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ONEONTA,
NY (December 14, 2006) – Hall of Famer Lamar
Hunt (Class of 1982, National Soccer Medal of
Honor 1999) passed away last evening after a
lengthy battle with cancer. “As one of the
founders of both the North American Soccer League
and Major League Soccer, Lamar Hunt was a visionary.” Hall
of Fame President and fellow Hall of Famer (Class
of 1995) George Brown said. “But he was
not only a visionary; he had genuine respect
for the history of soccer in the United States
and for those who had pioneered the game. He
threw his support behind the National Soccer
Hall of Fame from its earliest days, and was
elected to its Board of Directors in 2001. Lamar
carried himself with a special grace and he leaves
behind a legacy for which his extended soccer
family will be forever in his debt. We extend
our deepest sympathies his family.”
Lamar Hunt was inducted into the National Soccer
Hall of Fame in recognition of his efforts to bring
a national professional league to the United States
beginning in the 60s. He was one of the leading
initial investors, at first in the United Soccer
Association in 1967, and then in the North American
Soccer League in 1968. As the owner of the Dallas
Tornado, one of the sports model franchises for
14 years, he saw the league grow from five clubs
in 1969 to 24 ten years later. Soccer was a mostly
unknown sport in the Dallas area when he made his
first investment. Today in the Dallas area the
sport is played by thousands of youngsters and
the city is home to the largest youth soccer organization
in the United States, United States Youth Soccer.
One might expect that when he closed his NASL franchise,
he was done with the sport, but with the organization
of Major League Soccer following the wildly successful
1994 FIFA World Cup, he reinvested in the game.
He became the Investor-Operator of two MLS teams,
the Columbus Crew and the Kansas City Wizards,
and later took over the operation of the Dallas
Burn, renamed FC Dallas under his direction. The
Wizards won the MLS Cup championship in the 2000
season. In addition he led the way in building
Columbus Crew Stadium, the first modern era purpose-built
soccer stadium in the United States. He also recently
completed the extensive soccer complex in Frisco,
TX with its centerpiece, Pizza Hut Park, home of
the last two MLS Cup championship matches.
In recognition of his efforts to build the game
at all levels, he was awarded the first National
Soccer Medal of Honor in 1999. The Medal is Honor
is reserved for those individuals who have significantly
changed the landscape of soccer in the United States.
Other recipients of the Medal of Honor are Alan
Rothenberg, the 1991 U.S. Women’s National
Team, and Philip Anschutz.
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