Brian Q at IMSoccer News is reporting the last employees have been released and Jeff Cooper will have a statement later. http://www.insidemnsoccer.com/2011/01/17/ac-st-louis-closes-its-doors-for-good/
Very sad. We've been hearing the same from Players and Front Office Personnel since the middle of last week, and we all assumed this was the case since early December. The positive here is that we still have the Lions and they have ambitions to move up the USL ladder. I hope to see old friends and make some new ones in Cottleville.
Damn, must suck so bad to be a St. Louis soccer fan. At least you do have the Lions, but it's a real shame the way things went down with AC and Cooper, especially how this club died a slow, painful death starting really while they were still playing matches. We've lost two pretty good markets in D2 this off season, first Austin and now STL. RIP AC.
AC STL was in bad shape from Day 1. Cooper NEVER had the money to operate a franchise in the first place.
Well, Timmerman says it's over. http://www.stltoday.com/sports/soccer/article_4a85b488-0fbd-56d2-b17e-b408d13532e9.html *Sigh*...I guess MLS was right all along (well, we've known that for a while, haven't we?) I wonder if Cooper had his heart in the right place originally and then just bit off more than he could chew when he couldn't find anybody else to partner with, or if he pulled the wool over our eyes for the past seven years and fleeced us?
I guess Nike and USL knew too when they didnt sell to Cooper in Aug of 2009. It would be interesting to hear both MLS and Nike perspectives why they didnt sell to him after a few beers.
That's the problem. Cooper talked big and extravagant in 2006 when he was trying to get an MLS team but when it came time to actually PAY up he's shown his true colors. Pro sports team investors are supposed to have a 5 year plan but for Cooper he couldn't even last 2 years with the Athletica and only 1 with AC St.Louis! Didn't all you guys think he was certainly more committed than this and didn't you expect more out of him??
I think more of us are leaning towards the reality that Cooper never had the committment to even support a WPS/NASL team much less an MLS. Although he certainly seems to have the financial wherewithal to do the former since he's worth between $100 to $200 million and probably closer to $200 million. The question is if Cooper was never serious about this to begin with then WHY did he go to so much trouble getting on the media and publicizing his effort to get pro soccer if he never intended to carry through??
When I started posting on these board it was with a legitimate hope of an MLS team. Then when that fizzled I started supporting what I thought was the start of something great with AC STL. Now I am left with one word: disillusioned. The roller coaster ride has been too much for me. I will support USMNT and Arsenal as I struggle to support an MLS team. I will try to make it to a Lions game, but it just doesn't carry the same promise in my mind. Until next time...
Based on all the events that have transpired over the past 2 to 3 years the MLS team was just a delusion in Cooper's mind.
What did you say 3 years ago? If Redhawk doesn't come here anymore then does anyone know what he said 3 years ago?
but to be fair, it could have easily have gone the other way if someone would have stepped up (ie Woods). but it's ok, something bright is on the horizon and it is awesome!
I said Cooper NEVER had the money to begin. He stated in the paper, on the radio and on TV that the funding WAS there and EVERYTHING was in place. he even stated he had an investor worth $500 million. I feel sorry for the people that actually believed him.
Well we're NOT getting an MLS team.....and the NASL could be in trouble in general with the USSF. AC STL is NOT coming back. The only chance we have to see any form of OUTDOOR pro soccer is if the St. Louis Lions....or "Celtic" now...jumps to USL Pro. Tony Glavin's team has formed a partnership with the European club Celtic. So his won't be called the Lions anymore....It'll be something like Celtic St. Louis....or St. Louis Celtic FC. However, I'm not sure how "AWESOME" that'll be. It's a lower lever of play than the NASL. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Steamers return next year at the Scottrade Center. That indeed would be AWESOME!!
Steve, you have to realize that the NASL wasn't going to accept an owner that had the slightest relationship with Cooper. Also, Woods' act of "oh, the money is coming" just made the NASL office see another Cooper. The second that Woods pulled his first "oh, I don't have the money now, but it is coming" act, the team was doomed. And as far as the reporting on this, almost all of it was wrong (accept for us, I might add). I knew once the Athletica folded that AC wasn't far behind. See, if Jeff Cooper and Tony Hubert told the "pro-AC isn't folding" websites to jump, most of their writers would say "how high and can I set myself on fire while doing it." It was amazing the blindness that went into those pro-AC people. Yes, I understand that people had sources, but sources inside the team are ALWAYS going to say everything is alright. Do you think Jeffery Damher told his victims "yes, I am going to kill you"? Of course not.
doesn't matter much either way. Looks like the whole NASL is going down in flames. http://www.insidemnsoccer.com/2011/...g-us-soccers-decision-to-decline-sanctioning/
MUhooligan10, it has nothing to do with "letting it go". You all said that what I reported was....if I can quote Nik correctly...."horse shit". Correct? I am just pointing out that we were correct on our reporting on this issue and that other websites were way off. I mean, I understand why you would want incorrect, as long as it makes you happy, instead of knowing the truth. So, during that whole time I said the team was folding, you said I was wrong. And now that the team has folded, you are getting defensive? Yeah, the truth is a bitch, isn't it?