May 13 (1964)

In one of the most storied games in St. Louis soccer history, the CYC All-Stars nearly pull off a massive upset before settling for a 1-1 tie with Liverpool at Public Schools Stadium. Liverpool had just won England’s First Division, forerunner of today’s Premier League. The CYC All-Stars are a team of St. Louis-born amateur players. Liverpool, missing three players with the national team and captain Ronnie Yeats out with a gimpy knee, manages to preserve its dignity by netting a goal with four minutes left to salvage a draw. Although understrength, Liverpool arrives in St. Louis having swamped a Boston select team, 8-1, on May 8 and a similar side in New York, 7-1, on May 10. But in St. Louis, CYC stars create the most dangerous chances until Liverpool scores. Although Liverpool dominates the midfield, “the CYC team fought with such determination in defence that they proved a very hard nut to crack,” Liverpool will write in its report on its American tour. The second half has barely begun when Bob Renaud directs a pass from John “Bootie” Calcaterra just wide of the goal. In the 74th minute, Pete Traina rattles a drive off the crossbar. Just 30 seconds later, Calcaterra hits the bar again. So it is with ironic justification that St. Louis goes ahead on an own goal six minutes from time. Liverpool halfback Phil Kerns stops John Vitale’s shot, can’t control it, and inadvertently knocks the ball into his own net. Liverpool scores when Bill Stevenson sends an unbeatable screamer into the net. “You’d like to say it was a fluke goal, but there was nothing flukey about it,” U.S. Soccer Hall of Famer Bob Kehoe tells Dave Lange nearly 50 years later. “This guy hit a BB from just outside the penalty box.” Kehoe marks Liverpool’s Ian St. John out of the game despite Kehoe being in his mid-30s. St. John had scored a career-high 21 goals during the 1963-64 First Division season. The U.S. Soccer Federation asks Kehoe to join the U.S. World Cup team. He will become the team’s captain in its unsuccessful bid to qualify for the 1966 World Cup. In 1969, he will become head coach of the St. Louis Stars, the first American-born head coach in the old NASL. Three years later, he will be named head coach of the U.S. National Team. He will be inducted into the U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame in 1989.