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St. Louis Simpkins-Ford(also known as Simpkins) was a U.S. amateur soccer team based in St. Louis, Missouri from 1947 to 1956. It won three league championships and the 1948 and 1950 National Challenge Cups, and lost in the finals of the 1954 National Amateur Cup. Five members of the U.S. team at the 1950 FIFA World Cup came from Simpkins.
In 1947, a St. Louis amateur soccer team sponsored by Carrenti Cleaners changed sponsorship to the Joe Simpkins Ford Auto dealership. Renamed St. Louis Simpkins-Ford, the team entered the new St. Louis Major League in 1948. The team revamped its roster, bringing in several top St. Louis players. Five of them, Robert Annis, Gino Pariani, Charlie Colombo, Frank Borghi and Frank Wallace, were on the U.S. team which competed at the 1950 World Cup.
Despite its outstanding roster, Simpkins struggled in its first season in the St. Louis Major League. The League featured only four teams, De Andreis, St. Louis Raiders, Steamfitters and Simpkins. Simpkins finished third with eleven points and a 4–5–3 record. While it struggled in league play, it dominated the National Challenge Cup winning the title with a 3–2 victory over the professional New York Brookhattan of the American Soccer League (ASL).
In 1949, Simpkins improved on its finish the previous season when it ended in second place. This year the team placed three players on the national team at the 1949 NAFC Championship.
In 1950, Simpkins took both the league title and the National Challenge Cup. While most National Cups have been decided in a single game, this year the organizers opted for a home and away series. On April 22, 1950, Simpkins defeated Fall River Ponta Delgada 2–0. The second leg, held on May 7, 1950, ended in a 1–1 tie with Simpkins taking the title on aggregate. It was this year that Simpkins contributed five of its players to the U.S. team at the 1950 FIFA World Cup. In that tournament, the U.S. went 1–2, but its victory was the greatest upset of World Cup history as the U.S. defeated heavy favorites England.
Simpkins success of 1949-1950 did not continue into the 1950–1951 season. While the team began strong, it ended up second behind Zenthoefer Furs in the standings.
Simpkins again finished second in the league, this time to St. Louis Raiders.
While Simpkins was beginning to fade, finishing third in the league, it won the St. Louis Major League's first post season round-robin by defeating Kutis 3–1. Despite the addition of a post-season, the St. Louis Major League folded at the end of the season when their stadium was sold. Simpkins and Kutis moved to the Municipal League, essentially a second division league, for the 1954 season.
As a lower division league, the Municipal League fielded several more teams, divided into a North and South Division, than the old St. Louis Major League. Simpkins showed its strength by taking the South Division. Simpkins also went to the finals of the National Amateur Cup only to fall to Pittsburgh Beadling 7–6 on aggregate. While Simpkins had just joined the Municipal League, mismanagement by the league's front office convinced the team to leave the league and join with several other ex-Municipal League teams to form a competing league, known as the Khoury League as it was formed by George Khoury.
Simpkins won the first year of the Khoury League with a perfect 13-0-0 record. Frank Borghi was selected as the league MVP. Simpkins also went to the semifinals of the National Challenge Cup before falling to Los Angeles Danes.
In 1956 Simpkins again won the Khoury League.
| Year | Record | League | Amateur Cup | National Cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1947-1948 | 4-5-3 | 3rd | Champion | |
| 1948-1949 | 10-6-6 | 2d | Withdrew | |
| 1949-1950 | Champion | Champion | ||
| 1950-1951 | 10-9-4 | 2d | ||
| 1951-1952 | 12-6-4 | 2d | ||
| 1952-1953 | 6-8-2 | 3rd | ||
| 1954 | 11-0-1 | 1st – South Division | Final | |
| 1955 | 13-0-0 | Champion | Semifinals | |
| 1956 | Champion |
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Frank Borghi was an American soccer player who earned nine caps at goalkeeper for the national team. He played in the team's famous 1–0 victory against England in the 1950 FIFA World Cup.
Harry Joseph Keough was an American soccer defender who played on the United States national team in their 1–0 upset of England at the 1950 FIFA World Cup. He spent most of his club career in his native St. Louis, winning a national junior championship, two National Challenge Cup and seven National Amateur Cup titles. He coached the Saint Louis University men's soccer team to five NCAA Men's Soccer Championships. The Keough Award, named after him and his son Ty Keough, is presented each year to the outstanding St. Louis-based male and female professional or college soccer player.
Charles Martin Colombo was an American soccer player who earned 11 caps as center-half for the United States men's national soccer team. He is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame. He also played for the United States at the 1948 Summer Olympics.
Bill Looby was an American soccer forward who spent his entire career in the St. Louis Leagues. He was a member of the U.S. Olympic soccer team at the 1956 Summer Olympics and earned eight caps, scoring six goals, with the United States men's national soccer team between 1954 and 1959. He was a member of the 1959 Bronze medal Pan American Team scoring 6 goals in those games as well. Looby is a member of the Saint Louis Soccer Hall of Fame and the National Soccer Hall of Fame.
