COLUMN: City SC blanking Rapids gives St. Louis fans feeling of revenge

Saturday’s matchup between St. Louis City SC and the Colorado Rapids had the vibe of a rivalry for uncommon reasons.

The teams themselves are not rivals. Why would they be? Denver and St. Louis are only a 12-hour drive down I70, making Kansas City look like a pitstop along the way. With their 2-0 win on Saturday, City SC remains on top of the Western Conference with a three-point lead over defending MLS champion LAFC, while Colorado is at the bottom of the standings.

The rivalry is between the St. Louis fans and every team owned by Stan Kroenke, a 75-year-old billionaire who, along with his wife, Ann Walton Kroenke, owns a team in five American professional sports leagues, including lacrosse. Kroenke forced the Rams’ move from St. Louis to Los Angeles, and the fans here have not forgiven him, seeing it as a traitorous act from someone born and raised in Missouri. Seeing the Kroenkes win the Super Bowl (Rams), Stanley Cup (Colorado Avalance), NLL title (Colorado Mammoth), and NBA championship (Denver Nuggets) within the last 16 months has not made them feel any better either.

St. Louis losing an NFL team for the second time (the first being the Cardinals going to Arizona in 1988) ruptured its reputation as a sports city. However, 2023 has changed that for the town, which welcomed the St. Louis Battlehawks of the XFL and City SC of MLS. The Battlehawks were the only team in the XFL’s first full season since 2001 to reach attendance figures of over 32,000 in every home game, and every City SC home match so far has been a sellout.

That has not stopped the St. Louis fans from chanting “Kroenke sucks” throughout the match, for defeating the Rapids at home felt like revenge, and revenge was a dish best served quickly.

Tim Parker scored a goal in the 4th minute to give St. Louis City (11-7-2) a 1-0 lead. Jared Stroud later scored the second and final goal of the match in the 11th minute to give City SC a comfortable lead.

City SC is now 9-0-2 when they score the first goal of the game and are 12-0-1 when taking at least five shots on target.

Parker recently earned his first career MLS All-Star nod, along with goalkeeper and captain Roman Burki, who was voted on by the fans after leading the league in saves through the first 20 matches of the season.

“We enjoy being around greatness,” City SC coach Bradley Carnell said. “We enjoy seeing Roman getting rewarded with the All-Star call-up. He’s our captain, he’s our leader for a reason.”

Unlike most All-Star Games, the best players in MLS combine forces to take on a world-renowned European club, a tradition that they’re bringing back after two years against the Liga MX All-Stars. This year, the All-Stars will take on Arsenal, a Premier League team owned by the Kroenkes, on July 19 at D.C. United’s Audi Field.

If it makes St. Louis fans feel any better, Arsenal supporters are also not fond of Kroenke.