Tom Timmerman
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
September 12, 2007

Late Monday night, after the Collinsville City Council had given the go-ahead for a massive development project that would include a soccer stadium, Jeff Cooper was on the phone. The man behind the bid to bring a Major League Soccer franchise to the St. Louis area called MLS President Mark Abbott, who oversees business matters such as expansion, to give him the good news.

Jim Baer
St. Louis Commerce Magazine
September, 2007

In 1977, the greatest soccer star in history, Brazil’s Pele, played against the St. Louis Stars of the old North American Soccer League at Busch Stadium. Cars were parked as far away as Tucker Boulevard as throngs of soccer fans jammed the home of the Cardinals to see Pele and the New York Cosmos perform. The scene was befitting of St. Louis, the undisputed soccer capital of the United States. 

Tom Timmerman
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
September 1, 2007

Revenue from the city's portion of the proposed soccer stadium project would almost double its investment, according to "positive" financial estimates released by officials Friday.

The stadium and mixed-use development would, according to estimates, cost the city $3 million a year over the next 25 years. But officials are confident the project will generate $5.7 million a year, or $2.7 million over their investment.

Bernie Miklasz
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
September 1, 2007

Best of luck to Jeff Cooper as he continues to pursue his goal of bringing a Major League Soccer franchise to the St. Louis area.

I'll let others squabble over the financial pros and cons of Cooper's exciting proposal for a stadium complex in Collinsville. But as a soccer fan, I know that Cooper is the right man to lead the project. Soccer is his passion. Cooper, 38 and a Granite City native, has the potential to emerge as one of the dynamic new leaders in this sports community. Because Cooper is more than a dreamer, he's a doer.