Saint Louis Athletica
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| Full name | Saint Louis Athletica |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2008 |
| Dissolved | 2010 |
| Stadium | Anheuser-Busch Soccer Park |
| Capacity | 6,200 |
| League | Women's Professional Soccer |
| 2009 | 2nd/7 (regular season) 3rd (playoffs) |
Saint Louis Athletica was an American professional soccer club that was based in the St. Louis suburb of Fenton, Missouri that participated in Women's Professional Soccer. Athletica started the 2009 season playing its home games at Ralph Korte Stadium, on the campus of SIUE in Edwardsville, Illinois, then moved to Soccer Park in Fenton, Missouri in June. On May 27, 2010, the WPS announced that the Club would fold effective immediately, forcing the league to compete with only 7 teams for the rest of the season.
Athletica was one of three parts of the Athletic Club of St. Louis, chaired by team owner Jeff Cooper, with the others being a large St. Louis youth soccer league network and the men's soccer team AC St. Louis.
When the creation of WPS, a new top-flight women's league that would replace/revive the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA), was announced in 2006, Saint Louis was one of the then-six cities that would have a team.
On August 26, 2008, it was announced that the Saint Louis' head coach would be Jorge Barcellos, the then-head coach of the Brazilian women's team. Team Chairman Jeff Cooper's organization SLSU had plans for a soccer-specific stadium ready, but the construction would not start until St. Louis had been also awarded an MLS franchise.
On September 11, 2008, "St. Louis" was revealed as the official team name through an online video, along with a new team crest. The name and crest were further updated on November 25 unveiling "Saint Louis Athletica" as the new name.
Athletica only played two preseason games, less than any other WPS team, and didn't play any other WPS team in those games. Athletica convincingly won both games, though: 7-2 versus the University of Missouri and 3-1 versus Notre Dame.
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