Final league standings and playoff results
The first American Soccer League was the first true viable professional soccer
league in the United States. It operated from 1921-1933, flourishing through
the mid 1920s, then becoming involved in a disastrous “soccer war” with the
USSFA and FIFA over commitments to the US Open Cup. Eventually financial
problems brought on by the Depression resulted in its untimely demise.
The next season the ASL II was formed.
The success of the ASL I is significant, as the NFL was in its infancy during
the 1920's, and until the late 1920's, the ASL's success equalled or even
surpassed the NFL Crowds in excess of 10,000 were not uncommon, and if the
league had been able to overcome its problems and continue, then the 1990's may
well have seen soccer as the American national sport rather than gridiron
football.
Teams operated mainly in the northeastern United States, particulary the
Philadelphia-New Jersey-New York area.
This information was mostly researched by Colin Jose, author of the
comprehensive history of the NASL, who is currently writing a book about the
history of the ASL I, and was made available by Mark Pollak
(mpollak@pipermar.com)
"The American Soccer League: The Golden Years of American Soccer 1921-1931",
by Colin Jose, is a 560 page comprehensive repository of ASL II info,
published July 1998 by Scarecrow Press. (ISBN 0-8108-3429-4). $70.00
(+ 3.00 P&H), order from Scarecrow press, 4720 Boston Way, Lanham,
MD 20706 800/462-6420.
Many players from the ASL came over from Scotland. Additional information
about some of them may be accessed through the Scottish Football History" website.
Point scoring system: 2 points for a win, 1 for a draw, 0 for a loss.
1921/22
GP W D L GF GA PTS
Philadelphia Field Club24 17 4 3 72 36 38
New York Field Club 24 14 5 5 59 33 33
Todd Shipyards (Bkln) 24 12 5 7 56 37 29
Harrison Soccer Club 24 8 7 8 45 44 23
J & P Coats (Pawtucket)23 9 5 9 34 40 23
Fall River United 24 5 1 18 28 57 11
Holyoke Falcos 22 2 3 17 17 64 7
Jersey City Celtics 5 0 0 5 5 24 0
CHAMPION: Philadelphia Field Club
Harrison used to be known as Kearny Erie A. A (NAFBL).
Early in the season, Jersey City folded. After the season,
Holyoke, and Todd Shipyards withdrew.
1922/23
Before the season, Philadelphia changed their name to Bethlehem Steel.
A new Philadelphia, along with Paterson and Brooklyn were added.
Fall River changed their name to Marksmen.
GP W D L GF GA PTS
J & P Coats (Pawtucket)28 21 2 5 68 30 44
Bethlehem Steel 28 18 6 4 56 26 42
Fall River Marksmen 28 15 5 8 53 36 35
New York Field Club 23 10 4 9 53 42 24
Paterson Silk Sox 20 9 4 7 38 31 22
Brooklyn Wanderers 25 5 5 15 24 52 15
Harrison Field Club 21 4 2 17 26 56 10
Philadelphia Field Club25 3 2 20 24 72 8
CHAMPION: J&P Coats (Pawtucket)
After the season, Paterson and Harrison withdrew.
1923/24
Before the season, Newark and the New York Giants were added.
GP W D L GF GA PTS
Fall River Marksmen 27 19 6 2 59 19 14
Bethlehem Steel 27 17 4 6 59 32 38
New York Field Club 26 15 7 4 66 35 37
J & P Coats (Pawtucket)24 10 5 9 54 53 25
Brooklyn Wanderers 27 9 5 13 47 57 23
New York Giants 25 6 6 13 35 59 18
Philadelphia Field Club25 5 2 18 30 62 12
Newark Skeeters 23 3 1 19 20 53 7
CHAMPION: Fall River Marksmen
After the season, New York Field Club withdrew.
1924/25
Before the season, Boston, New Bedford, Providence, Indiana,
and Fleisher were added.
GP W D L GF GA PTS
Fall River Marksmen 44 27 12 5 113 38 66
Bethlehem Steel 44 29 5 10 127 53 63
Brooklyn Wanderers 44 22 8 14 68 56 52
Boston Wonder Workers 41 22 7 12 75 53 51
New Bedford Whalers 41 21 7 13 69 55 49
Providence Clamdiggers 42 18 11 13 85 59 47
J & P Coats 42 19 5 18 89 76 43
New York Giants 43 16 6 21 78 84 38
Indiana Flooring (N.Y.)43 16 6 21 68 69 38
Fleisher Yarn (Phil.) 39 11 6 22 68 114 28
Newark Skeeters 39 8 3 28 39 104 19
Philadelphia Field Club42 2 6 34 27 146 8
CHAMPION: Fall River Marksmen
LEWIS CUP: Boston Wonder Workers defeated Fall River Marksmen, 2-1
After the season, Fleisher Yarn withdrew. They were the
1924 US amateur champions, beating the Swedish-Americans in the final.
1925/26
Before the season, Shawsheen was added.
