Ben Millers was a U.S.

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

club sponsored by the Ben W. Miller Hat Company of St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1913, it entered the St. Louis Soccer League two years later, winning seven league titles and one

National Challenge Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in that country. The 2023 U.S. Op ...

before its disbandment in 1935.

History

A Ben Millers team, managed by E. Brinkman, competed in the St. Louis Association Foot Ball League during the 1904–05 season. In 1913, Ben Millers entered the Federal Park League in St. Louis, Missouri. The Federal Park League had been created that season after disagreements about permissible levels of professionalism had split the St. Louis Soccer League . St. Leo's, the city’s only fully professional team joined with several other St. Louis teams, including Ben Millers, to form the Federal Park League. This league existed only two seasons as the differences dividing the previous SLSL teams were reconciled leading to the re-establishment of the SLSL in 1915. Ben Millers joined the reconstituted SLSL, immediately asserting its dominance by winning three consecutive league titles. While the

was established by the United States Football Association in 1914, the St. Louis teams did not enter it until 1918. In 1920, Ben Millers became the first team outside of the northeast to win the trophy. While they never repeated as champions, they made the final in 1926. The team continued strong into the late 1920s but began to fade with the new decade. Frankie Vaughan took over as manager for the 1935–36 season.

Team ownership

Peter Ratican Peter Joseph Ratican (April 13, 1887 – November 20, 1922) was an American soccer midfielder who competed in the 1904 Summer Olympics. He was born and died in St. Louis, Missouri. Ratican, older brother to National Soccer Hall of Fame membe ...

owned Ben Millers in the early 1920s. Following his death in 1923, his widow owned the team for a time.

Record

References

External links

St. Louis Soccer League standings
{{USSoccer Soccer clubs in St. Louis St. Louis Soccer League teams Association football clubs established in 1913 Defunct soccer clubs in Missouri 1913 establishments in Missouri 1935 disestablishments in Missouri Association football clubs disestablished in 1935 U.S. Open Cup winners