The Salt Lake Sting was a professional soccer team based in Salt Lake City, Utah

Utah

Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...

. They played in the American Professional Soccer League

American Professional Soccer League

The American Professional Soccer League is a former professional men's soccer league which featured teams from both the United States and Canada. It was the first outdoor soccer league to feature teams from throughout the United States since the demise of the original North American Soccer League...

. The franchise lasted two seasons, but financial concerns caused the team's ownership to shut the franchise down on July 5, 1991. They were partly owned by actor Bill Murray

Bill Murray

William James "Bill" Murray is an American actor and comedian. He first gained national exposure on Saturday Night Live in which he earned an Emmy Award and later went on to star in a number of critically and commercially successful comedic films, including Caddyshack , Ghostbusters , and...

.

Stadium

The Sting played their short career at Derks Field

Derks Field

Derks Field was a baseball stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah. It was the home field of the Salt Lake Bees, Salt Lake Gulls, and the Salt Lake City Trappers of the Pioneer Baseball League until the Franklin Covey Field opened on the same site in 1994. It also hosted the Salt Lake Sting of A-League. ...

, a minor-league baseball stadium. The field was laid out in the outfield, and a portion of the field was dirt because it was the infield portion of the baseball diamond.

Initial Season

Nearly 10,000 fans attended the first game in April, 1990. The club averaged 5,400 attendees over the 13 games of the first season. This thrilled the ownership as they were hoping to average 2,500. A crowd of 9,439 watched the final game against the San Diego Nomads

San Diego Nomads

-History:The Nomads joined the Western Soccer Alliance in 1986. In 1989, the WSA changed its name to the Western Soccer League and in 1990, the team joined the American Professional Soccer League in 1990 when the WSL merged with the American Soccer League. After winning the WSL championship in...

. The Sting ended the season with a 12-8 record and second place in the Western Soccer League conference. They were knocked out of the playoffs by the Colorado Foxes

Colorado Foxes

The Colorado Foxes were a professional soccer team, based in Commerce City, Colorado, that played in the APSL between 1990 and 1997. The Foxes won two APSL titles, in 1992 and 1993. When Major League Soccer started and the Colorado Rapids became the region's premier team, the Foxes tried to stay...

 2-1 and 4-1. George Pastor

George Pastor

George Pastor is a former U.S. soccer forward who was a prolific indoor soccer goal scorer. He also earned seven caps with the U.S. national team in 1988 and 1989.-Indoor career:...

 was the second leading scorer and Derek Sanderson

Derek Sanderson (soccer)

Derek Sanderson is a retired American soccer player who played professionally in eight leagues including the North American Soccer League, Major Indoor Soccer League and American Professional Soccer League. He played three games for the U.S. at the 1983 FIFA World Youth...

 was the fifth leading scorer in the APSL.

Second Season

Director Fred Gray had high hopes for the 1991 season with new coach Valery Volostnykn. The new squad returned leading scored George Pastor and added local talent Steve Singlemann of Provo

Provo, Utah

Provo is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Utah, located about south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front. Provo is the county seat of Utah County and lies between the cities of Orem to the north and Springville to the south...

 and goalkeeper Pat Vietti of Salt Lake

Salt Lake City, Utah

Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...

. The club ended the season with a 3-17 record and folded before the final game could be played.

Staff

Mark Hugo - General Manager Dave Baggott - Assistant General Manager Fred Gray

Fred Gray

Fred Gray is a civil rights attorney and activist who practices law in Alabama . He served as the President of the National Bar Association in 1985 and the first African-American President of the Alabama State Bar....

 - Public Relations Director/Director of Soccer Operations

Coaching

The team was coached by Laurie Calloway from England during their rookie season in 1990. The coach for the Salt Lake Sting in 1991 was Valery Volostnykh from Russia who previously coached at UC Santa Barbara.
Laurie Calloway

Laurie Calloway

Laurence John "Laurie" Calloway is a retired English-U.S. soccer defender who spent thirteen years in the English leagues and six years in the North American Soccer League....

 (1990) Valery Volostnykh (1991)

Year-by-year

Year	Division	League	Reg. Season	Playoffs	Open Cup
1990	N/A	APSL	2nd, WSL North	WSL 1st Round	Did not enter
1991	N/A	APSL	4th, Western	Did not qualify	Did not enter