St. Louis Stars

The St. Louis Stars was one of the ten original franchises in the NPSL in 1967 and were the second longest running team out of the 22 clubs that started with the rapid American soccer expansion in ‘67. At the conclusion of that first season, the NPSL would merge with the United Soccer Association to form the original NASL. 

Although the Stars started off with mostly European imports, by 1969, the St. Louis Stars began recruiting local players and had an all-American team by 1974. The team was successful at the box office in St. Louis, pulling in crowds around 7,000. After going back and forth from Busch Stadium to Francis Field during their career, attendance peaked at 9,794 per match in 1977. But in October 1977, the club moved to Anaheim, California and became the California Surf.