Soccer in the Twin Cities

Article by Michael Rainville, Jr.

The twenty-fifth season of Major League Soccer has officially begun. Our team, Minnesota United FC, is opening this milestone season on the road for two games, against the Portland Timbers and San Jose Earthquakes, before their home opener at Allianz Field against the New York Red Bulls. While there is a lot of hype and excitement around Minnesota United, the state’s history of professional soccer stems back to 1976 and beyond.

1925 photo of two local soccer clubs facing each otherBefore a professional team called Minnesota home, many immigrant communities started their own clubs dating back to the 1880s. Amateur teams like the Minnehaha Thistles and St. Paul F.C. played across the Twin Cities and Upper Midwest, and every year starting in 1888, they competed for the Shaw Cup, the state’s first prestigious soccer trophy.

In the 1900s, the sport continued to make strides and gain popularity. In 1952, the Minnesota Soccer Association, now the Minnesota Amateur Soccer League, was founded. The next decade saw the Minnesota Youth Soccer Association begin, who is now the host association of the Western Hemisphere’s largest youth soccer tournament at the National Sports Center in Blaine, the USA Cup. If you’re interested in learning more about the beginnings of soccer in Minnesota, check out this article by Brian Quarstad of FiftyFive.One, an online local soccer magazine.

Minnesota Kicks, 1977 

The first professional soccer team in the state came in 1976, the Minnesota Kicks, when the Denver Dynamos moved to Metropolitan Stadium. During their six years in the North American Soccer League, the Kicks made the playoffs every year, and made it to the final of the Soccer Bowl in their first year. They even became the first team to win four straight NASL division titles. When stars like Pelé came to town, the Met was rocking and raucous with 45,000 fans in attendance. People would even go just to tailgate outside of the stadium, a tradition that Minnesota United fans are trying to continue on. Unfortunately, the team ran into financial problems and folded after the 1981 season even though they planned to move into the new Metrodome the next year.

In 1984, Minnesota once again fielded a team in the NASL when the Fort Lauderdale Strikers moved to the Metrodome. This would be the last season of the NASL, and the Minnesota Stickers would move to the Met Center and join the Major Indoor Soccer League for four seasons before folding.

Minneapolis City Soccer Club logo

A couple years later in 1990, the head coach of the St. Paul Academy boys soccer team, Buzz Lagos, rounded up the top amateur players in area and the Minnesota Thunder came to be. In 1994, the Thunder joined the U.S. Interregional Soccer League and a year later, the team turned pro. During this era, the Thunder helped the careers of future US Men’s National Team players, Tony Sanneh and Manny Lagos, the current chief soccer officer and sporting director for Minnesota United. The Thunder would go on to play in the United Soccer League, the second tier on the US soccer pyramid, and created great rivalries that have stuck around to this day against the Montreal Impact, Portland Timbers, Seattle Sounders, and Vancouver Whitecaps.

The 2005 season was historic for the team. In that year’s iteration of the US Cup, a tournament with competitors from every tier of the US soccer pyramid, the Thunder defeated three MLS teams before getting knocked out of the tournament in the semi-finals by the LA Galaxy. 2009 ended up being their final season, when financial problems once again became the final blow. That season, a ninth grade Michael attended a match against the Puerto Rico Islanders with his teammates and coaches of DeLaSalle High School’s ninth grade soccer team, also known as the Islanders. With the help of the Dark Clouds, the Thunder’s supporter group, we chanted throughout the match “our Islanders are better than yours.” Good times.

Thankfully, a few people decided that professional soccer in Minnesota should stick around, and the year after the Thunder folded, the National Sports Center in Blaine created the NSC Minnesota Stars. The stars would join the second iteration of the NASL, this time a second-tier league, in 2010 with former player and Minnesota soccer legend, Manny Lagos, as their head coach. A year later, the National Sports Center did not meet the financial criteria to be able to continue to own and operate the Stars, so the NASL stepped in and ran the team, which would be known as Minnesota Stars FC. The 2011 season saw the Stars become champions. In 2012, the team would play a few games in the Metrodome, and would eventually make it back to the final. The Stars couldn’t pull off a win this time around, but in attendance was Dr. Bill McGuire who would purchase the team very soon after.

Minnesota United inaugural home opener ticket from 2017Now rebranded as Minnesota United with the state bird, the loon, as a focal point in their marketing, professional soccer in Minnesota was here to stay. By uniting soccer fans from across the Twin Cities and state, Minnesota United grew at a quick pace. Fan favorites Christian Ramirez won the Golden Boot, most goals scored in a season, in 2014 and 2016, and Miguel Ibarra earned the Golden Ball, league MVP award, and a callup to the US Men’s National Team in 2014 after an amazing season.  The success of Minnesota United saw their fanbase grow and new supporter groups popping up to join the Dark Clouds, such as True North Elite.

In 2017, Minnesota United made the jump to Major League Soccer, and are coming off a 2019 season that saw them make the playoffs for the first time and open a brand-new soccer specific stadium, Allianz Field. Because of the stadium’s high quality and the atmosphere the fans and supporter groups have created, Allianz has already hosted men’s and women’s national team matches. If you haven’t been to a Minnesota United match at Allianz Field yet, you won’t be disappointed and are guaranteed to have a blast. If smaller crowds are your thing, but still want to have a fun time, check out Minneapolis City SC, a local team that plays in the National Premier Soccer League, the fourth tier of the US soccer pyramid, with home matches at Augsburg’s Edor Nelson Field. They’re a club that is going above and beyond for the sport in Minneapolis and have developed local talent who have gone on to play professionally in MLS, Canada, and Sweden. 

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About Michael Rainville, Jr.

A 6th generation Minneapolitan, Michael Rainville Jr. received his B.A. in History from the University of St. Thomas, and is currently enrolled in their M.A. in Art History and Certificate in Museum Studies programs.

Michael is also an intern at the Hennepin History Museum and a lead guide at Mobile Entertainment LLC, giving Segway tours of the Minneapolis riverfront for 7+ years. Contact: mrainvillejr@comcast.net.

Click here for an interactive map of Michael's past articles.