Founding Futbol

Founding Futbol is back, but on a different feed (sort of). This week, we are excited to announce that we're part of the Arsenal Vision and Football Vision podcast network. As part of that partnership, we will be starting a new feed, by the same name, but now published by Blue Wire. That feed is already live with the Prologue. Click on the links below and listen to the quick update for details. Podfollow Link Spotify Show Link Apple Podcasts Show Link Chapter One will be published on that feed soon! Then additional chapters will follow quickly, picking up where we left off by the end of next week, before we fall into our planned weekly release schedule. We will be discontinuing this feed in the coming days to avoid confusion. FoundingFutbol.com will remain the home for extended show notes. Thanks for listening!

Founding Futbol is currently pausing the release of new episodes. We are working on an exciting partnership and will share more in the coming weeks!

In 1959, the first year the NCAA staged a national soccer championship, St. Louis University converted its club program to varsity status. It was unlikely that the Billikens would immediately become a powerhouse. After all, some programs had already been in existence for nearly five decades and hundreds of others for at least a decade. How would this upstart team compete? But head coach Bob Guelker built a roster full of St. Louisans that would become an immediate powerhouse and the beginning of a college soccer dynasty. Their model would change college soccer and help forge a path for the sport to become popular in America. Author Dave Lange is our guest. He wrote ⁠⁠Soccer Made in St. Louis which features rich details about the 1959 NCAA Championship and St. Louis University's soccer history. Founding Futbol is a year-long exploration of the critical moments that have led to soccer's emerging popularity in America. Visit our website for more information: ⁠FoundingFutbol.com

Soccer didn’t start in America on June 29th, 1950. But the 1950 US Men’s National team’s impossible victory over England in the World Cup was an anchor moment – our first moment – in the decades long journey that soccer has taken back to prominence in America. In Chapter One of Founding Futbol, we explore why that game had meaning, what made it special and what key information soccer fans should know about that team and match. Author Geoffrey Douglas is our guest. He wrote ⁠The Game of Their Lives⁠, the book about this 1950 game that later become a movie. Founding Futbol is a year-long exploration of the critical moments that have led to soccer's emerging popularity in America. Visit our website for more information: FoundingFutbol.com

History simply doesn’t teach that soccer was nearly a mainstream sport in America. Soccer was growing in popularity late in the 1800s then again in the early 1900s, with unquestionable gains in momentum into the 1920s. It was on track to be relevant, maybe even a topflight draw. Then, the Soccer War killed it. Founding Futbol is a year-long exploration of the critical moments that have led to soccer's emerging popularity in America. Before digging into our weekly episodes focused on the sport's growth, this Prologue episode provides a brief history of soccer in the United States, culminating in The Soccer War. Noted soccer historian Roger Allaway is our guest, providing context on the events leading up to and The Soccer War itself. Visit our website for more information: FoundingFutbol.com

It's easy to assume soccer's recent popularity in America simply took time to develop. But that would be an overly simplified explanation. The history of soccer in this country is nuanced and complex. It once thrived with a chance to become mainstream, only to fade into the background of America's sports conciousness. Then a series of key moments and events slowly built soccer's popularity back to a point where it has now become one of the fastest growing sports in the country. On the basis of popularity, viewership and participation, soccer has arrived in America. Founding Futbol is a weekly podcast that breaks down soccer's journey in this country, analyzing how key moments contributed to the sports initial missteps and then slow rise back to prominence. And, now, it's meteoric ascent into the forefront of sports consumerism. Join us every week as we take you on the journey of soccer in America on Founding Futbol.