Looking for a team to support in the United States? Think names like the “Galaxy”, “Red Bulls” or “Dynamo” are just, well, all too sensible? Well, my friends, say hello to the Pennsylvania Stoners. The Stoners were reformed this month in Lehigh Valley, and will play in the National Premier Soccer League. The name actually comes from Pennsylvania being known as the “Keystone State”.

The Stoners go back a while, as they played in the second American Soccer League from 1979-1983, winning the title in 1980 in front of over 7,000 fans before folding (along with the league) just three years later. Moreover, the location is a historic one for the game here: nearby Bethlehem was home to the Steel (since they were founded by the Bethlehem Steel Corporation), the dominant team in the States in the early decades of the twentieth century.

Good luck to the Stoners. Local football as well as MLS needs to grow to make soccer a truly national game, and what better place to remind us of that. And what better name?

Hat-tip: jefe on OTF.