Comments on: MLS Cup and the Geography of Soccer in Seattle

By: watchat

watchat — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 09:09:13 +0000

It is a Great article,

My favorite Seattle soccer stadium is Interbay, but I don’t know why.

By: The South African Connection: Kaizer Motaung, Jomo Sono, and the North American Soccer League | Pitch Invasion

Mon, 05 Apr 2010 23:24:58 +0000

[...] 1972, I was not yet alive when Kaizer Mopaung was in his NASL prime, and was too busy cheering my NASL Seattle Sounders with the blinders of a seven year old to be attending carefully to opponents such as Jomo Sono. [...]

By: Adam from Seattle

Adam from Seattle — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 17:54:40 +0000

Nice article, I grew up in Seattle and played soccer as a kid.

By: Neil Farnsworth

Neil Farnsworth — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 17:10:03 +0000

Yes, the Storm were definitely an important factor in keeping professional soccer alive in Seattle after the NASL Sounders closed down. I figured that was what you meant by “previous incarnations” but wanted to set the record straight. The net of all this is that there are many factors that make Seattle a soccer city and it is a great thing to see Seattle set the bar for others to match in division 1 professional soccer in America.

By: Andrew Guest

Andrew Guest — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 06:47:54 +0000

Thanks for everyone’s comments. I particularly appreciate Neil Farnsworth pointing out that I did “gloss over” the Sounders and pro-soccer more recently, and am glad he could fill in some details. The point of this particular article was more to look more at the non-pro side of making soccer matter in Seattle–but it may well be worth writing something else at some point looking at the other years of top level teams.

Which also means when I was sloppy in referring to “previous incarnations” I was including teams like the Seattle Storm (mid-80′s to mid-90′s), who have no automatic Sounders lineage but were important to kids like me for a while too (and for whom, I believe, current Sounders staff such as Brian Schmetzer and Chris Henderson once played). But Seattle soccer certainly owes much to people like Neil Farnsworth and Scott Oki who knew the Sounders were an important part of Seattle soccer long before MLS ever considered franchising a new name.

I also appreciate Marine Cano mentioning the Tacoma Tides. I don’t know much about them–but with a quick Wikipedia search I learned that in their one year of existence they had a back-up goalkeeper by the name of Bruce Arena that some American fans might know.

By: Bobby

Bobby — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 05:17:02 +0000

Does Tacoma count as “Greater Seattle”? If so, I’m desperate for the Sounders to play a pre-season friendly against the Tacoma Tide at this gem! http://www.flickr.com/groups/1067839@N21/pool/

By: Marine Cano

Marine Cano — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:36:12 +0000

Great article: I played in the old ASL for the LA SKYHAWKS in 1976 & 1977. Don’t forget the old Tacoma Tides they loved soccer way back then to!!

Marine Cano -GK.

By: Neil Farnsworth

Neil Farnsworth — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:25:45 +0000

Andrew, I enjoyed your article and the insight that there are many factors that led to the phenomenal start to the MLS Sounders. One area that I think you may have glossed over a little too quickly is the effect that the professional Sounders from 1993 to 2008 had on the soccer landscape in the Seattle area. I may be a little jaded in my beliefs because I was a principal owner of the team during those years but your article refers to “many of the Sounders previous incarnations”. This is not quite accurate. There were only the NASL Sounders and the Sounders as they existed between 1993 and 2008 (in two different leagues – the A-League and the USL), during which time they won 4 Championships and brought fans many great professional soccer games including games where MLS teams were involved and defeated. In fact, a number of players currently playing – and starting – in MLS were on those previous Sounders teams. In the early years of MLS there were as many as 15 former Sounders playing on MLS rosters in a given year. Also, the USL Sounders developed a relationship with the German Bundesliga team Werder Bremen. A precursor to European relationships that have been developed by today’s MLS teams. Additionally, you mention that Memorial Stadium could potentially seat 17,000 fans. In 1994, we had 17,000 fans twice and averaged 14,000 fans per game at Memorial. Also, the first soccer game played in Qwest field was played by the USL Sounders against the Vancouver White Caps. A game in which a USL attendance record was set at over 25,000. So, frankly, it isn’t a surprise to me or anyone involved in professional soccer in Seattle over the last 15 years that the 2009 MLS Sounders have been so successful. Don Garber and Mark Abbott can attest to the fact that I had assured them for several years that an MLS team in Seattle would be wildly successful.

By: Andrew Guest

Andrew Guest — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:18:30 +0000

Following up on this article, I got a nice note from Colin Jose — who has done much good work about the history of soccer in both the US and Canada — and thought some people might be interested in his thoughts on what set up the foundation for the later foundation I describe above:

“For me living in eastern Canada it’s hard to research the history of soccer in Seattle, but I do know that Seattle had a team in the old Pacific Coast Soccer League as far back as 1908. The Vancouver Province of July 27, 1908 reports on the founding of the league and lists the schedule. Seattle played Nanaimo, Victoria, Ladysmith and of course Vancouver. The first PCSL didn’t last very long, but Seattle’s ties to soccer in Vancouver continued and at one time Seattle had a team in the Vancouver and District League, while all-star teams in the two cities often played one another. In addition players often moved back and forth.

I find that some of these ties are due to a man named Barney Kempton. Barney was an Irishman, who was said to have played for Belfast Celtic many years ago. Like so many others he came first to the U.S., then moved into Canada, then returned to Seattle. Read the Vancouver papers and Kempton’s name keeps popping up right up to the time of his death in 1959. He was one of the first people inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame when it was formed in 1950. Today I imagine that Kempton has been completely forgotten, but he certainly played a part in the success of soccer in Seattle. In fact at one time there was a Barney Kempton award handed out in Washington state.

Undoubtedly in the years before and after World War Two, when British touring teams visited Vancouver, a percentage of the fans who attended came from Seattle, just as today a percentage of the fans who have watched the Sounders this season came from Vancouver.A similar situation exists between Detroit and Windsor, where the cities on either side of the border are closer than any city in their own country. In fact some Windsor teams played in the Michigan Soccer League in the 20s and 30s, and in the U.S. Open Cup. It’s all a matter of geography.”

Mr. Jose also noted that he’s curious to learn more about the above mentioned Barney Kempton if anyone has any info…

By: smokedgouda

smokedgouda — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:51:18 +0000

I used to live in Seattle in the 90′s and played amateur soccer there. I think there is a combination of things that make soccer work there:

1) Soccer played by adult leagues – there were hundreds of adult soccer teams playing there when I was last in town. I’m sure there’s more now. The fields were all dirt because they got year-round use and abuse.

2) Sonics leaving town – when Seattle lost the Sonics, there was a void for a professional sports team. I’m not saying soccer fans and basketball fans are crossover fans, but there was the momentum for a new professional team to replace the Sonics.

3) Seattle’s “alternative” culture – the city’s young adult population isn’t like most cities in that Seattleites genuinely appreciate “different” things. Whether it’s travel to some remote country in Asia, or the art and music scene.

just my $0.02.