The St. Louis Frogs were an American soccer club. The Frogs were owned by Giesler Sports Enterprises and given sanction to enter the American Soccer League's newly-formed Midwest Conference by the United States Soccer Football Association at the 1972, summer meetings in Anchorage. The team played only one season and was coached by Pete Traina, with Walter J. Giesler serving as general manager. Their colors were green and white, and they played their home matches at Giesler's Sports Village.[1]
Team name
In a newspaper interview Giesler stated that the team named stemmed from a cast iron frog that had been found during a remodeling of his sporting goods store. Construction workers told him that it was an old good luck tradition of contractors to place a frog of some sort inside a wall during construction. The frog wound up becoming a decoration on his desk. Originally he had wanted to call the team the Missouri Mules, but the name had already been taken. As he struggled to come up with an original name, he realized the answer was sitting right on his desk, and thus the St. Louis Frogs were born.[2]
Year-by-year
| Year | League | Record | GF | GA | Position | Playoffs | U.S. Open Cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | ASL | 2–6 | 13 | 16 | 5th, Midwestern | Did not qualify | Did not enter |
Final conference standings
| Midwest Conference | G | W | D | L | GF | GA | PTS |
| Cincinnati Comets | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 19 | 7 | 13 |
| Cleveland Stars | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 23 | 10 | 6 |
| Detroit Mustangs | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 13 | 28 | 6 |
| Pittsburgh Canons | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 11 | 18 | 5 |
| St. Louis Frogs | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 13 | 16 | 4 |
| Chicago Americans* | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
*Chicago Americans played only a few games
Game-by-game
Friendly results
| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Goal scorers | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 12, 1972 | SV Falke-Steinfeld (West Germany) | H | 1–1 | Gary McBrady | [3] |
Regular season results
| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Goal scorers | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 15, 1972 | Cleavland Stars | A | 0–2 | – | [4] |
| July 22, 1972 | Pittsburgh Canons | A | 2–3 | Gary McBrady, Paul Pisani, Jim Niehoff | [5] |
| July 30, 1972 | Cincinnati Comets | H | 0–1 | – | [6] |
| August 12, 1972 | Cincinnati Comets | A | 3–0 | – | [7] |
| August 13, 1972 | Detroit Mustangs | A | 3–1 | Frank Fischer | [8] |
| August 20, 1972 | Cleavland Stars | H | 0–4 | – | [9] |
| August 27, 1972 | Pittsburgh Canons | H | 0–1 | – | [10] |
| September 4, 1972 | Detroit Mustangs | H | 9–0 | Mike Villa (2), Niehoff (2), McBrady (2), John Deinowski, Tom Beaver, Jack Blake | [11] |
References
- ^ "St. Louis Frogs Take Plunge In Soccer Circuit". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. July 7, 1972. p. 5C. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
- ^ Hummel, Rick (July 17, 1972). "NBC Keeps Giesler Hopping". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. p. 2C. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
- ^ "Frogs Bounce Back To Tie Germans, 1-1". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. July 13, 1972. p. 5C. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
- ^ "Frogs Start ASL Season With 2-0 Loss". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. July 16, 1972. p. 6B. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
- ^ "Frogs Nip Pittsburgh On Niehoff's Late Goal". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. July 23, 1972. p. 6B. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
- ^ "Frogs 'Terminated' In Brawl". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. July 31, 1972. p. 3C. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
- ^ "Frogs Lose To Comets". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. August 13, 1972. p. 3B. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
- ^ "Frogs Not Croaking About Returning Home". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. August 14, 1972. p. 13A. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
- ^ "Punchless Frogs Punched Again". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. August 21, 1972. p. 3C. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
- ^ "Frogs Outshoot Pittsburgh, But Take 1-0 Loss". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. August 28, 1972. p. 7C. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
- ^ "Frogs Close Season With 9-0 Victory". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. September 5, 1972. p. 4B. Retrieved November 15, 2018.