Welcome back to another Cave Wall Story in this ongoing series about STL City Supporters Groups! This time we sat down with Saint Louis City Punks. The Capitol crew sat down with Andy, Danielle, Brandon, and Rob of SLCP to get a better look into this independent SG who want to focus on Community in all aspects, not just in the stands as fans.
Originally SLCP was a group of friends who shared a love of music and soccer, and as with a lot of the culture in and around the team, grew and became more concrete during the CITY 2 season and lead up to the big club. As the season ticket deposits opened, and those ticket purchases became reality, Andy floated the idea of "What if we made our group into an official SG? What would that look like?" After much discussion the friends decided to go for it but they had to find themselves a name. Well after some suggestions were thrown around, they settled on Saint Louis City Punks, drawing inspiration from an old movie called SLC Punk! (1998). Although the name stood for Salt Lake City, the setting of the movie, with the team name being Saint Louis City, it just clicked. Despite a few tweets with backlash the name stuck.
There is already even a subgroup already forming within SLCP known as Riot Grrrls. While maintaining the same commitment to community as the rest of the group, Riot Grrrls have a special focus on equality and the social and political issues that affect females and femmes alike, bringing an intersectional approach to make sure they welcome and support the whole community.
Spawning from a strong group of friends, community is a big factor in who SLCP are. The group as a whole want to be a place for people to grow as friends and fans alike, often putting together plans at the last minute to go to local shows and other such events. This also spills over into another aspect of SLCP, giving back to the surrounding community. SLCP are currently working on securing 501(c)(3) distinction as a charitable organization and should have it secured by the beginning of the MLS Season. Though they have not announced their charitable partner for this season yet, they will continue to work with American Foundation of Suicide Prevention - Missouri by donating through proceeds of merch sales and other fundraising efforts across SLCP events.
When it comes to matchday, the plans pregame are to be at Louligan Street alongside the Louligans at the Schlafly Taproom across from the stadium. It would be very hard to miss them, seeing as they now have a large, and I mean HUGE (16ft by 16ft), flag with their logo on it. but if by some chance you don't see the flag, you can easily find them on Twitter and Instagram (@slcitypunks) or on their website at slcitypunks.com and if you would like to hear this conversation, go to your podcatcher of choice and find the Soccer Capitol Podcast Ep. 81 "Soccer Capitol Gets Punk'd"
