{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"130: St. Louis: The Original Soccer City USA \u2013 With Dave Lange","description":"On August 20, 2019, the city of St. Louis, MO was officially awarded the 28th franchise in Major League Soccer, with an anticipated inaugural season beginning in 2022.&amp;nbsp; And while the club begins its efforts to get its team name, new downtown stadium and initial soccer operations in place, we take some time this week to reflect on the city\u2019s deep and rich soccer history \u2013 perhaps unmatched by any locale in the United States. Dave Lange (Soccer Made in St. Louis: A History of the Game in America\u2019s First Soccer Capital) joins the \u2018cast to trace the undeniably symbiotic relationship between the Gateway City and the Beautiful Game \u2013 as well as its impact on the development of the sport (especially professionally) across America. As we root for the new St. Louis MLS team (our name suggestion: Gateway FC!) to meaningfully recognize and incorporate this important past, Lange helps tide us over in the interim as he discusses:  The St. Louis transplant who help launch both the USA\u2019s first governing body for the sport, as well as its first professional league (the American Soccer League) during the Roaring Twenties; The deep-rooted amateur, scholastic and collegiate landscape that kept the city at the center of the nation\u2019s soccer development (including occasional US national team flashes of brilliance); The seminal, but oft-forgotten St. Louis Stars of the 1967 NPSL and 1968-77 NASL; How \u201csoc-hoc\u201d evolved into a professional indoor soccer explosion in the 1980s &amp;amp; 90s with St. Louis (Steamers, Storm, Ambush) as its epicenter; AND The \u201cinvisible hand\u201d of Anheuser Busch executive Denny Long.  PLUS:&amp;nbsp; There \u201cAin\u2019t No Stoppin\u2019\u201d our tribute to the MISL\u2019s iconic St. Louis Steamers! ","author_name":"Good Seats Still Available","author_url":"https:\/\/goodseatsstillavailable.com","html":"<iframe title=\"Libsyn Player\" style=\"border: none\" src=\"\/\/html5-player.libsyn.com\/embed\/episode\/id\/11228690\/height\/90\/theme\/custom\/thumbnail\/yes\/direction\/forward\/render-playlist\/no\/custom-color\/aa0926\/\" height=\"90\" width=\"600\" scrolling=\"no\"  allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen><\/iframe>","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/assets.libsyn.com\/secure\/content\/52118396"}