MLS Preview: St. Louis City SC

Hooligan Soccer

·21 février 2025

MLS Preview: St. Louis City SC

Club History

St. Louis City SC’s debut season in 2023 was the culmination of many, many years of “close but no cigar,” “better luck next time,” and “you were THIS close” messages from the MLS brass. In 2007 the city was floated as a possible relocation place for Real Salt Lake in that owner’s negotiations/threats to build a new stadium. An unsuccessful bid ensued in 2009, the MLS favoring other cities over St. Louis despite approved construction plans for a huge soccer complex. In 2014 there was ANOTHER bid tied to a dual-use stadium for the future club and the NFL Rams franchise. The Rams moved to Los Angeles in 2015, and everyone went back to the drawing board.

Finally, after two years of negotiation, the club was officially granted a franchise in late 2019, with their inaugural season scheduled for 2022. Well, along came COVID, which slowed but did not halt the stadium construction. It did, however, push their season starter to 2023. And it was worth the wait.

Vidéos OneFootball

St. Louis City SC didn’t just hit the ground running, they barely touched ground before taking flight. Under sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel and coach Bradley Carnell they played a furious, pressing style of dynamic, risk-reward soccer. It was brilliant and exciting. They broke four MLS records for an expansion team, and tied one other (see the Other Facts section for details) in 2023, cruising into the postseason having won the Western Conference. Unfortunately, they were crushed in the first round of the playoffs.

Ownership

City SC are the only female-majority owned team in the MLS. Carolyn Kindle, president of Enterprise Holders, and Jo Ann Taylor, also an Enterprise Holders executive (both are heirs to the Enterprise Rent-a-Car fortune) have the controlling stake. Jim Kavanaugh, CEO of World Wide Technology, is a minority partner.

Significant Players

With two seasons under their belt, there’s a short list to pick from.

Indiana Vassilev (United States) – Midfielder Current record holder for most appearances (75).
Roman Bürki (Switzerland) [DP] – Goalkeeper 2023 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year winner. Current team captain.
João Klauss (Brazil) – Forward [DP] The club’s first Designated Player. Scored the winning goal in their debut match against Austin FC. Top goal scorer for the club (15).

Other Facts

View of the supporters section of Energizer Park (Source)

Play home games at Energizer Park, capacity 22,423.
They have vibrant and rowdy supporters, including: St. Louligans (the oldest supporter group, founded in 2010) St. Louis CITY Punks No Nap City Ultras (composed of parents and mostly young children) STL Santos (for Spanish speakers) Fleur de Noise (a drum corps providing percussion support to chants)
Below are the records the team set in 2023 First expansion team to win all five opening games (inclusive of winning four opening games). Most wins by an expansion team (17). First expansion team to win their division in their debut season. Tied – Most goal scorers for an expansion team in their debut season (16)
Though not recognized as a formal derby, given their regional proximity there’s a rivalry between Sporting Kansas City.
The lines on the left of their crest signify the famous Gateway to the West monument and the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, which occurs just north of St. Louis.

2024 Season Recap

After the record-breaking 2023 campaign, 2024 was going to be an uphill battle. They once again started with five undefeated games; the rub was that four of them were draws. After that, the hill turned out to be a cliff, and the squad just couldn’t scale it.

Coach Carnell was fired on July 1.
The team’s record was a limp 8W – 13D – 13L for 37 points Finished in.12th place in the Western Conference; 24th overall
A mighty, mighty collapse, to say the least

Who to Watch 2025

St. Louis had a very busy mid-season transfer window during which they cleaned house, so this offseason has been relatively quiet. They have a new coach, Swede Olof Mellberg from IF Brommapojkarna, but only two new faces hit the roster, highlighted below:

Timo Baumgartl (Germany) – Defender The 28-year old center back is the product of the Stuttgart academy, but hasn’t seen much starting time since 2019 when he transferred to PSV.
Conrad Wallem (Norway) – Midfielder He’s on loan from Slavia Prague with an option to buy, so that means he should be eager to impress. He’s apparently comfortable on the wing in an attack or defensive alignment.