Sporting Post MLS Fan Spotlight – St. Louis City SC

St. Louis, MO – Mitch Morice leaves his 9-5 every day like most Americans and heads home listening to sports talk radio. But this year is a little bit different. Instead of the Cardinals or Blues, the airwaves around St. Louis are full of soccer talk. That’s right – this is St. Louis City SC’s inaugural season in the MLS, and the team has taken the city, and league, by storm. Incredibly, as of this writing, SLC SC is sitting in first place in the Western Conference and second in the MLS Supporter’s Shield.

For Mitch, a leader in the long-time St. Louis supporter group the St. Louligans, “everything scales up when you get to the MLS” and organizing their trip to Sporting KC “has been like a second full-time job”. Luckily, the city is helping them out with tickets, but organizing the buses, drums, flags, and tifos for the hundreds of traveling fans is up to the Louligans. When they make the 4-ish hour drive to the Kansas side of Kansas City, they’ll be met by their “frenemies,” The Cauldron, for friendly banter and a few adult beverages. The Cauldron are gracious hosts, inviting the St. Louis fans to march to the stadium together in full regalia – flags, smoke, chants, and songs.

Not everything has been completely friendly and cordial, though. From Graham Zusi “shushing” the St. Louis fans in a US Open Cup match in St. Louis’ pre-MLS days to the origin of one of the nicknames for the Derby, there is a natural rivalry brewing here. Some St. Louis fans have been calling the fixture the “Cease and Desist Derby” after Sporting KC served a cease-and-desist order on a St. Louis fan podcast, the “Soccer Capitol Podcast” (now the River City Ramble) after Kansas City decided to declare itself the soccer capitol of the US. This writer is not in a position to take sides, but the result is another great name for a Derby in the same vein as “El Trafico” and “Hell Is Real.” And for that, we can be thankful.

St. Louis is a city that has always been proud of its sports teams and is truly a diehard sports town with expectations for success. The most popular team is the Cardinals, who have been one of baseball’s most successful teams for generations. Both the Rams (NFL) and Blues (NHL) have also won championships in recent memory. So right off the bat, St. Louis City SC has a high bar to achieve. “We do have good sports teams here,” explained Mitch, “so for this team to come out of the gate starting as good as they are really helped… If they’re really bad, that new stadium, and the fun, shiny new team is going to wear off fast,”

The gaping hole left by the departure of the Rams in 2015 – who returned to Los Angeles after several decades and a Super Bowl title in St. Louis – has undoubtedly helped the city embrace the new MLS franchise. Mitch has seen this change firsthand: “We have people in our group who are now diehards who were just looking for something to do when the Rams left – and now they’re bought in…the entire community has gotten into it. Not just the fans, but the media, radio stations, vendors, and retailers.” Local brewer Schlafly Brewing, whose taproom is just steps away from the stadium, hosts St. Louis fans for pregame tailgates. “We wouldn’t have it any other way,” said the beermakers when the Louligans asked if they could meet there for pregame beers. Now, thousands of fans convene at Schlafly before every game, including Blues hockey player Oskar Sundqvist.

The Louligans, in particular, have embraced inclusiveness. The Louligans come from every walk of life in the community, which is what makes the group unique, according to Mitch. Many fans are new to the sport and soccer culture entirely, which has required a bit of an adjustment, but it’s all part of the evolution of the fan base in the MLS era. The supporter group has emphasized outreach to marginalized groups in the St. Louis community and welcomes new supporters from any background or lifestyle.

The Louligans are committed to giving back to the community, and they’ve been key in making the soccer team an integral part of the city already. They’ve conducted fundraising raffles and merchandise sales at tailgates (they sold 1200 scarves in just 4 hours at their first tailgate) and charity work every week. For Mitch, a longtime St. Louis resident, it’s bigger than sports:

“It’s trying to get people in a better place, to make this city better. There’s a lot of struggle going on in this town, and a lot of bad news, but if there’s a chance to make things a bit better, especially on game day, we’re going to do it.”

The group has raised over $350,000 for the local community and is currently working with the Bennett Project (a pediatric cancer charity) and Dutch Town Clean Up (a local neighborhood restoration charity) to make huge impacts on their neighbors.

Ultimately, this is what it’s all about. The Louligans exemplify everything that is beautiful about being a fan and are an incredible example of the impact supporter culture can have on a community. The city of St. Louis has recognized this by renaming the street they march to the games on “Louligan Street.” The Louligans team, fanbase, and community are truly #AllForCITY.

St Louis are currently the underdogs in the MLS betting world in their match-up against Houston this Sunday.