Oct. 28 (1936)

The St. Louis All-Stars stop Maccabi Tel Aviv FC of Palestine, 3-2, in an international exhibition at Walsh Stadium that is anything but friendly. The fast, physical players picked as the best of the professional St. Louis League take Maccabi by surprise. Maccabi, the best soccer team in Palestine then and in Israel today, came to St. Louis undefeated during their 1936 U.S tour. The trip included a victory over an all-star team in New York City before 50,000 fans at Yankee Stadium. The match in St. Louis marks the first for Maccabi against an All-American team. Previous U.S. opponents fielded teams dominated by foreign-born players. In St. Louis, a crowd of 5,500 watch frequent fouls from both sides. Each team suffers casualties. The St. Louis style flusters more skillful Maccabi. Miffed at having a goal denied for offside, and claiming that the winning goal should have been disallowed for offside, Maccabi coach Egon Pollack tells the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “That wasn’t soccer. That was what we call English rugby. And the referee (Joe Hand) was the worst I have seen in all my years of soccer in many countries.” The St. Louis goal in question comes from center forward Jack Simmermann, his second of the match. The game ends in a fistfight among several players. Afterward, St. Louis co-coach Phil Kavanaugh tells the Post-Dispatch, perhaps ironically: “That shows you St. Louis boys can still play soccer.”