On Tuesday we will finally get the announcement of what has been all but confirmed for quite some time now. Especially after the meetings and words of Don Garber during MLS All-Star Weekend and the All-Star Game itself. There will finally be the confirmation of the MLS in St Louis with a new franchise coming to town. The new team has garnered much excitement throughout the Gateway City. However, what many would not have expected is the criticism that has come for some recent revelations regarding the future team itself.
The fact is that, if the reports are to be believed, the MLS team will not be called St. Louis FC.
What the new team will be called is yet to be seen, but that’s not the point. We are having our team stripped away from us, and it is being greeted by the screeching cheers of thousands.
The facts of all that is going to happen are murky to say the least. It was first reported that the MLS team will not be St. Louis FC by Martin Kilcoyne of FOX 2. He stated that he was “told #MLS4THELOU team name will NOT be St. Louis FC.” This prompted a very well respected local St. Louis FC reporter to quote the tweet and respond by saying “I’m officially livid.”
I did that because I am livid.
I’m livid because for five years, I have fallen in love with a club that stood for something. I fell in love with club that reached out to the fans and created a great matchday experience for all in attendance. Both those that came to support the home team and those that traveled to support their team. But for the most part, I fell in love with a club that I felt a real connection to.
Will the MLS team make the same attempts to reach the community? I’m sure that it will. But that doesn’t mean that stripping this town of the team that has already established a foothold is a good thing. That means that, essentially, St. Louis FC’s existence will have only been a reality to give us something to watch while we waited for the inevitability of MLS coming to town, and I, for one, find that insulting. There are people that have fallen for this club far more than I have, getting the badge tattooed on their person, pouring hundreds of their hard earned dollars into something that is a placeholder.
Why is it that the supporters of FC Cincinnati, Orlando City, Minnesota United and so many other teams get to see their team go to the big stage and keep their identity, while we don’t? I am well aware that there have to be at least some changes, but there is no reason to forget the existence of St. Louis FC. Hopefully the roots of what has already been planted will still be visible in MLS, but that remains to be seen.
It also must be stated that there is one other possibility that hasn’t been mentioned, that being the possibility of St. Louis FC continuing its existence in USL as a sort of feeder team to the new MLS franchise. This could be similar to what is done in Kansas City between Swope Park Rangers or as they do it in Washington with Loudoun United. This hasn’t been briefed to me, but in an interview with Brenden Wiese, Bill McDermott said that St. Louis FC is “not going anywhere.” What that means remains to be seen, but there are few-to-no more reliable people in St. Louis soccer media than Mr. Soccer himself, so I will trust that he knows what he is talking about.
However St. Louis FC lives on, I am going to put it on record that STLFC will always be my local club. I simply cannot envision myself supporting a St. Louis based team that isn’t St. Louis FC, be that in USL, MLS or whatever league that may be.
If St. Louis FC becomes the MLS team, that’s great.
If St. Louis FC doesn’t become the MLS team and plays in USL after the new franchise begins play, I’ll support St. Louis FC.
If St. Louis FC isn’t the MLS team and they don’t play in USL, I cannot see myself supporting the new team.
Will I cover the MLS games? If I am lucky enough to be in a position to do so, absolutely.
Does this make me a poor fan? Perhaps it does in the eyes of some, but I simply cannot see it that way. This isn’t a Wimbledon situation where the club is stolen away and we build from the bottom. That isn’t possible in the current American soccer climate. Our club is being stolen away and we won’t be able to earn it back. Maybe this is an apocalyptic view on things, but I couldn’t sit back and hope that would be the case.
So, if St. Louis FC does disintegrate when big Don Garber comes to town, I simply cannot see myself bowing down and kissing the ring. I want my club, the club that we all fell in love with. I know I’m in the minority here, but my voice on the matter has to be heard. Quite simply, I cannot change my allegiances. I hope that I am able to fall for the MLS team, but I foresee that being a difficult task.
Perhaps the best way to sum up my feelings on the subject are echoed in the words of Eric Cantona. “You can change your wife, your politics, your religion, but never, never can you change your favorite football team.”
