Aug. 3 (1969)

The foreign-player-laden Kansas City Spurs, who will go on to win the league championship, get a scare from the mostly St. Louis lineup of the St. Louis Stars before prevailing, 3-1, in a North American Soccer League match at Francis Field. With nine St. Louisans in the starting lineup — Don Popovic and Joe Puls are the non-St. Louis starters — the Stars dominate the first half and score just nine minutes after kickoff. Three St. Louisans combine for the opening goal. Future U.S. Soccer Hall of Famer Pat McBride crosses the ball to Johnny Mueller, who passes to Larry Hausmann for the goal. The Stars maintain their lead until the 61st minute. Manfred Seissler, who played five seasons with first- and second-division teams in West Germany before taking his talents to the United States in 1967, scores on a header. His goal opens the flood gates. Uruguayan Pepe Fernandez, the league’s second-leading scorer with 29 goals the previous season, notches the go-ahead goal in the 72nd minute. Peruvian Jorge Benitez adds an insurance goal in the 78th minute. “We just kind of fell apart,” Hausmann tells St. Louis Post-Dispatch sportswriter Jeff Meyers. “I don’t know what you can pin it on. We tried. We gave it all we had.” The 1969 season is one of the stranger chapters in U.S. Soccer history. Near death with its teams hemorrhaging money, the NASL contracts to five franchises for 1969 and splits the season in two. In the first half, foreign teams represent the NASL’s cities in what is billed as the International Cup. England’s Wolverhampton Wanderers take the field for Kansas City and win the cup with a 6-2-0 record. Scotland’s Kilmarnock FC represents St. Louis and finishes last. The NASL’s regular players return for a 16-game second half with no playoffs. The Spurs’ regulars will compile a 10-4-2 record to finish first. The Stars will struggle to a fourth-place finish with a 3-2-11 record.