Virginio Peter Pariani was an American soccer striker. He earned 5 caps and scored 1 goal for the United States men's national soccer team, and played on the 1950 FIFA World Cup team, including the U.S. team's historic 1–0 victory over England. He was also a member of the U.S. Olympic team in London in 1948. He was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1976.
Ruben Michael Mendoza was an American soccer forward who was a dominant player in the St. Louis leagues during the 1950s and 1960s. He earned four caps with the U.S. national team and was a member of the 1952 U.S. Olympic, 1956 U.S. Olympic and 1960 U.S. Olympic teams.
Frank Wallace was an American international soccer player who played as forward. He earned 7 caps and scored 3 goals for the United States men's national soccer team, and played in the U.S. team's historic 1–0 victory over England in the 1950 FIFA World Cup. He is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame.
St. Louis Kutis Soccer Club, better known as St. Louis Kutis, is an amateur American soccer club in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1947 as the "St. Louis Raiders", the club was known as "Paul Schulte" during the 1948–49 season, "McMahon's" during the 1949–50 season and "Zenthoefer's" in the 1950–51 season. In 1953, the team was renamed "St. Louis Kutis". The club gained its greatest prominence in the 1950s when it dominated both St. Louis and national soccer competitions. In 1958, the United States Soccer Federation used Kutis, with a few guest players, as the U.S. national team in two World Cup qualifying matches.
Gene Geimer is a former U.S. soccer forward who spent seven seasons in the North American Soccer League and at least one season in Major Indoor Soccer League. Before entering the professional ranks, Geimer won a National Amateur Cup with St. Louis Kutis in 1971. He also earned six caps, scoring two goals, with the United States in 1972 and 1973.
Joseph S. Carenza Sr. was a U.S. soccer midfielder who played for numerous St. Louis teams in the 1940s and 1950s. He went on to coach the Washington University Bears men's soccer team from 1959 to 1964. He is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame.
Herman William Wecke was a former U.S. soccer defender. He earned six caps with the U.S. national team between 1954 and 1957. He was a member of the U.S. Olympic soccer team at the 1956 Summer Olympics.
Zenthoefer Furs were an amateur U.S. soccer club which played in St. Louis, Missouri during the late 1940s and early 1950s.
John Traina is a retired American soccer player who spent most of his career playing in the St. Louis, Missouri leagues from 1950 to 1960. Traina earned five caps with the U.S. national team. He was inducted into the St Louis Hall Of fame in 1983, together with his brother Peter.
William Joseph Bertani was an American soccer player who was a member of the 1948 U.S. Olympic soccer team. He also earned two caps with the U.S. national team that year.
Robert "Bob" Rooney was a U.S. soccer center forward who spent his playing career in the St. Louis leagues. He also earned two caps with the U.S. national team in 1957.
Ponta Delgada Soccer Club, also referred to as Fall River Ponta Delgada, was a United States soccer club, based in Fall River, Massachusetts. The club was formed by members of the city’s Portuguese community and shared its name with Ponta Delgada, the largest city of the Azores, an autonomous region of Portugal. During the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s they were one of the most successful amateur teams in the United States, winning the National Amateur Cup six times. In 1947 they won the first-ever National Challenge Cup / National Amateur Cup double. The same year their entire squad was selected en masse to represent the United States at the inaugural North American soccer championship. Between 1951 and 1953 they also played in the American Soccer League. They played some home games at Mark's Stadium in North Tiverton, Rhode Island, previously the home of Fall River F.C.. Like the 'Marksmen', they did this to avoid the Massachusetts Blue Laws that prevented them from playing Sunday games.
Jim Bokern is a retired U.S. soccer forward who played three seasons in the North American Soccer League. He then went on to coach at the high school, collegiate and amateur levels. He won a high school state title, three NCAA Division I, a National Amateur Cup, a National Challenge Cup, and two USSF Over-30 Cup championship as a player as well as two high school state titles, one National Challenge Cup championship, two U.S. U-20 Cup titles and two U.S. O-30 Cup titles as a coach.
The Chicago Falcons were an American soccer team which won the 1953 National Challenge Cup, the precursor to the US Open Cup, and also participated in the Chicago-area National Soccer League in the 1950s.
The 1949 National Challenge Cup was the largest soccer tournament in the United States in 1949. The four St. Louis Soccer League teams withdrew from the competition citing "a succession of unpleasant experiences connected with the playing of the National Challenge Cup." The St.L league teams were upset about financial losses totaling $2300 from the previous season's tournament. The announcement of the withdrawal came a week and a half after Brookhattan-Galicia stuck Simpkins with a $1550 airline bill following the 1948 championship game hosted by the Simpkins. The remaining St. Louis representatives were the four amateur Municipal League entrants. With the defending champions out of the running Morgan Strasser stepped in as contenders by winning their way to the final four. Despite losing the first legs in both the semifinal and final the Morgans pulled out 4-3 aggregate wins to become 1949 U.S. champions.
Soccer in St. Louis, which dates from 1882, includes pro, college, select and prep soccer teams in St. Louis, Missouri, collectively forming one of the nation's richest municipal soccer heritages.
