Steve Pecher (born

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

) is an American former

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defender who is currently the President of St Louis Scott Gallagher.

Youth and college

Pecher began playing soccer with the youth club, Florissant Cougars, then with his high school team at Normandy High School in St. Louis. He was part of the team which took the Missouri state championship in 1974, his senior year. He was also All State both his junior and senior years. The next year attended Florissant Valley Community College where he played on the national junior college championship team in 1975. He was a junior college All American both years at Florissant.

Professional

In 1976, the

Dallas Tornado The Dallas Tornado was a soccer team based in Dallas, Texas that played in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1967 to 1981. Of the twelve teams that comprised the U.S. in 1967, the Tornado franchise played the longest–15 seasons. T ...

of the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

(NASL) signed Pecher. That season he was named the 1976 NASL Rookie of the Year. He remained with the club through the 1980 season. By 1980, Pecher had begun a transition to indoor soccer when he joined the St. Louis Steamers of Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) for the 1979–1980 season. He was a 1980 MISL All Star with the Steamers. He remained with the Steamers through the 1983–1984 season. Pecher became a free agent in August 1984 and on September 11, 1984, he signed with the Kansas City Comets. He began the 1985–1986 season in Kansas City, but the Comets traded him to the Steamers for Stuart Lee in December 1985. He would remain with the Steamers until they traded him and Don Ebert on February 20, 1987, to the

Los Angeles Lazers The Los Angeles Lazers were an indoor soccer team that played in the Major Soccer League, Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) from 1982 to 1989. History Jerry Buss, the owner of California Sports, the parent company of the Los Angeles Lakers, Los ...

in exchange for Poli Garcia and Jim Kavanaugh. He retired at the end of the 1987–1988 season.

National team

Pecher earned 17

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with the U.S. national team from 1976 to 1980. He made his first appearance with the national team in a September 24, 1976, 1–1 tie with

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where he received a red card. He received another red card in 0–3 loss to Canada in

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on December 22, 1976. He played his last game with the U.S. national team in a November 9, 1980 1–5 loss to

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and was U.S. captain from 1978 to 1980.

Post-playing career

After retiring from playing, Pecher joined Marriott, where he became the director of retail sales. In September 2002, he was hired as the director of the former Busch Soccer Club then St. Louis Soccer Club and now the St. Louis Scott Gallagher. He had spent time with the team as a coach and continues to coach the younger girls teams.

References

External links

Interview with Pecher

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pecher, Steve Living people 1956 births American soccer coaches American men's soccer players Dallas Tornado players Kansas City Comets (1979–1991) players Los Angeles Lazers players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players Soccer players from St. Louis St. Louis Steamers (original MISL) players United States men's international soccer players Men's association football defenders St. Louis Community College alumni St. Louis Ambush (1992–2000) coaches 20th-century American sportsmen