September 12, 2007 by Jeff Cooper

By now you certainly know that our stadium proposal was passed by the Collinsville City Council by a 4-1 margin on Monday night.  To everyone who has stood nearby or supported us from afar, my sincerest thanks.  One of the most rewarding aspects of Monday’s vote is the clear confirmation that Collinsville, the St. Louis region, and soccer fans from throughout the Midwest want to see this happen.  That much is unmistakable, from the firm vote of approval by the City Council, to the dozens of supporters who attended the meeting, to the hundreds of people I have heard from in the past 48 hours, and to the thousands who visit this website in the name of supporting our goal to bring Major League Soccer to the St. Louis area.

Our journey to this point has been one of many stages, and thanks to Monday night’s vote we’ve arrived at another stage.  Here locally, we will now begin negotiating with the City of Collinsville on the annexation agreement, which is described in the news section here on the website.  We are now formally partners with Collinsville, and it will be a privilege to move forward with city leadership as our vision for the stadium and overall project comes into focus.

Understandably, everyone is interested in where we stand with MLS.  That, too, is at a new stage.  MLS has long been aware of our many assets here in St. Louis – our central geographic location, our excellent reputation as a sports town and a soccer history that cannot be matched anywhere in the nation.  But, because of your support and the faith of the City of Collinsville, we are now able to stand before MLS with the promise of a spectacular 18,500-seat stadium and soccer complex, to say nothing of the surrounding development.  Our powerful candidacy as an MLS expansion market was strengthened significantly on Monday, and MLS has acknowledged this to me during our discussions this week.  I cannot stress enough how important Monday’s vote was to our effort to bring MLS soccer to St. Louis, and for that the leadership of the City of Collinsville deserves the thanks of everyone who shares our goal.

We are fortunate to have an extremely solid relationship with MLS Commissioner Don Garber and President Mark Abbott.  Our discussions with them this week have been excellent and we are very appreciative of the kind words they have shared with the news media on our candidacy as an expansion market.  As a group, St. Louis Soccer United will continue to work hard to gain their trust, and that of the MLS Board of Governors, to make this dream a reality.

In the meantime, please use the features on the home page that will permit us to send you e-mail alerts to information and news as well as to “Tell Five Friends” about St. Louis Soccer United and our website.  And encourage others to do the same.  Word is spreading … while the majority of visitors to our website are from the St. Louis area and the U.S., we’ve also had visitors from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ecuador, Australia, Japan, Spain, South Korea, Italy, Egypt, Sweden, Belgium, China, Brazil, Switzerland, India, Russia and the Philippines.

Stay in touch … and thanks again for your support!