Klaus Kleinstauber

Klaus Kleinstauber died on 28 October 2026, aged 90. He lived in Hauppauge, New York. No cause of death was made public. FrontRowSoccer.com editor Michael Lewis reported the death on 30 October 2026. Visitation was set for Sunday 1 November 2026 at Moloney's Hauppauge Funeral Home, with a prayer service that afternoon, and burial at St. Charles Cemetery in Farmingdale, New York, on Monday 2 November.

Klaus Kleinstauber was born in Germany. He emigrated to the United States after the Second World War and served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. Details of his parents, his exact date of birth and his early years in Germany have not been published in the reports available at the time of writing.

Kleinstauber played local soccer before turning to officiating. When he became a game official, his main goal was to reach national referee rank within five years, according to New York referee Brendan Mullarkey, and he went on to become a U.S. National Referee.

On 2 August 1971 he was an assistant referee for an international friendly between Santos FC, featuring Pele, and Deportivo Cali of Colombia, with Gino D'Ippolito as referee. He officiated in the third American Soccer League and was one of the original referees of the Major Indoor Soccer League. His first MISL game came when an official from Philadelphia was held up in traffic at the Verrazzano Bridge and could not reach Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale for a New York Arrows game. Kleinstauber, who had planned to watch the game, was told to go to the venue as referee, and afterwards was placed on the MISL referee travel list. He also worked as a goal judge at Arrows games.

He later served as president of the New York Soccer Referees Association, as a U.S. Soccer national assessor and as a Major League Soccer stadium observer.

Kleinstauber lived in Hauppauge on Long Island, New York. Colleagues described him as strict but fair on the field. Information about his family has not been made public in the reports available at the time of writing.

As a national referee assessor, Kleinstauber mentored many young game officials in the New York area. Brendan Mullarkey said he leaves a legacy of officiating from a different era and that his teachings still apply. His career linked the North American Soccer League era, the first wave of indoor professional soccer and the early years of Major League Soccer.