October 21st (1934)

Oct. 21, 1934: An estimated crowd of 8,000 watches both kinds of football in a doubleheader at Sportsman’s Park. The twin bill opens with a St. Louis League soccer match between the Marres and the Ben Millers and concludes with a St. Louis Gunners-Chicago Gophers pro gridiron game. The Marres clip Ben Millers, 2-1, with the winning goal coming from Bill La Posha, a rookie in the professional St. Louis League. Walter Giesler tends the goal for the Ben Millers. Giesler is a future U.S. Soccer Hall of Famer, inducted for his work as a promoter, future president of the U.S. Soccer Football Association (today’s U.S. Soccer Federation), and as the man generally credited with putting together the U.S. team that upset England, 1-0, in the 1950 World Cup. Giesler’s ability as a goalkeeper leaves something to be desired, according to future U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame journalist Dent McSkimming. In his account of the Marre-Ben Millers’ match in the Oct. 22, 1934, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, McSkimming will write: “Clearing the ball is Giesler’s greatest weakness. He’s no Hamm” (referring to Johnny Hamm, the goalkeeper for the Central Brewers, who will win St. Louis League and U.S. Open Cup championships in the 1934-35 season). In the second game of the day, the Gunners win, 21-0. The Gunners, who aspire to join the National Football League, will replace the Cincinnati Reds in the NFL for the last three games of the 1934 regular season. Those three contests will be the only NFL games that the Gunners will play.