 1913-14 season, both professional soccer leagues in St. Louis began moves towards peace. Each league had two strong teams and two weak teams. The common wisdom was to create a peace plan where the leagues would be reorganized into one league with the two best teams from each current league joining. To help its situation the Athletic Park league needed to acquire a lea...
During the offseason after the 1912-13 season, Bill Klosterman returned as manager of St. Leo's. In mid-September of 1913, Klosterman reorganized the St. Louis Soccer Football League, under the direction of Tim Cavanaugh, owner of Athleic Park, who allied himself with Klosterman after the disruption last winter and refused to allow the SLSFL managers from the prior season to renew their lease on t...
Internal problems during prior season continued to build during the 1912-13 St. Louis Soccer Football League season. Prior to the start of the season, the four managers could not agree on a venue for the coming season. Willie Foley of the Innisfails and Billy Klosterman of St. Leo's voted to stay at Athletic Park but "King" Finnegan of Columbus Club and Ed Houlihan of the Irish-Americans voted to ...
The Blue Bells withdrew and were replaced by the Irish-American A.C. prior to the 1911-12 St. Louis Football League season. Dr. Alexander Murray was again re-elected president of the league - a position he had held since the SLSFL's organization. The league paid its players on the cooperative plan with the winning squad receiving 60% of the gate receipts and the losers 40%. Each player received...
Prior to the St. Louis Soccer Football League 1910-11 season, Phil Riley, manager of St. Teresa's, changed the name of the team to the Grand-Athletic Soccer Football Club. But, two weeks before the start of the season, internal strife led to the league officially dropping the Grand Athletics from membership. The Columbus Club, representing a team of Knights of Columbus players and managed by John ...
The St. Louis Soccer League continued as the top professional league in St. Louis for the 1909-10 season. The four teams remained the same from the prior season with only a couple of minor changes. The Thistles were renamed the Blue Bells and the West Ends, managed by Dan Broderick, became a new Innisfails team. St. Teresa's almost withdrew from the league in late January due to manager Phil Riley...
The old Association Football League of St. Louis disbanded following the 1907-08 season. City champions, St. Leo's, jumped from that league to the professional St. Louis Soccer Football League. Both of these changed made the SLSFL the top soccer league in St. Louis. In the offseason, Thomas Cahill left the SLSFL and helped organize another professional league, the St. Louis Soccer League. Innis...
St. Louis did not have a fully professional league during the 1906-07 season. The St. Louis Soccer Football League was organized for the 1907-08 to fill that void. Dr. Alexander Murray was elected president and Thomas Cahill was secretary of the new league. Cahill did not desire peace with the top league at that team, the Association Football League of St. Louis, and was no shy in inducing players...
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