Collinsville Soccer Complex, also known as The Fields, was a planned

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

-centered development to be located in

Collinsville, Illinois Collinsville is a city located mainly in Madison County and partially in St. Clair County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 24,366. Collinsville is approximately east of St. Louis, Missouri, and is ...

, United States. The centerpiece of the complex was an 18,500-seat

soccer-specific stadium A soccer-specific stadium, mainly in the United States and Canada, is a sports stadium either purpose-built or fundamentally redesigned for soccer and whose primary function is to host soccer matches, as opposed to a multi-purpose stadium whic ...

that would have been the home stadium for professional

clubs in

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanctioned by the United ...

and WPS based in the St. Louis area. The plan also included eight

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

-approved

artificial turf Artificial turf is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass, used in sports arenas, residential lawns and commercial applications that traditionally use grass. It is much more durable than grass and easily maintained wi ...

fields, as well as

mixed-use development Mixed use is a type of urban development, urban design, urban planning and/or a zoning classification that blends multiple uses, such as residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment, into one space, where those functions ...

, which included retail, office, entertainment, educational, and residential areas. The entire development was valued at almost $600 million. The proposed stadium location was roughly ten minutes away from downtown

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

, by the I-255/

I-70 Interstate 70 (I-70) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the United States that runs from I-15 near Cove Fort, Utah, to I-695 and Maryland Route 570 (MD 570) in Woodlawn, just outside Baltimore, Maryland. I-70 appr ...

I-55 Interstate 55 (I-55) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, connecting the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes. The ...

interchange. All plans to begin construction had been in place, and the city of Collinsville had approved the project. Construction never began because MLS never awarded a franchise to

St. Louis Soccer United AC St. Louis was an American professional soccer team based in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in December 2009, the team played its first and only season the next year in the NASL Conference of the temporary USSF D2 Pro League, the ...

(AC St. Louis), the ownership group that had spearheaded the professional soccer effort in St. Louis; although the city of Collinsville had approved of the plans, construction was not approved until a MLS team was guaranteed. Also, there were several homeowners who had not yet sold their property. As such,

Saint Louis Athletica Saint Louis Athletica was an American professional soccer club that was based in the St. Louis suburb of Fenton, Missouri that participated in Women's Professional Soccer. Athletica started the 2009 season playing its home games at Ralph Korte ...

, the area's WPS team, began the league's first season in 2009 at

Ralph Korte Stadium Ralph Korte Stadium, also known as "The Ralph", is a 4,000 seat stadium located on the campus of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in Edwardsville, Illinois. It is home to the SIUE Cougars men's and women's soccer and outdoor track & fie ...

Edwardsville, Illinois Edwardsville is a city in Madison County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The population was 26,808 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The city was named in honor of Ninian Edwards, former governor of the Illinois Te ...

, but moved across the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

during the season to the

Anheuser-Busch Center World Wide Technology Soccer Park is a soccer complex which includes four soccer-specific stadiums, with the main field, "West Community Stadium", holding 5,500 seats. Located in Fenton, Missouri, United States, a suburb southwest of downtown St. ...

Fenton, Missouri Fenton is a city in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States, and a suburb of St. Louis County. The population was 3,989 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History Due to its proximity to fertile land and the Meramec River, the Fen ...

. Eventually St. Louis was awarded a Major League Soccer team but to a different ownership in a different location. On August 20, 2019, Major League Soccer announced it had approved St. Louis as the league's 28th franchise and

St. Louis City SC St. Louis City Soccer Club (stylized as St. Louis CITY SC) is an American professional association football, soccer club based in St. Louis. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Con ...

is expected to join in the 2023 season. The ownership is led by the

Taylor family Taylor, Taylors or Taylor's may refer to: People * Taylor (surname) **List of people with surname Taylor * Taylor (given name), including Tayla and Taylah * Taylor sept, a branch of Scottish clan Cameron * Justice Taylor (disambiguation) Plac ...

, founders of St. Louis based

Enterprise Rent-A-Car Enterprise Rent-A-Car is an American car rental agency headquartered in Clayton, Missouri, in Greater St. Louis. Enterprise is the flagship brand of Enterprise Holdings, which also owns other agencies including Alamo Rent a Car and National ...

, and Jim Kavanaugh, CEO of St Louis based World Wide Technology and

Saint Louis FC Saint Louis FC was an American professional soccer team based in St. Louis, Missouri. The team was founded in May 2014, and competed in the USL Championship. The team played their matches at West Community Stadium, a venue inside the World Wide ...

owner. The team plays at

Energizer Park Energizer Park, previously CityPark, is a 22,423-seat soccer-specific stadium in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. It is the home of St. Louis City SC, the city's Major League Soccer (MLS) franchise. The stadium is next to Union Station (St. ...

next to

Union Station A union station, union terminal, joint station, or joint-use station is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway company, railway companies, allowing passengers to connect conveniently bet ...

in downtown St. Louis.

References

{{coord, 38.68685, -90.034161, display=t, type:landmark Unbuilt stadiums in the United States Saint Louis Athletica AC St. Louis Soccer in St. Louis

See also

References