 The stadium during a match in 2015 | |
 Interactive map of World Wide Technology Soccer Park | |
| Former names | Anheuser-Busch Center St. Louis Soccer Park |
|---|---|
| Address | 1 Soccer Park Road Fenton, Missouri United States |
| Coordinates | 38°32′50″N90°26′20″W / 38.54722°N 90.43889°W /38.54722; -90.43889 |
| Owner | St. Louis Scott Gallagher SC |
| Operator | St. Louis Scott Gallagher SC |
| Type | Soccer-specific stadium |
| Capacity | 5,500[1] |
| Surface | Turf (main stadium field and 3 other fields, 2 grass fields) |
| Opened | 1982; 43 years ago (1982) |
| Tenants | |
| |
| Website | |
| slsgsoccer.com/facilities | |
World Wide Technology Soccer Park is asoccer complex which includes foursoccer-specific stadiums, with the main field, "West Community Stadium",[2] holding 5,500 seats. Located inFenton, Missouri, United States, a suburb southwest of downtownSt. Louis, it is owned and operated bySt. Louis Scott Gallagher Soccer Club whose 275 teams and 3,600 players use it for both practice and games.
It is also the home field forWebster University's men's and women's soccer teams and was the home ofSaint Louis FC from 2015-2020. The complex has five playing fields—three turf and two grass—and one main exhibition turf field, most of which are lighted. The fields are primarily used forsoccer but also hostfield hockey andlacrosse teams. In addition to the playing surfaces, the complex features offices, home and away locker rooms, a fan shop, a banquet hall, averanda overlooking the main field, two concession stands, a press box, and a private office.
Saint Louis FC of theUSL Championship previously played at World Wide Technology Soccer Park from 2014-2019, which averaged 4,532 fans per game in 2019.,[3] before ceasing operations in 2020 with the upcoming MLS expansion in St. Louis.
The "St. Louis Soccer Park" opened in 1982 with funding fromAnheuser-Busch who outright purchased it in 1985 and renamed it theAnheuser-Busch Center. During the Anheuser-Busch ownership, the main exhibition field, known as West Community Stadium since August 2019, was opened and capable of seating 5,500 spectators, for hosting international, collegiate and youth soccer competitions.
August Busch IV, the former CEO of Anheuser-Busch, who disliked going to Anheuser-Busch's headquarters, renovated a portion of the Soccer Park offices complete with his own luxurious and secluded office that includes a private bathroom (formerly soccer club coaches offices with a shower) and conference room. During Anheuser-Busch's takeover by Belgium beer makerInBev, the board and executives of Anheuser-Busch met in August's conference room at the Soccer Park. At one point during the takeover proceedings, August said "My war room is the Soccer Park" describing the frantic effort of the executives to save Anheuser-Busch from being sold.[4]
In March 2009, Anheuser-Busch wrote a letter of intent to transfer ownership of Soccer Park to Jeff Cooper and his organizationSt. Louis Soccer United (SLSU) in order to strengthen SLSU's bid for aMajor League Soccerexpansion team. While the MLS bid failed, SLSU announced in May thatSaint Louis Athletica, theWomen's Professional Soccer team also run by SLSU, would play the rest of their home games at Soccer Park, having previously played atRalph Korte Stadium on the campus ofSIUE.[5] In the summer of 2011, Jeff Cooper and SLSU sold the soccer park to St. Louis Scott Gallagher, a local soccer club.[6][7] Jeff Cooper originally received a bid for the Soccer Park from a non-soccer organization but this news spread toWorld Wide Technology executivesJim Kavanaugh and Tom Strunk who, in an effort to keep soccer strong in St. Louis, personally financed the deal - estimated at $1.9 million - on behalf of St. Louis Scott Gallagher.[8]
In March 2012, St. Louis Scott Gallagher broke ground on a $1.5 million renovation after it signed a partnership with Webster University and received sponsorship fromNike,Windows Mobile andWells Fargo in addition to a considerable donation fromWorld Wide Technology, who had a number of executives play soccer atSLU.[9][10][11] The renovations included replacing the main exhibition field and another grass field with turf, replanting the two remaining grass fields withBermuda grass, replacing the out dated scoreboard with a state-of-the-art video board and sound system, and converting one of the coaches' conference rooms into a first-class Team Pro Shop.
| Date | Competition | Team | Res | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 May 1987 | 1988 Summer Olympics qualification |  United States | 3–0 |  Canada |
| 5 September 1987 | 1988 Summer Olympics qualification | United States | 4–1 |  Trinidad and Tobago |
| 13 August 1988 | 1990 FIFA World Cup Qualification | United States | 5–1 |  Jamaica |
| 30 April 1989 | 1990 FIFA World Cup Qualification | United States | 1–0 |  Costa Rica |
| 5 November 1989 | 1990 FIFA World Cup Qualification | United States | 0–0 |  El Salvador |
| 4 April 1990 | Friendly | United States | 4–0 |  Iceland |
| 30 September 1990 | Friendly | United States | 2–0 | MISL Select XI |
