October 1st (1950)

Oct. 1, 1950: The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Hans Stranadl has joined the Raiders, who will become Kutis, as coach. An Austrian with 18 years of coaching experience. Stranadl had moved to St. Louis earlier in the year to live with his daughter and son-in-law. “Frankly, I am amazed that your boys could have won so many championships playing such crude soccer,” the 51-year-old Stranadl tells U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame journalist Dent McSkimming. “They seem to have the speed and the eagerness but I see no fine technique. It will take lots of hard work over many hours and weeks, but fine players and fine teams can be built here.” Stranadl, who will die from cancer in 1952, will have a long-lasting impact by introducing training methods credited with developing the Kutis powerhouse of the 1950s that will win seven U.S. Amateur Cups and one U.S. Open Cup, and will defeat visiting German powerhouse Eintracht Frankurt, 2-1, on May 14, 1951. He also will coach SECO to the 1951 U.S. Junior Cup title.