St. Louis Lions

Football club infobox |
clubname = St. Louis Lions


fullname = St. Louis Lions Soccer Club
nickname = The Lions
founded = 2006
ground = Tony Glavin Soccer Complex
capacity = 1,000
chairman = flagicon|Scotland Tony Glavin
manager = flagicon|Scotland Tony Glavin
league = USL Premier Development League
season = 2008
position = 4th, Heartland Division

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St. Louis Lions are an American soccer team, founded in 2006. The team is a member of the United Soccer Leagues Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, and plays in the Heartland Division of the Central Conference against teams from Boulder, Des Moines, Kansas City, Springfield and Thunder Bay.

The Lions currently play their home games at the Tony Glavin Soccer Complex in the city of Cottleville, Missouri, 32 miles west of downtown St. Louis. The team's colors are green and white.

The club also fields a team in the USL’s Super-20 League, a league for players 17 to 20 years of age run under the United Soccer Leagues umbrella.

2008 Roster

Year-by-year

Competition History

The St. Louis Lions entered the PDL in 2006 under the leadership of Scottish-born former professional Tony Glavin, who played for Queen's Park in Scotland in the 1980s and for the old St. Louis Steamers in the Major Indoor Soccer League. The first couple of games were difficult for the Lions, as they struggled to find their feet in the PDL. They lost their opening fixture 2-0 to Des Moines Menace, and despite a come-from-behind 3-2 win over Sioux Falls Spitfire, finished their first month in competition with just four points on the board. However, the 0-0 tie with Colorado Springs Blizzard on May 28th initiated an astonishing 12-game unbeaten streak which stretched to the end of the season. The Lions were rampant, tallying several impressive victories (3-0 over West Michigan Edge, 5-1 over Cleveland Internationals), and keeping their home at the Tony Glavin Complex a fortress. Despite this, the Lions just failed to make the playoffs, beaten into fourth place in the Heartland Division by their strong opponents -but nevertheless, 7 wins and 27 points in their debut season was a promising beginning for the franchise. Strikers Lawrence Olum and Tommy Heinemann were the top scorers with 17 goals between them.

The 2007 season was better still for the Lions, as they made the playoffs for the first time, at the second attempt. The Lions were certainly one of the more entertaning teams in the division, going through the entire season without a single tie: wins included a several high-scoring encounters with Springfield Demize, an impressive 4-1 road victory over Thunder Bay Chill that featured a hat trick from Tommy Heinemann, a see-sawing 4-3 win over Indiana Invaders at the beginning of July, and a devastating 8-0 demolition of Springfield which saw them secure their playoff spot before the final weekend. The Lions finished the year second in the Heartland behind Thunder Bay, but unfortunately their trip to the post-season was a short one, as they were comprehensively beaten 4-1 by Great Lakes champions Michigan Bucks. Tommy Heinemann was again the Lions' top scorer with 14 goals, while Jarius Holmes tallied 7 assists.

Notable former players

* Lawrence Olum

Coaches

* Tony Glavin 2006-date

tadia

* Tony Glavin Soccer Complex, Cottleville, Missouri 2006-date

Average Attendance

*2008: 377
*2007: 561
*2006: 336

External links

* [http://www.stllions.com St. Louis Lions]