GP W D L GF GA PTS PCT
Fall River Marksmen 44 30 12 2 143 52 72 .819
New Bedford Whalers 44 28 5 11 119 70 61 .693
Boston Wonder Workers 43 23 7 13 100 65 53 .634
Bethlehem Steel 35 23 6 12 115 58 52 .616
Providence Clamdiggers 39 21 5 13 90 62 47 .602
Indiana Flooring (N.Y.)42 18 6 18 83 81 42 .500
Brooklyn Wanderers 40 16 7 17 76 71 39 .487
J & P Coats (Pawtucket)40 15 7 17 76 91 37 .474
New York Giants 37 13 6 18 76 90 32 .432
Shawsheen (Ma.)Indians 44 11 3 30 33 89 25 .284
Philadelphia Field Club44 8 3 33 41 150 19 .215
Newark Skeeters 38 5 6 27 30 124 15 .202
CHAMPION: Fall River Marksmen
LEWIS CUP: New Bedford Whalers defeated New York Giants, 5-1, 0-3
Shawsheen only played 29 games; balance were forfeits; last game was on 3/27/1926.
1926/27
Before the season, Springfield was added.
GP W D L GF GA PTS PCT
Bethlehem Steel 44 29 8 7 114 52 66 .750
Boston Wonder Workers 44 25 7 12 90 59 55 .648
Fall River Marksmen 44 24 8 12 98 72 56 .636
New Bedford Whalers 44 24 6 14 124 72 54 .614
New York Giants 44 21 7 16 120 102 49 .557
Indiana Flooring 43 19 9 15 77 81 47 .547
Brooklyn Wanderers 44 18 6 20 83 96 42 .477
Providence Clamdiggers 43 15 10 18 73 96 40 .465
J & P Coats (Pawtucket)44 11 14 19 48 72 36 .409
Newark Skeeters 38 13 6 25 54 91 32 .363
Philadelphia Field Club44 11 4 29 64 123 26 .295
Springfield Babes 27 7 7 13 44 74 21 .239
CHAMPION: Bethlehem Steel
LEWIS CUP: Boston Wonder Workers defeated Brooklyn Wanderers, 2-0, 3-0
Springfield withdrew in late December - 17 forfeits. Philadelphia withdrew
at the end of the season.
1927/28
1st half
Before the season, New York Nationals, Philadelphia and Hartford were added.
GP W D L GF GA PTS PCT
Boston Wonder Workers 29 18 7 4 65 36 43 .741
Bethlehem Steel 29 18 5 6 70 49 41 .706
New Bedford Whalers 29 17 7 5 68 45 41 .706
Brooklyn Wanderers 29 13 9 7 68 50 35 .603
Fall River Marksmen 31 14 6 11 75 58 34 .548
New York Giants 30 13 6 11 73 57 32 .533
Providence Clamdiggers 30 9 8 13 47 59 26 .433
J & P Coats (Pawtucket)32 6 7 19 39 66 19 .297
Newark Skeeters 30 7 3 20 46 77 17 .283
New York Nationals 30 7 3 20 41 77 17 .283
Hartford Americans 11 4 2 5 14 14 10 .454
Philadelphia Celtic 10 2 1 7 17 35 5 .222
Playoff: New Bedford defeated Bethlehem, 2-0.
Philadelphia was suspended in October after 10 games.
Hartford was asked to resign in October to balance the league.
2nd half
GP W D L GF GA PTS PCT
New Bedford Whalers 25 13 8 4 52 31 34 .680
Fall River Marksmen 26 15 5 6 55 30 35 .673
New York Nationals 24 10 8 6 39 35 28 .583
Bethlehem Steel 23 10 6 7 43 31 26 .565
Boston Wonder Workers 22 9 6 7 41 34 27 .545
Providence Clamdiggers 26 11 5 10 41 46 27 .519
New York Giants 23 11 3 12 53 50 25 .481
Brooklyn Wanderers 25 9 3 13 39 52 21 .420
J & P Coats (Pawtucket)20 3 3 14 30 54 9 .225
Newark Skeeters 17 2 1 14 18 46 5 .147
Playoff: Bethlehem Steel defeated New York Nationals 2-1, 4-0
Semifinals: Boston defeated Bethlehem 3-1, 0-4 (on disqualification)
New Bedford defeated Fall River 3-1, 0-1
CHAMPIONSHIP: Boston defeated New Bedford 4-2.
