FC Dallas to host National Soccer Hall of Fame

The National Soccer Hall of Fame finally has a home.

On Wednesday FC Dallas and US Soccer announced that Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas will host the U.S. Soccer’s National Soccer Hall of Fame. The full announcement will come on October the 14th when the team will also announce improvements to Toyota Stadium. An exact date for when the move will happen is yet to be determined.

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Although this deal has long been rumored it was waiting the approval of the Frisco Independent School District. The deal was part of a larger between the City of Frisco and Frisco Stadium LLC in relation to modifications of their current stadium. Improvements to the stadium are also expected do be revealed during the October 14th meeting.

This deal marks the end of a long, strange journey for U.S. Soccer and the National Soccer Hall of Fame. Originally stationed in Oneonta, New York the actual Hall of Fame closed its doors back in 2005. The Poconos in Pennsylvania were also considered for the location.

Without a home the Hall of Fame has treaded water in recent years in temporary spots across the countries. Although there might not be a brick and mortar Hall of Fame to induct members into, players, coaches, and luminaries have still received the honors. This last season inductions occurred at the NSCAA Coaches Convention.

All of the items from the old Hall of Fame are currently being held in a warehouse in Hillsborough, North Carolina of all places. Neil Morris of Indyweek had a fantastic piece up two years ago investigating this matter which everyone should give a read.

So why Frisco, Texas? Although there may be many other cities where soccer is popular the Dallas Fort-Worth area has a few things going for them. The first thing that is important to bear in mind is the FC Dallas’ owner is Clark Hunt. Clark and his late father Lamar have worked in U.S. Soccer for close to 50 years with Lamar serving as an integral member of U.S. Soccer, the original North American Soccer League (Dallas Tornados,) and Major League Soccer (Dallas, Kansas City Wizards, and the Columbus Crew). It should also be pointed out that the U.S. Open Cup is also named after Lamar Hunt.

Second, Dallas has a very strong soccer history. F.C. Dallas won the 1997 Open Cup while the area plays host to the Dallas Cup one of the top youth club competitions in the world. Also their indoor team, the Dallas Sidekicks, won four indoor soccer titles.

The biggest question about placing the Hall of Fame at Toyota Stadium is will they draw crowds? The reason why Oneonta did not work out was because they could not get people to come out. Toyota Stadium is not exactly in downtown Dallas (it is about 27 miles away from the heart of the city) and F.C. Dallas have had troubles getting people to come to matches (their average attendance of 16, 192 is sixth lowest in the league).

That being said F.C. Dallas’ attendance numbers have increased every year for the past five years and the team has steadily improved their form over the past five years. With this added incentive to come to Toyota Park it will be up to the Hunt family to create incentives for people to make the trip out to Frisco not only to see F.C. Dallas but also to see the history of soccer in the United States.

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