Long before soccer clubs like FC Milwaukee and the Milwaukee Kickers helped make youth and club soccer popular, the city had a passion for the "beautiful game."
The influx of immigrants that arrived in Milwaukee in the 20th century spawned clubs like the Croatian Eagles, Bavarian Soccer Club, Milwaukee Sport Club, Verdi Sport Club and the United Serbians -- all of which remain today -- along with defunct clubs like the Hungarian Tigers provided recreation and entertainment for Milwaukee's immigrant communities.
Employees of the Schlitz Brewery founded Brewers FC in 1947. Predominantly German immigrants, the players got the brewery to sponsor the team, and the name "Old Milwaukee Brewers" was born. When Schlitz was sold to Stroh Brewery in 1982, the name was eventually changed to "Milwaukee Brewers."
By the 1990s, the Brewers had fallen on hard times. A few years earlier, a kitchen fire destroyed a restaurant, The Chalet, at the club's fields. The board of directors had let the insurance policy run out, so the fields and property were sold. Only one team was fielded, and player-coach Al Werner wanted somebody to take over the duties of running the club.
In 1996, Kevin Jahnke stepped forward. He was given the rights to the club's name and set forth to re-establish the Brewers, who were down to just a handful of members. Today, Jahnke is the club's president.
He moved the team from its North Side location to the East Side, where he and his wife lived. The Internet was just emerging as a publicity tool, so he and his wife copied fliers at a local Kinko's and plastered try-out announcements all over the area.
"We went to every laundromat and every bar we could think of," Jahnke says. "We put them up in the bathrooms and on the bulletin boards at UWM and Marquette. I was hoping to just get enough people to show up for us to field one men's team."
It was a shocker, then, when 97 people showed up at Urban Park on the lakefront for the first day of practice for the "new" Brewers. The club would go on to field two men's teams when Wisconsin Soccer Association play started that fall; both with full rosters of 23 players.
"I was just praying to get enough guys together to play," Jahnke says. "Crazy enough, I was sweating it all day. I couldn't believe the turnout that we had. That's when I saw the potential."
As the club continued to grow, more teams were added. The first Brewers women's team was formed in 1997. Today, the Brewers field teams in the Men's First Division and two first-division women's teams during the outdoor season, which runs from September to June. There is also a pair of over-30 teams and the over-40 squad.
Seven years ago, the Brewers offered their first co-ed team, which mixes regular players with those who just want to play for fun during the warm-weather months. Over half of the coed players are people who just come back for the summers.
"The coed teams are a good time," says Matt Krantz, who began playing with the Brewers in 2005. "Those of us that play on the regular teams like it because it helps keep us in shape, but it's also a great way for people to just come out and play soccer."
The club's growing popularity and continued growth allowed Jahnke the opportunity to turn more of the soccer operations to coaches and captains while he focused on the business aspect of the club.
Keeping up with powerhouse clubs like the Kickers and FC Milwaukee, as well as the perennially-powerful Bavarians, is no easy task for the Brewers, who don't own their own fields.
Currently, the Brewers hold practices at COA Youth & Family Centers, 909 E. North Ave. Early in the relationship, the Brewers held soccer camps and clinics for the center's youth and later volunteered the labor to re-sod and provide maintenance to the fields.
The site isn't big enough to hold matches, so the Brewers rent fields at Uihlein Soccer Park and other venues in the area. To pay the bills, Jahnke sought out sponsorships.
"The first couple years, we would take sponsorships from anybody that would give us $50," Jahnke says. "We'd put up a sign during our games for people that sponsored us. The first year, we had Alpine Wood Floors and a cigar shop."
The club continued to grow in popularity during that time, and Jahnke began researching the Brewers' roots further. When the Old German Beer Hall opened in 2005, it was a natural fit.
The bar's logo is now displayed on the team's jerseys and, conversely, the Brewers' logo and team pictures cover the walls of the bar.
In 2000, the team unveiled a new logo that Jahnke designed. It features a soccer ball, a beer stein and two sprigs of barley with the words "Freundschaft und Ehrgeühl;" which is German for "friendship and honor." The insignia was updated last fall, keeping the same elements.
The logo and association with the Beer Hall, Jahnke says, is part of the club's effort to pay tribute to the long history of the Brewers.
"I wanted to get back to our roots," Jahnke says. "The logo is a modern take on the old-school clubs that reflects our image. The Brewers embrace their German heritage while remaining open to people of any background."
