Original Sounders fans' devotion comes full circle

Brian Stewart wasn't the biggest kid on his block in Edmonds, but he was the biggest Sounders fan and loved playing soccer.

His father, Doug, took note and started taking young Brian to games at Memorial Stadium and later the Kingdome. Together they made memories, and as Brian looks back on those days 30 years later, recollections of his devotion to the former North American Soccer League Sounders come flooding back.

Watching Pelé and the New York Cosmos. The rivalries with the Vancouver Whitecaps and New York Cosmos. The two Soccer Bowl championship game appearances, and numerous chances to meet and get autographs from guys — many from Europe — that everyday people could relate to.

"One of the reasons I liked the Sounders is a lot of the guys were 5-foot-6 or 5-7," said Stewart, now 42 and living in Lake Stevens.

Stewart is just one of many local soccer fans witnessing the return of the sport at its highest level to the area, and remembering the heyday of the NASL club that endeared itself to the public with gestures as simple as waving to the fans in appreciation after games.

"They made an effort to reach out to the fans," Stewart said, remembering when on Mother's Day, players would walk over to the stands and give roses to women in the crowd at Memorial Stadium after the starting lineups were announced. "Those guys were all so kind to the kids."

Stewart would attend overnight soccer camps and the players would be there, not just for a token speech and quick exit but to run drills and spend the day with kids. He went to a car dealership in North Seattle just to see his favorite player, goalkeeper Tony Chursky, and remembers Chursky's chest being red from all of the balls he took off his body in practices and games.

Stewart isn't the only one with soccer-camp memories. Leann Johnson started going to Sounders games in 1976 and was a Junior Booster, which got her a seat behind one of the goals, a membership card and invitations to meet the players and get autographs after games. Her favorite Sounder was Matt O'Sullivan, a rookie in 1976.

Johnson, now 43, attended a Sounders skills camp in Renton and was the only girl in her group. Since no boy wanted to be her one-on-one partner, O'Sullivan filled the role. When the boys accused O'Sullivan of taking it easy on her, he challenged them to go against her, and Johnson stopped several of the boys.

"He ended up making a little girl's day!" Johnson said in an e-mail. "I suddenly had the respect of the boys, even acceptance, and in the end O'Sullivan lifted me up on his shoulders in celebration after my successful day of play."

The story of Gail Seubert and her love of the NASL Sounders has come full circle. She and her husband, Jorge Barrera, would go to Sounders games at the Kingdome and watch players like Tommy Hutchison and Roger Davies while listening to live organ music. The couple became such big soccer fans that on the night of their wedding, Aug. 5, 1978, they went to a Sounders playoff game.

Twenty five years later, the NASL Sounders were gone and Seubert and her family were too busy to get much into the former United Soccer Leagues Sounders. She and her husband did celebrate their 25th anniversary at a Sounders U.S. Open Cup match, though.

Six years later, soccer is again a big part of their lives. Seubert and Barrera have Sounders FC season tickets.

"This year, the Sounders [played FC Barcelona] on — you guessed it — Aug. 5," Seubert said, "and [we're there] to celebrate our 31st anniversary."

José Miguel Romero: 206-464-2409 or jromero@seattletimes.com