Brian Roth was born and raised in Chester, IL, which is best known as the birth place of the popular cartoon, “Popeye The Sailorman”, and received his college degree in Recreation Management from Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, MO.
Roth has worked full-time in professional soccer from 2007-2020, both in Major League Soccer and in Pro Indoor Soccer, most recently serving as the General Manager of the St. Louis Ambush of the Major Arena Soccer League.
In his final year at SEMO in 2000, Roth would intern with the original St. Louis Ambush at the Enterprise Center (then named Kiel Center) and that internship carried over into a full-time Sales/Marketing position with the club.
In the summer of 2000, after the Ambush lease at Kiel Center was terminated, and the franchised ceased operations, Brian entered into his college field of Recreation and became the Director of Leagues/Fitness for the City of Perryville, MO at their $10 million Perry Park Center, a multi-purpose community recreation center that had just opened.
Roth stayed involved in Professional Soccer during his time in Perryville, MO and did sales on the side for the St. Louis Steamers from 2004-2006 when the team played downtown at the Enterprise Center (then named Savvis Center).
In 2007, the Kansas City Wizards of Major League came calling and Brian then took a Sales Executive position with the franchise and was the team’s Top Ticket Sales rep for the three years he worked for the team.
Following the KC Wizards historic upset win over powerful Manchester United at Arrowhead Stadium in front of more than 52,000 fans, in July 2010, Roth then took an opportunity to help bring back pro indoor soccer to Kansas City, as he became the Ticket Sales Manager for the KC Comets. He remained in that role for three seasons, as well as that same position for FC Kansas City of the National Women’s Soccer League, as the same staff operated both the Comets and FC KC.
In June of 2013, Roth, a lifetime supporter of St. Louis Soccer, was able to move back to the St. Louis area and help Andrew Haines revive the St. Louis Ambush and pro indoor soccer in the Gateway City. After started as the Assistant GM, Haines promoted Roth to General Manager in January 2016 and he remained in that position through the 2019-20 season.
Roth then started a new career as the Director of Fundraising for popular St. Louis pizza company, Andoro and Son’s Pizza, who was a previous sponsor of the Ambush from 2015-2018. In his current position, he deals with many of the same groups he dealt with while working for the Ambush for seven seasons.
Brian currently resides in Valley Park, MO, right in the heart of St. Louis County. In his spare time, he can be found playing indoor soccer three nights a week at the Vetta Sports location in St. Charles, MO. Roth is also a current member of the SEMO Redhawks Booster Club (The Redhawks Club) and an avid fan of all of SEMO’s Athletic Teams.
