Chicago Sting
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| Full name | Chicago Sting |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Sting, Der Sting |
| Founded | 1974 |
| Dissolved | 1988 |
| Stadium | Outdoor: Soldier Field Comiskey Park Wrigley Field Indoor: International Amphitheatre Chicago Stadium Rosemont Horizon |
| Capacity | 55,000 (Soldier Field) 45,000 (Comiskey Park) 37,000 (Wrigley Field) 18,472 (Chicago Stadium) 16,143 (Rosemont Horizon) |
| Owner | Lee Stern |
| Coaches |
Bill Foulkes Malcolm Musgrove Willy Roy Erich Geyer Gary Hindley |
| League |
NASL (1975–84) MISL (1982–83 & 1984–88) |
The Chicago Sting (1974–1988) was an American professional soccer team based in Chicago. The Sting played in the North American Soccer League from 1975 to 1984 and in the Major Indoor Soccer League in the 1982–83 season and again from 1984 to 1988. They were North American Champions in 1981 and 1984, one of only two NASL teams (the New York Cosmos) to win the championship twice.
The Sting were founded in 1974 by Lee Stern of Chicago and competed in the NASL for the first time in the 1975 season. A few years after founding the Sting, Stern brought Willy Roy on as head coach. Roy coached the Sting for the remainder of their outdoor existence.
The team was named in reference to the popular 1973 film, The Sting, whose action was set in Chicago of the 1930s.
The club played at various venues. The outdoor team spread their home games at Soldier Field, Wrigley Field, and Comiskey Park. In 1976 the indoor squad called the International Amphitheatre home, before subsequently using Chicago Stadium and the Rosemont Horizon (now the Allstate Arena).
1974–75: The Chicago Sting were the dream child of Lee Stern, a leading Chicago commodities broker, who in 1974 took an expensive gamble that his hometown would accept soccer as a major league sport. Stern turned to England for a coach in the shape of ‘Busby Babe’ Bill Foulkes, the former Manchester United defender.
Foulkes built a team of predominantly British players (there were 10 in the 1975 squad and 11 in 1976 and 1977) including Gordon Hill and Eddie May. Hill would later win 6 England caps and play over a hundred games for Manchester United including the 1976 FA Cup Final. In Chicago he hit six goals in the Sting's inaugural season and firmly established himself as a fan's favorite as did May who despite playing all of his career in England as a central defender was used by Foulkes as a target man scoring 7 times in 18 games.
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