LEWIS CUP: Bethlehem Steel defeated Boston Wonder Workers, 3-2, 2-2
1928/29
1st half
Before the season, Philadelphia was added. Providence became the Gold Bugs.
Bethlehem Steel, New York Giants, and Newark withdrew
to help form the EPSL II.
GP W D L GF GA PTS PCT
Fall River Marksmen 31 17 9 5 64 36 43 .694
Brooklyn Wanderers 31 18 6 7 79 61 42 .677
New York Nationals 29 13 8 8 70 53 34 .586
Provdence Gold Bugs 24 13 5 11 53 44 31 .534
New Bedford Whalers 29 11 6 12 51 47 28 .483
Boston Wonder Workers 28 8 8 12 49 60 24 .429
Philadelphia Field Club18 3 6 9 27 40 12 .333
J & P Coats (Pawtucket)28 4 7 17 28 69 15 .268
New York Giants 8 3 2 3 15 17 8 .500
Bethlehem Steel 6 3 0 3 12 8 6 .500
Newark Skeeters 7 0 1 6 7 30 0 .000
League standings based on won/loss percentage.
2nd half
Before the half, Jersey City was added. J & P Coates became Pawtucket.
GP W D L GF GA PTS PCT
Fall River Marksmen 22 11 6 5 38 24 28 .636
Providence Gold Bugs 22 12 3 7 46 37 27 .614
Pawtucket Rangers 25 13 2 10 42 39 28 .560
New York Nationals 21 8 7 6 68 55 23 .548
Brooklyn Wanderers 20 5 6 9 42 50 18 .536
Philadelphia Field Club18 6 3 9 36 54 15 .450
Boston Wonder Workers 25 7 4 14 45 55 18 .417
New Bedford Whalers 14 7 1 6 37 28 15 .360
Jersey City 7 2 0 5 11 23 4 .286
CHAMPION: Fall River.
LEWIS CUP: New York Nationals defeated New Bedford Whalers, 2-3, 2-1, 4-2
New Bedford withdrew in mid-march to join the EPSL II.
1929 (Fall)
Before the season, Brooklyn Hakoah and Bridgeport were added. Boston became the Bears.
GP W D L GF GA PTS PCT
Fall River Marksmen 22 15 3 4 65 40 33 .750
Providence Gold Bugs 22 14 2 6 50 34 30 .682
Boston Bears 21 12 3 6 44 22 27 .643
New York Nationals 21 10 3 8 58 53 23 .548
Pawtucket Rangers 19 8 2 9 32 41 18 .474
New Bedford Whalers 21 7 2 12 38 47 16 .381
Brooklyn Wanderers 17 5 2 10 32 47 12 .353
Brooklyn Hakoah 17 4 1 12 41 55 9 .265
Philadelphia Field Club14 2 2 10 19 41 6 .214
CHAMPION: Fall River.
Philadelphia played their first 6 games as the Bridgeport Bears.
The league suspended the season on 10/9/1929 when the soccer wars ended.
ASL merged with the EPSL II to form the Atlantic Coast League.
Philadelphia did not join the merger. Brooklyn Hakoah merged
with the New York Hakoah of the EPSL II to form the Hakoah All-Stars.
1929/30
(Atlantic Coast League)
Before the season, the ASL and the EPSL II merged to form the Atlantic Coast League.
Fall River, New Bedford, Providence, Pawtucket, New York Nationals, Brooklyn
Wanderers, and Boston (who dropped their nickname) joined the league from the ASL I,
and Bethlehem and the New York Giants joined from the EPSL II.
Brooklyn Hakoah (ASL I), and New York Hakoah (EPSL II) merged to become
the Hakoah All-Stars.
GP W D L GF GA PTS PCT
Fall River Marksmen 26 18 7 1 80 38 43 .814
New Bedford Whalers 33 12 11 10 56 50 35 .530
Hakoah All Stars 33 14 7 12 65 61 35 .530
Providence Gold Bugs 25 12 4 11 53 56 28 .519
New York Nationals 33 14 5 14 88 89 33 .500
Pawtucket Rangers 28 10 7 11 52 57 27 .483
Bethlehem Steel 27 11 4 12 66 54 26 .481
New York Giants 30 11 6 13 67 77 28 .467
Brooklyn Wanderers 32 9 10 13 63 66 28 .438
Newark 15 0 3 12 21 59 3 .100
Boston 4 1 0 3 5 9 2 .250
Newark played their first 10 games as Bridgeport Hungarian.
Boston withdrew after 4 games. After the season, New York Nationals
and Bethlehem Steel withdrew.
