Midfielder Seth Antwi is the latest player from St. Louis City SC’s developmental squad to get brought up the first team as the team starts the transition from a failed 2025 season to what it hopes is a brighter future.
But don’t go thinking Antwi is a kid.
Antwi is 25, turning 26 in November, and is old enough to have already wondered in his career if his time had passed, if getting to a first-division club, in any country, was going to happen.
But he has made it. No one can be sure how long it will last, since a major roster overhaul may be in City SC’s future after its second straight season of missing the playoffs, but Antwi has fulfilled his soccer dream. He made his MLS debut last Saturday in Montreal and may well get another chance on Saturday when City SC plays at San Jose. A City SC loss or a Real Salt Lake win on Sunday will officially eliminate City SC from playoff contention.
“Honestly, when I was 23, I was like, ‘Is this really gonna happen?’ ” he said. “But I always had to believe in me that it doesn’t matter. If it’s my time, it’s my time. I just have to keep up with the hard work. I’m glad it’s paying off right now.”
Antwi joins Brendan McSorley, Mykhi Joyner and Jaziel Orozco in the City2 contingent with the first team. Joyner, McSorley and Antwi were on the field together for the closing minutes of City SC’s 2-0 win over Montreal last week.
“I thought it was fantastic,” said interim coach David Critchley, who also coached all four when he was in charge at City2. “Because, as much as we want to win the game, as much as we want three points and win the game, giving these young guys in City2 opportunities to be in the first team, I think shows the culture within the club. It shows an opportunity to grow, and that we will give anyone a chance if we feel they are ready.”
Antwi’s journey began in Ghana, where he played for the same academy as teammate Josh Yaro. He came to America and played four seasons of collegiate soccer at Dayton, and then when COVID gave players a fifth season, he played that one at High Point in North Carolina, where his team won the Big South title and went to the NCAA tournament.
It was former City2 coach Bobby Murphy who spotted Antwi while he was at High Point and signed him. After that first season with City2, when Antwi didn’t get a first team callup in a season where a lot of players did, it wouldn’t have been surprising for him to look for a job in the second division USL Championship. But he stayed in St. Louis.
“After my first year, I was like, I want to be here,” Antwi said. “And when Critchley came, he spoke to me, and the plan that he held for me, I thought it was a good plan, so I stayed with him. … I was like, ‘OK, I can stay and see how things work out.’”
Antwi was a semi-regular on the practice field with the first team, joining them whenever they didn’t have enough players for a full group for practice.
“That was encouraging, for sure,” he said. “The year before, I didn’t train with the first years. But I kept pushing, doing what I’m doing. … This year, I was like, ‘OK, this is the moment, I’ll give it my all.’ I always believe in myself that I can always make it to the levels of training with them. It was massive.”
One of the things Critchley cites repeatedly about Antwi is that he’s a good communicator, in addition to being a ball-winner, solid attributes for a defensive midfielder.
“When he’s on the field,” Joyner said, “he will always keep running. He’ll always keep talking. He never stops talking, which is a good thing. He’s always trying to find the best situation for you. And if you can’t make a run, he’ll make it for you. He’s just a very good teammate, someone you would always win on the field for sure.”
“It’s really important for us that they come here,” City SC forward Klauss said. “They make a difference. They make an impact in training, in the games. Also really happy for them. When you were young or you were in the second team, that’s what you wish every single day, to be part of the first team.”
“We have the quality,” Joyner said. “I also think that we bring a lot of intensity to the group, to maybe uplift others as well. If something’s not going our way, we’ll run, we’ll keep going, we’ll keep pressing and help the team out.”
The City2 crew could see more action Saturday because this will be another short-handed week for City SC. Sangbin Jeong has had to return to South Korea on a personal matter and isn’t available. Fallou Fall missed most of the week of practice to illness and is out, as is Henry Kessler, who has a lower body injury. Marcel Hartel, who didn’t practice Thursday, is not on the injury report and is presumably available.
It’s also a time when things have been looking up a bit for City SC — though arguably for a team so far down almost anything is cause to look up. If not for an acknowledged blown call against Vancouver, the team would have points in four of its past six games.
“I think this was the philosophy that we wanted from day one. … We are finally going back to the way that we want to play,” Klauss said. “I think we are in a good way. We are getting better. Maybe it’s a little too late, but it’s just nice to see the team going in the right direction.”
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Tom Timmermann | Post-Dispatch
Soccer reporter
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