May 28 (1875)

The first known soccer-like game is played in St. Louis at the Grand Avenue Baseball Park (renamed Sportsman’s Park a few years later.) The game matches two teams of lawyers — the Blondes and the Brunettes — with proceeds benefiting the Newsboys Home. The St. Louis Globe-Democrat will devote a 700-word story on the event in the May 29 edition, noting that “there were a goodly number of spectators . . . Among those present were a number of ladies, who followed with interest every movement of the players.” The game is a mix of baseball, rugby and soccer rules. One key feature makes this more of a soccer match than anything else. About one-third of the way into the contest, it is ruled that the ball cannot be handled, which turns the rest of the match into a kicking game. The Blondes win, 4-3, but agree to call the match a draw over confusion about ineligible players used by both teams. It is highly likely that other soccer-like games were played before in St. Louis. For example, the St. Louis Republic advertised a boys’ game to be played on Feb. 7, 1872, but there was no follow-up that the game was played. Therefore, the results of the game on May 28 are the first to be reported in the St. Louis newspapers. Fueled by immigrants from the British Isles, especially Ireland, the game will grow rapidly in St. Louis. Other games will be reported in 1877 and a newspaper will note a crowd of a thousand for a match in 1881. The city’s first soccer league, the Western Association, will form in St. Louis in October 1884. Multiple leagues will operate in St. Louis by the early 1890s.