Jeff Cooper finally has his men's soccer club, and the outdoor professional game has returned to St. Louis after a long absence. Sure, we don't even know if the league AC St. Louis intends to play in will exist or have US Soccer sanctioning by the time they intend to kick off, but nonetheless, there's a name, a badge, a coach, and a youth development director.


Let's run down the facts as they pertain to the newly christened Athletic Club St. Louis.


Name: Athletic Club St. Louis

http://www.ac-stlouis.com


Logo: White and gold (or yellow, if you prefer) "flame de lis" on green background


Ownership: St Louis. Soccer United, owners of WPS side St. Louis Athletica, and unsuccessful bidders for an MLS expansion franchise. Jeff Cooper is chairman of the group.


Stadium: Anheuser-Busch Center, also known as "Soccer Park"

Capacity: 6,000



Head Coach: Claude Anelka

Résumé: Offered clubs £300,000 to hire him as manager. Hired by Raith Rovers (Scotland), he resigned after securing only one point from eight games. Named one of The Guardian's "Ten Worst Football Managers". Oh, and he has a famous goal scoring brother.


Director of Player Development: Francisco Filho

Résumé: Former Manchester United youth coach, 2002-2005


The club is holding tryouts for potential players, as indicated on their website. It will be interesting to see if they sign any established professionals before the NASL/USL battle is settled.