In the Beginning, There Were <li>s
When I started STLSoccerNews.com two years today - August 1, 2023 - it had one single purpose: it was a list of St. Louis-based soccer podcasts. That's all it was going to be. I've always been a soccer content junkie, but with CITY getting ready to kick off, I knew (or hoped!) that there would be an explosion of content creators in our area covering the game. Over twenty-five podcasts sprang up in that first year alone! To keep track of them all, I created a simple list for myself and put it online. I posted the link in a couple of the St. Louis CITY Facebook groups, letting everyone know that not only were there a lot of great people making content for the rest of us, but they could find them all in one place. I thought that would be it. I couldn't have been more wrong.
Two years later, this website has changed - and saved (more on that later) - my life. After I posted on Facebook that this website existed, Dan Sweeney, the PA announcer for CITY, messaged me to say that he thought what I was doing was "really, really amazing". His words, not mine - I have the Facebook message to prove it! Anyway, that was all the encouragement I needed. I solicited ideas from anyone and everyone about what types of content would be good to aggregate - anything and everything related to soccer in our area. If it had to do with the beautiful game, I'd add it to the site. As it grew, I thought about Steve "Ole" Olson, one of the great champions of the game in St. Louis, who passed away just before CITY got started. He was one of the great promoters of the game in our area, and I wanted, in some small way, to pay tribute to him by helping spread the word about soccer in St. Louis.
How a Website Saved My Life
Through the website, I started to meet many of the content creators I was trying to help, promote, and encourage - great people who wanted to make their voices heard about the game we all love and are passionate about. This led to me being asked to come on their podcasts and talk soccer, which I was more than happy to do! It's fun to bounce ideas off people and get fresh perspectives. At this point, there aren't many St. Louis soccer pods I haven't been on, and it still blows my mind that, once in a while, other people care about my opinion on soccer. Speaking of which, when Jen Siess asked me to come on KMOX and talk soccer and the website, that was a surreal experience - those are Jack Buck and Dan Kelly's airwaves! I was beside myself when Brendan Wiese and Mark Moser then had me on KTRS. My opinion isn't better or worse than anyone else's - it's just mine. But it's been amazing to get to talk to so many fantastic people, and I always jump at the chance to do so.
Outside of the content creators I've gotten to know - both here in St. Louis and around the country - I've made many, many new friends because of this website and gotten to meet some St. Louis soccer icons like Ty Keough, Bill McDermott, and Dave Lange, just to name a few. Fellow St. Louligan Jason Goodbody was a fan of what I was doing, and we became friends. Jason introduced me to Jack Stapleton (I'd describe him, but he knows everyone and everyone knows him already, so there's no need), who was also a fan of the website. Jack introduced me to Mattey Casey, soccer writer and RSL podcast host, who splits his time between Salt Lake and St. Louis in his nursing day job. Jack and Mattey were there when I had a massive heart attack at Schlafly Tap Room after last year's Chicago Fire match (which we won, so I almost went out happy, at least!), and they helped save my life. Without this website, I probably never would have met Jason, Jack, or Mattey - and it's very likely I wouldn't be here. So when I say it saved my life, I'm not kidding.
Living Up to the Name
As great as it's been meeting so many new people, talking soccer, having such cool experiences (and, of course, just being alive) - and as much as the website has grown - one thing always bothered me: the name. I arbitrarily picked the first thing I could think of - stlsoccernews.com, which sounded better than listofsoccerpodcasts.org or something like that. Being a social media avoider at the time, I had no idea that was the handle of the Post-Dispatch's Twitter/X account for their soccer coverage. D'oh! I hoped no one thought I was ripping them off or riding their coattails, as I have massive respect for their soccer writer Tom Timmerman, and read everything he writes. Recently, the P-D abandoned that handle, and I gladly took it over - so it all worked out.
Anyway, the real reason I was uncomfortable with the name as time went on was that it had "news" in it. What "news"? All I had was a bunch of lists - podcasts from all over MLS, supporters groups websites, local merchants, schedules, and the like - but no "news". It felt... odd.
That changes as of today.
While I'll still be aggregating soccer content from all over the St. Louis soccer community, I'll also be featuring links to articles from local soccer writers on their websites, as well as having writers post original content here. Not just news, but opinion pieces, fun stuff for fans, and deeper dives into the game we love. I'll try to avoid stepping on anyone's toes - I want writers to get more eyes, podcasters to get more listens, YouTubers to get more views, etc. - it encourages them to keep doing what they're doing and gives soccer sickos like me more content to consume. What I'm hoping is that this website becomes a hub for soccer content in the area, featuring not only the podcasters and content creators I've always promoted but also so many new voices to provide us, the fans, with the soccer content we seek.
Additionally, I hope this will become a platform for people who want to get into writing about soccer. People who might be too shy to get behind a microphone on a podcast or a webcam for a YouTube video, but have thoughts on the game they want to share. It would be extremely cool to help someone find that outlet for their creativity. If you think that might be you, connect with me and let’s talk!
I’m no journalist, and although I’ll chime in with stuff too on occasion, this website has never been about me (well, this article is, but gimme this one, okay?). This website is about helping to promote, encourage, and support the podcasters, YouTubers, writers, journalists, players, coaches, clubs, schools, and leagues that make up the St. Louis soccer community—and helping celebrate our soccer history.
That was, is, and always will be the purpose of STLSoccerNews.com. Thanks for checking out the website, and as always, feel free to make suggestions on how I can make it better and more useful for us all.
-- Chris
