Saint Louis has maintained a strong connection with both its fan base and the community as a whole. In recent weeks, the club has been involved with the Shop with a Cop program, with the monies going toward taking underprivileged children shopping during the holiday season. A number of staff members, supporters and season ticket holders have been involved in a recent coat drive. And around the corner in early January, the supporters group the St. Louligans is holding a charity game with the American Outlaws to raise canned goods for a food bank.

“Anytime our supporters group gets something going, it just grows the game even more,” Alumbaugh said. “More people learn about them. They learn about the club. So we’ve got a lot of things going on that we’re excited to be a part of.”

This is just a sampling of the organization’s involvement off the pitch. When it comes to the game experience itself, STLFC has done incredibly well at World Wide Technology Soccer Park, so much so that the club is on the cusp of having to increase its seating.

“We’re really close to having to expand, and it’s always been a goal of ours to, at the right time, expand the stadium and be able to keep up with the demand,” Alumbaugh said. “We want it to be a very hard ticket for people. At some point we’re going to have to open up.

“Preki tells us all the time about Sacramento and when they expanded Bonney Field. I think he’s driven to put a team on the field that’s going to require us to put more stands out there. He wants that excitement. It’s coming, and when it’s the right time, we’ll announce those intentions.”