Jimmy Roe

Like so many of soccer's giants of the past, Jimmy Roe was not very tall. You don't have to be a behemoth to play soccer, and being built close to the ground can be an asset, especially if you were an inside forward in Jimmy's day.

Jimmy was born in St. Louis, a city whose soccer traditions go back along, long way, and whose great players have been legion. He was just six years old when he first began playing organized soccer at St. Matthews School on the north side, mainly an Irish settlement. Rumor has it that he showed good form at an even younger age. According to the story, he was about a year and a half when he toddled up to a big rubber ball on the living room floor. Roe regarded the ball thoughtfully, then just as thoughtfully gave it a left-footed belt, drove it at the pet dog and scared the daylights out of it. The pup is said to have regarded Jimmy with a tinge of suspicion after that.

He played with the St. Matthews school team through grade school and on graduation entered Christian Brothers College and it wasn't long before CBC was cleaning up on most of the opposition. In the 1928-29 season he played on his first Muny team, the Marres, then the following year with St. Matthew's, not to be confused with his grade school team of the same name. In 1929-30 he moved on to Russell Florists, but in the middle of the season became a member of one of the finest teams in American soccer history. Stix, Baer and Fuller, was one of the great St. Louis department stores of that day and many others, a fixture in the Mound City for many years. Yet when Jimmy joined them they had not yet attained national prominence.

But in the spring of 1932 they reached the final of the U.S. Open Cup for the first time. In those days the Open Cup final was the big event of the year on the soccer scene attracting national attention and drawing large crowds. Stix, Baer and Fuller met the powerful New Bedford Whalers in the final, with both games being played at Sportsmans Park in St. Louis. Jimmy didn't play in the first game which ended 3-3, but he did play in the second which Stix lost 5-2. However, it didn't end there. Stix, Baer and Fuller returned to the final the following year against the New York Americans led by Hungarian international Erno Schwarz. Stix won the first game in St. Louis 1-0 on a goal by Jimmy's left wing partner, Willie McLean, and the second at Starlight Park, in the Bronx 2-1.

The win qualified Stix, Baer and Fuller to meet the Canadian champions Toronto Scottish at Soldier Field in Chicago for the rarely played North American championship. On a pitch without any grass Toronto won 2-1. One year later Stix were champions for the second time. This time the opposition was Pawtucket Rangers. Stix won the first game at Walsh Stadium in St. Louis 4-2, but lost 3-2 at Coats Field in Pawtucket. The final game was played back in St. Louis with Stix winning 5-0. During the summer of 1934 Stix, Baer and Fuller opted out of the soccer business, but St. Louis Central Breweries stepped in to fill the gap, and the great team reached the final for the forth time in four years.

Once again Pawtucket Rangers were the opposition. St. Louis won the first game 5-2 at Walsh Memorial, the second game played in Pawtucket was tied 1-1, and the deciding game was played at the City Stadium in Newark, N.J. Pawtucket won 3-1, but Central Breweries took the cup on an aggregate score of 7-6. For Jimmy Roe it was his third consecutive national championship medal.

But there was more to come. In 1936 Central Breweries became St. Louis Shamrocks and reached the final again with much the same line up. However, this time St. Louis lost to the Philadelphia German-Americans. But the Shamrocks were in the final again in 1937, this time losing to New York Americans. For little Jimmy Roe it was his sixth national final in six years. In those great years Jimmy Roe's team-mates included some of the legends of U.S. soccer. The player-coach was Scottish international Alex McNab, and alongside him were U.S. internationals Billy Gonsalves, Werner Nilsen, Bert Patenaude and Willie McLean, while at right half was the great Bill McPherson. Jimmy Roe played inside left and his partner on the left wing in the first four finals was Willie McLean, and thereby hangs a tale. McLean left St. Louis for Chicago early in 1937 and disappeared the following summer. As late as November 1944 there was an advertisement placed in the Midwest Soccer News asking that anyone with information on his whereabouts please contact Aetna Life Insurance Company. When Jimmy was inducted into The National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1997, I asked him about Willie McLean, and the answer was that no one had seen him since the summer of 1938.

Following the 1937 Open Cup loss to the NY Americans, Jimmy was selected for the squad to represent the United States against Mexico in a three game series in Mexico. But this long overdue honor was denied him as an injury kept him out of action.

When World War II broke out, he joined the U.S. Army and served with the 456th A.A. Battalion in Europe and later became superintendent of the Soldiers Memorial at Fourteenth and Pine Streets in St. Louis. Jimmy died in St. Charles, Missouri on August 21, 1999.

Hall of Famer Spotlight is a page dedicated to a randomly selected Hall of Famer each month. This Hall of Famer will be randomly selected by The National Soccer Hall of Fame Staff. This page will give a short biography/story of the selected Hall of Famer to show his/her contribution to the world's most popular sport.

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