St. Louis Shamrocks (1935–1938)

The St. Louis Shamrocks were a short lived U.S. soccer team which finished runner up in the 1936 and 1937 U.S. Open Cups.

History

Teams in the St. Louis Soccer League depended on corporate sponsorship. As a result, the teams would frequently change names as their sponsor changed. In 1935, St. Louis Central Breweries F.C., winners of the 1935 U.S. Open Cup and St. Louis Soccer League (SLSL), changed team sponsorship becoming known as St. Louis Shamrocks. However, the core of the team remained and the Shamrocks went to the 1936 and 1937 Open Cup finals, only to fall to the Philadelphia German-Americans and New York Americans, respectively. ^{[http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/usopen.html]} The Shamrocks did not compete in the SLSL but entered Club Lotus, a new St. Louis professional league formed in September 1935. In October 1936, Shamrocks was kicked out of the league and competed as an independent after that. Despite this, in November 1936, Shamrocks played the Club Lotus All Stars in the league all star game. Shamrocks won, 3-0, with one local newspaper writing, "The series was well worth while but it only strengthened the belief that no combination of Pro League players could be put together to give the Shamrocks a real test. Even a bit off form, as the Shamrocks were yesterday, they are far superior to any team the league officials might put on the field.” ^{[http://www.webster.edu/~corbetre/genealogy/dad/soccer-2.html]} In 1938, the Shamrocks folded after several players left the team to sign with St. Patrick. Shamrocks sued for player tampering, but the team collapsed and the remaining players signed with South Side Radio. ^{[http://www.webster.edu/~corbetre/genealogy/dad/soccer-3.html]}

Notable players

* Billy Gonsalves
* William Lehman
* Alex McNab
* Werner Nilsen
* Bert Patenaude

External links

* [http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/saintlouis.html History of Soccer in St. Louis]