Last Wednesday (16 November), I drove to downtown St. Louis. After parking at the Schlafly Tap Room, I walked to Lou Fusz Plaza at CITYPARK, the home ground for St. Louis CITY SC.
I picked up my replica CITY home jersey, which I had preordered two days before, then walked to the street in front of the Schlafly Tap Room. The supporter groups--St. Louligans, St. Louis City Punks, The Thieves, Fleur de Noise, No Nap City Ultras, and STL Santos--were holding a tailgate party. I had a beer from Schlafly (Park Lager) and hung out with them. I also made donations--via the St. Louligans raffle and donation box--to Heat Up St. Louis, which helps low-income residents with their heating bills.
One hour before the 7:00 pm kickoff, we marched from the Schlafly Tap Room into CITYPARK. I carried Ghana's flag into the stadium; other marchers carried other flags and banners. After entering CITYPARK, we made our way to the Supporter Section in the North End and took in the scene.
In CITYPARK's inaugural match, St. Louis CITY 2--the club's developmental team--played German Bundesliga side Bayer 04 Leverkusen. CITY 2 looks well in playing Bayer 04, but the German team proved too much and they ran out 3-0 winners. Still, being able to see such a match in this new stadium and with a full house mattered more than the scoreline. All this despite the freezing weather.
After the match, I walked back to my car and drove home. The next night, I modeled my replica CITY jersey. I think it looks great.
This afternoon, I was at World Wide Technology Soccer Park to referee matches on the last day of the SLYSA Fall Season. My crew worked three matches on Field 1 under freezing conditions. After running line on an under-15 girls match, I was in the middle for another under-15 girls match. That was a thriller, with the teams trading the lead, and the final goal in a 3-2 result coming 7 minutes before full time. Then, I ran line on an under-13 boys match. All three matches today went well with no controversy.
I caught the first half of the Qatar vs. Ecuador match that opened the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. The tournament continues tomorrow with three matches, including USA vs. Wales. I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN! U-S-A!
Later.
Websites of Entities Mentioned in This Post:
St. Louis CITY SC: St. Louis CITY SC (stlcitysc.com)
Schlafly Tap Room: Tap Room Brewpub - Schlafly Beer
St. Louligans: Saint Louligans – Supporting Soccer in the St. Louis Area – St. Louligans – Supporting St. Louis Soccer (stlouligans.com)
St. Louis City Punks: SLCP Home (slcitypunks.com)
The Thieves: Home | Up the Thieves! (stlouligans.com)
Fleur de Noise: Fleur De Noise
No Nap City Ultras: NO NAP CITY ULTRAS
STL Santos: (4) STL Santos | St. Louis MO | Facebook
Heat Up St. Louis: Heat Up St. Louis – Give the Gift of Warmth (heatupstlouis.org)
St. Louis CITY 2: STL CITY 2 | St. Louis CITY SC (stlcitysc.com)
Bayer 04 Leverkusen: Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH | bayer04.de
Bundesliga: Bundesliga | official website
FIFA World Cup: FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™
