Steve Pecher (born St. Louis, Missouri) is an American former

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

defender who is currently the Missouri Girls Director 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 Florissant may refer to: * Florissant, Colorado, a census-designated place * Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, a United States National Monument, Colorado * Florissant, Missouri, a city * Florissant Township, St. Louis County, Missouri S ...

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. ...

of the North American Soccer League (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 Stuart Lee (born 11 February 1953) is an English former football forward. Lee was born in Manchester, and played professionally in England, Wales and the United States. Player In 1971, Lee began his professional career when he signed with Bo ...

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

National team

Pecher earned 17 caps 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 Canada in Vancouver where he received a red card. He received another red card in 0–3 loss to Canada in

Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( , ; ht, Pòtoprens ) is the capital and most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 987,311 in 2015 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The metropolitan area is define ...

on December 22, 1976. He played his last game with the U.S. national team in a November 9, 1980 1–5 loss to Mexico in Mexico City 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 soccer players Dallas Tornado players Kansas City Comets (original MISL) 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 Association football defenders St. Louis Community College alumni