Texas Longhorns Soccer Club and the Dallas Cup

Dallas Cup: The Gift of Friendships
By Judy Murphey

"As we approach the 30th Anniversary of the world’s best competitive youth soccer tournament, it is interesting to note that the tournament had its origins as a “thank you note”! Conceived as a way to reciprocate English and European youth soccer clubs who had hosted the Texas Longhorns Soccer Club on its many trips abroad, the Dallas Cup vision was realized in the spring of 1980. The Texas Longhorns, established in 1968, and thus the oldest competitive youth soccer club in the southwest originally had little company on the Dallas soccer scene. Soon, however, the Flame, the Titans, the British Caledonian Diggers, the Gunners, Solar, the American Generals, the Minutemen and others became the earliest clubs teaching the most popular international sport in a landscape dominated by American football. The first Dallas Cup consisted of three age groups (U14, U16 and U19) and matches were played at Moss Park with the feature games held at the stadium at Jesuit High School. Local clubs represented in that first tournament were Flame SC, Titans SC Sparta, and the Texas Longhorns. Among the first visitors were a team from German and several teams from England and Mexico"....more