May 31 (1946)

In the first post-World War II visit by a major foreign club to St. Louis, Liverpool overwhelms the St. Louis All-Stars, 5-1, at Public Schools Stadium before a crowd of 12,493. The All-Stars start quickly and nearly score in the fifth minute when future U.S. Soccer Hall of Famer Frank “Pee Wee” Wallace sets up Joe Spica. Spica’s shot caroms off the goal post. Liverpool, “whose accurate passes amazed the big crowd,” according to future U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame journalist Dent McSkimming in the next day’s St. Louis Post-Dispatch, opens the scoring in the 12th minute on a goal by captain Willie Fagan, his first of two for the night. Liverpool never looks back and frustrates the All-Stars throughout the match by routinely stringing together five or six passes. McSkimming will note in his story that Liverpool used tactics unfamiliar in St. Louis, such as passing back to its halfbacks and goalkeeper if the All-Stars blocked forward passing lanes. With quality up and down Liverpool’s starting 11 — the game was played with the no-substitution rule then in force for international soccer — McSkimming will write, “Picking a Liverpool star. Well, why worry. They were all good.” Trailing 3-0, the All-Stars get on the board, thanks to a goal from Bob Corbett in the 75th minute. The All-Stars have no reason to be ashamed. The victory is Liverpool’s sixth on its American tour, during which it had outscored opponents 37-4. Liverpool will win England’s First Division championship in the 1946-47 season, the first since World War II had interrupted First Division competition in 1939-40.