Steve Pecher

Infobox Football biography
playername= Steve Pecher


fullname = Steve Pecher
nickname =
dateofbirth =
cityofbirth = St. Louis, Missouri
countryofbirth = United States
height = height|ft=6|in=0
currentclub = Retired
clubnumber =
position = Defender
youthyears = 1975-1976
youthclubs = Florissant Valley Community College
years = 1976-1980
1979-1986
1986-1988
clubs = Dallas Tornado
St. Louis Steamers "(indoor)"
Los Angeles Lazers "(indoor)"
caps(goals) = 139 (7)
nationalyears = 1976-1980
nationalteam = United States
nationalcaps(goals) = 017 (0)
pcupdate = 17:47, 24 February 2007 (UTC)
ntupdate = 7 December 2006

Steve Pecher (born St. Louis, Missouri) is a retired U.S. soccer defender who is currently the Director of the St. Louis/Busch Soccer Club.

Youth and college

Pecher began playing soccer with the youth club, Florissant Cougers, then with his high school team at Normandy High School in St. Louis. He was part of the team which took the Missouri state championship in 1974, his senior year. He was also All State both his junior and senior years. The next year attended Florissant Valley Community College where he played on the national junior college championship team in 1975. He was a junior college All American both years at Florissant.

NASL

In 1976, the Dallas Tornado of the North American Soccer League (NASL) signed Pecher. That season he was named the 1976 NASL Rookie of the Year. He remained with the club through the 1980 season.

MISL

By 1980, Pecher had begun a transition to indoor soccer when he joined the St. Louis Steamers of Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) for the 1979-1980 season. He would remain with the Steamers until they traded him in 1986 to the Los Angeles Lazers (MISL). He was an MISL All Star in 1980 while with the Steamers.

National team

Pecher earned 17 caps with the U.S. national team form 1976 to 1980. He made his first appearance with the national team in a September 24, 1976 tie with Canada. He played his last game with the U.S. national team in a November 9, 1980 loss to Mexico.

Post-playing career

After retiring from playing, Pecher joined Marriot where he became the director of retail sales. In September 2002, he was hired as the Director of the St. Louis/Busch Soccer Club. He had spent time with the team as a coach and continues to coach the younger age girls teams.

External links

* [http://www.stlsoccer.net/cgi-bin/webdata_pro.pl?_cgifunction=form&_layout=znews&keyval=znews.znew_id=70 Interview with Pecher]
* [http://members.fortunecity.com/lori19/golden.html Article on Pecher’s MISL penalty minutes problems]