Chicago Spurs were an American soccer team that was a charter member of the non- FIFA sanctioned National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) in 1967. The team was based in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...

and played their home games at the

Soldier Field Soldier Field is a multi-purpose stadium on the Near South Side, Chicago, Near South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in 1924 and reconstructed in 2003, the stadium has served as the home of the Chicago Bears of the National Foot ...

. When the NPSL merged with the rival

United Soccer Association The United Soccer Association was a professional soccer league featuring teams based in the United States and Canada. The league survived only one season before merging with the National Professional Soccer League to form the North American ...

to form the North American Soccer League, the team moved and became the Kansas City Spurs, leaving the Chicago market to the Chicago Mustangs

History

In 1966, several groups of entrepreneurs were exploring the idea of forming a professional soccer league in United States and Canada. Two of these groups merged to form the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) and franchise rights were awarded to ten ownership groups. The Chicago franchise was awarded to Michael Butler and William Cutler, the partners appointed Alvis Kaczmarek to manage the team as Team President. In October, Kaczmarek hired Alan Rogers to coach the new team. The Spurs opened the 1967 season at

with a 1–0 victory over the St. Louis Stars with 4,725 fans in attendance. The team finished the season in third place of the Western Division with a record of ten wins, eleven loses and eleven draws, with an average attendance of 2,619. Following the 1967 season, the NPSL merged with the United Soccer Association (USA) to form the North American Soccer League (NASL). The new league decided against two-team cities, and in order to keep from competing with the Chicago Mustangs of the former USA, owned by White Sox co-owner

Arthur Allyn Jr. Arthur Allyn Jr. (December 24, 1913 – March 22, 1985) was the co-owner of the Chicago White Sox of the American League with his brother John Allyn from through . A few years after purchasing the franchise from Bill Veeck, Allyn tried to se ...

, who were chosen to be the city's NASL representative, the Spurs were sold to a group from Kansas City, Missouri and moved there to become the Kansas City Spurs.

Year-by-year

Coaches

* Alan Rogers

References

{{North American Soccer League (1966–85) Defunct soccer clubs in Illinois Spurs National Professional Soccer League (1967) franchises 1967 establishments in Illinois 1967 disestablishments in Illinois Soldier Field Association football clubs established in 1967 Association football clubs disestablished in 1967

History

Year-by-year

Coaches

See also

References