January 9 (1934)

The St. Louis-Star Times reports that the St. Louis Municipal Soccer League, more popularly known as the Muny League, has drawn as many as 10,000 fans for individual games for the 1933-34 season so far. The Muny is an amateur league that charges no admission to its regular-season games, making them attractive to cash-strapped soccer fans during the Depression, when the U.S. unemployment rate soared to 24.9 percent in 1933. By  comparison, attendance suffers at games played by the professional St. Louis League, which charges admission. Founded in 1912, the Muny League is the first fully organized amateur soccer league in St. Louis. While there were other amateur leagues in St. Louis as far back as 1884, they had no overall coordination or appeals board. Motivated by a letter from Rev. Peter J. Dooley, a local Catholic parish priest, St. Louis Park Commissioner Dwight Davis (founder of the Davis Cup tennis competition) directs his athletics playground director, Rudy Abeken, to meet with Dooley. Their conversation leads to an organizational meeting at the Municipal Courts Bulding on Oct. 25, 1912. By-laws and an executive committee are set up, and provisions are made for the city to maintain fields for the new league at O’Fallon, Fairground and Forest Parks. Play begins later in 1912. The Aldines win the first Muny League championship before 7,000 fans at Fairground Park on March 23, 1913. The league is a staple of St. Louis soccer until it disbands in 1957.