St. Leo's (soccer team)

St. Leo’s was a U.S. soccer team based in St. Louis, Missouri. It was founded in 1903 as a member of the St. Louis Association Football League before moving to the St. Louis Soccer League in 1908. It was one of the first fully professional soccer teams in the U.S. and dominated the St. Louis soccer scene for over a decade.

History

Original team

St. Leo’s began in 1903 as a recreational team for the St. Leo’s Sodality, a Catholic men’s organization. It competed in the newly established Association Football League, but saw little success for its first few years of existence. Only after the team opened itself to players from outside of the Sodality did it begin its meteoric rise to success. In 1906, it won its first of three consecutive AFL titles. Following its 1908 championship, the AFL merged with the St. Louis Soccer League which had been established the year before. St. Leo’s quickly asserted its dominance as the only fully professional team in the new league. It ran off a string of five championships. By 1910, frustrations at St. Leo’s success began to surface among the league’s other teams. This led to a movement to make the SLSL and entirely amateur league. This controversy became so heated during the 1911-1912 season that St. Leo’s withdrew from the league during the end of the season. Despite not playing several games, it still won the league title. The team re-entered the SLSL for the 1912-1913 season, but the resentment at its success could no longer be contained and the SLSL split in 1913 into two leagues, the fully professional Federal Park League and the amateur Robison Field League. [ [http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/year/1913.html The Year in American Soccer - 1913] ] St. Leo’s took both Federal Park League titles, but in 1915, they fell to Innisfails in a combined league title game. That summer, the two leagues merged to form a renewed SLSL. [ [http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/year/1915.html The Year in American Soccer - 1915] ] This episode did not serve St. Leo’s long term interests as it brought Ben Millers into the top level of St. Louis soccer. Ben Millers quickly established themselves as the dominant team and St. Leo’s and Innisfails found themselves fighting for second place. In 1918, St. Leo’s Catholic Church withdrew its sponsorship from the team and the team gained the sponsorship of St. Louis Screws.

econd team

St. Leo's may have begun sponsoring a new team, as a St. Leo's, from St. Louis, entered the 1922 National Challenge Cup. As this team was not in the St. Louis Soccer League, it most probably competed in one of the lower division city leagues. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9800E4DF1F39EF3ABC4B51DFB6678389639EDE&oref=slogin October 23, 1922 New York Times] ]

National competition

During the early decades of the twentieth century, U.S. soccer was a largely regional sport. However, in 1911 the top St. Louis and east coast teams met in a round robin tournament to crown the U.S. soccer champions. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9A03E0DA1231E233A25756C2A9649D946096D6CF 1911 New York Times] ] This round robin tournament is barely documented, but from various sources, it seems that on December 29, 1912, St. Leo’s defeated West Hudson A.A. to clinch the title as U.S. soccer champions. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9403E7D9103CE633A25753C3A9649D946396D6CF December 29, 1912 New York Times] ]

Record

External links

* [http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/slsl.html St. Louis Soccer League standings]
* [http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/saintlouis.html History of Soccer in St. Louis]
* [http://books.google.com/books?id=wLhMNojXtMkC&pg=PA55&lpg=PA55&dq=soccer+%22st+leo's%22&source=web&ots=aFUJhiz_vh&sig=Z1XyyQlsshLpUetQlNUtDXYiRf4#PPA55,M1 Photo of Billy Kane – St. Leo’s 1909-1911]
* [http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9F02E4DA133AE633A25757C2A9659C946396D6CF&oref=slogin Account of March 1912 exhibition tie with Fall River Rovers. Includes team line up]

References