CHAMPION: Fall River.
LEWIS CUP: Fall River Marksmen defeated New York Hakoah All-Stars 2-1, 3-0
1930 (Fall)
In fall 1930, the league changed its name back to the American Soccer League.
Before the season, Newark was added, and the New York Giants
became the New York Soccer Club. The New York Nationals were
renamed the New York Giants (both due to team sales).
GP W D L GF GA PTS PCT
Fall River Marksmen 27 13 8 6 54 43 34 .630
New Bedford Whalers 30 15 6 9 75 62 36 .600
Hakoah All Stars 27 10 8 9 40 42 28 .519
Newark Americans 28 11 6 11 62 55 28 .500
New York Soccer Club 27 12 3 12 51 55 27 .500
Providence Gold Bugs 29 12 3 14 46 29 27 .466
Brooklyn Wanderers 30 10 7 13 57 58 27 .450
New York Giants 31 9 7 15 64 86 27 .435
Pawtucket Rangers 31 0 8 14 54 26 26 .419
CHAMPION: Fall River.
1931
1st Half (spring)
Before the season, New York Soccer Club and Fall River Marksmen were
merged to form the New York Yankees. Providence moved to Fall River
and became Fall River Football Club.
GP W D L GF GA PTS PCT
New York Giants 17 10 2 5 42 28 22 .647
Brooklyn Wanderers 16 9 2 5 32 27 20 .625
New York Yankees 17 9 3 5 40 27 21 .619
Pawtucket Rangers 18 9 3 6 47 33 21 .583
Fall River Football Club16 8 2 6 28 25 18 .558
Hakoah All-Stars 17 5 2 10 25 41 12 .353
Newark Americans 13 4 1 8 18 29 9 .346
New Bedford Whalers 11 3 2 6 18 22 8 .364
Boston Bears 7 1 0 6 10 30 2 .143
Boston suspended play early, but returned for second half of season.
New Bedford was absorbed by Fall River c. 4/19/1931.
2nd half (fall)
Before the half, New York Americans were added. New York Yankees
were absorbed by Fall River, and the team moved to New Bedford
GP W D L GF GA PTS PCT
New Bedford Whalers 21 14 2 5 60 32 30 .714
New York Giants 20 11 4 5 54 38 26 .650
Pawtucket Rangers 20 13 0 7 58 42 26 .650
Hakoah All-Stars 21 11 4 6 44 34 26 .615
Boston Bears 19 4 3 12 34 50 11 .289
New York Americans 20 3 3 14 32 69 9 .225
Newark Americans 11 1 2 8 16 39 4 .183
CHAMPIONSHIP: New York Giants defeated New Bedford on total goals
in a 2-game series (8-3, 6-0).
1932 (spring)
(This may be an incomplete set of standings, or a season that was
never completed.)
GP W D L GF GA PTS
New Bedford Whalers 6 3 2 1 8
Hakoah All-Stars 6 3 1 2 7
Boston Bears 6 1 4 1 5
Pawtucket Rangers 6 0 3 3 3
New York Americans 1 0 1 0 1
New York Giants 0 0 0 0 0
Newark Americans 0 0 0 0 0
New York Giants and Newark withdrew after the season.
1932-33
1st half (fall, 1932)
Before the season, New York Field Club, Queens, and Brooklyn were added.
GP W D L GF GA PTS
Fall River Football Club19 10 7 2 27
Pawtucket Rangers 19 10 5 4 25
New York Americans 11 6 3 3 14
New York Field Club 11 5 1 5 11
Brooklyn Wanderers 15 5 2 8 12
Hakoah All-Stars 15 4 4 7 12
Queens Bohemians 9 2 3 4 5
New Bedford Whalers 6 2 0 4 4
Boston Bears 11 2 2 7 6
CHAMPION: Fall River.
After the season, Fall River, Pawtucket, New York Field Club,
Hakoah, New Bedford and Boston withdrew.
2nd half (spring, 1933)
Before the season, Prague was added.
GP W D L GF GA PTS
Brookhattan 6 4 1 1 11 7 9
New York Americans 6 4 0 2 19 10 8
Brooklyn Wanderers 6 3 1 2 9 11 7
Prague Americans 5 0 0 5 3 13 0
Bohemian Queens 1 0 0 1 2 3 0
After the conclusion of the 1933 spring season, the league folded. The league
was completely reorganized during the summer, being reborn in the fall of 1933
as the second American Soccer League.
The USA Soccer History Archives are maintained by David Litterer
spectrum@sover.netBack to USA Soccer Archives main page
US Soccer On The Net (Formerly Mark Wheeler's US Soccer Page)