Big Reveals in the City2 Schedule Drop
St. Louis City SC have released the regular season schedule for their City2 team in the MLS NEXT Pro league, and the season will be bookended by major games.
On the front end of the schedule, City2 will be host to the first ever game in the new NEXT Pro. The league will begin play this year as the new reserve/developmental league for MLS, but will also feature St. Louis, whose first team won't enter MLS until 2023, as well as an independent Rochester NY FC. When the league kicks off the last weekend of March, the opening game will be between those two clubs, with City2 hosting RNYFC at Hermann Stadium on the Saint Louis University campus on March 25th.
NEXT Pro league president Charles Altchek explained the decision, saying, "When we were deciding on where to host the inaugural match, we wanted to pick a location with a strong soccer fanbase and a storied soccer history, and St. Louis checked all those boxes."
The game will kick off at 7:00 pm, with tickets priced at $10 in advance and $15 at the gate. The first 2,000 fans will receive a "City Red" (yes, we know it's pink) rally towel, and fans with the STL City mobile app will also be able to receive a new badge on the app for attending.
The team will play a 24-game season with the possibility of earning one of eight playoff spots as well. The twelve home games will include five at Hermann Stadium and six at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville's Ralph Korte Stadium.
What will excite many City fans, however, is the location of the final home game on September 18th against Sporting KC II. The official schedule on the team website lists the location as "To Be Determined," but the league appears to have accidentally leaked that it will be played at City's new Centene Stadium.
Obviously, that location will depend on the stadium construction remaining on schedule, but fans can begin to circle the date on their calendars and prepare to ramp up the StL-KC rivalry even before the first team takes the field next year.
By Joe Chambers