Stix, Baer and Fuller F.C.

Stix, Baer and Fuller F.C. was a U.S. soccer club which played in the St. Louis Soccer League from 1931 to 1934. During its short existence, it won two U.S. Open Cup titles and two league championships.

History

In 1931, Hellrungs of the St. Louis Soccer League (SLSL) came under new sponsorship from the Stix, Baer and Fuller, one of the largest St. Louis department stores. Hellrungs had finished the 1930-1931 season third out of four teams in the SLSL. Stix, Baer and Fuller (SBF) would not improve on Hellrungs’ performance, finishing third in the 1931-1932 standings. However, they found considerable success on the national level as they went to the U.S. Open Cup finals. In the semifinal series, they won the first game against Chicago's Bricklayers and Masons F.C. 3-1, before losing 2-0 the second game. As the series was tied, the two teams played a deciding game, won by SBF 1-0. In the Open Cup finals, SBF ran up against the New Bedford Whalers of the American Soccer League. Whalers was stocked with future Hall of Famers. Despite that, SBF played them to a 3-3 tie in St. Louis before losing 5-2 in the second game, both played in St. Louis. ^{[http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/year/1932.html]} The Whalers folded after the Open Cup series and five of its players moved west to join SBF.

Bolstered by the influx of talent, SBF ran to the top of the table in the 1932-1933 SLSL season. They also won the Open Cup with two victories, 1-0 and 2-1, against the New York Americans. SBF then went on to play the Toronto Scottish in the “North American Soccer Championship” and occasional game which pitted the U.S. Open Cup and Canadian championship teams. Toronto won the game 2-1 despite a goal for SBF from Billy Gonsalves. ^{[http://soccer.loop48.com/modules.php?name=News&file=print&sid=2534]}

SBF continued both its league and Open Cup success in the1933-1934 season. They finished at the top of the SLSL table and won the Open Cup over the Pawtucket Rangers in three games, a 4-2 victory, 2-3 loss and a 5-0 third game.

Following their Open Cup victory, the team again changed sponsorship, this time to Central Breweries.

Record

Honors

U.S. Open Cup:* Winner (2): 1933, 1934:* Runner Up (1): 1932

League Championship:* Winner (2): 1933, 1934

Notable players

* Billy Gonsalves
* William Lehman
* Alex McNab
* Willie McLean

External links

* [http://www.ussoccer.com/common/stContent.jsp_87-LAllTime.html Open Cup champions by year]