Robert Gansler reviews DSV Germania’s 1930 tour of Germany, which included players from Milwaukee, Grand Rapids, Chicago, Newark, New York City, and Philadelphia.
Locations
A boost for Bethlehem
It was no coincidence that the Bethlehem Steel soccer team, one of the greatest in American soccer history, was at its peak at the same time that World War I was raging in Europe.
The overlapping Werner Fricker
Fricker’s legacy remains not just as the man who brought the World Cup to the United States for the first time, but as an important bridge between eras in American soccer.
A shirt sponsor in 1887?
Fall River Rovers played in a jersey that displayed a shirt sponsor in 1887.
The sad end of the original NASL Cosmos
The decline and fall of the original NASL Cosmos was not a heroic story. It really began in 1982, but its last stages, in 1984 and 1985, were the particularly grim ones.
A perfect 10
Not too many teams have played shorthanded for the full 90 minutes and not only won but collected a trophy, too.
The NASFL
During the years when the East Coast-based American Soccer League was the best in American soccer, a common theme was that a way to expand the sport in the United States would be to establish a midwestern equivalent of the ASL.
The enterprising Sam Mark
While not a dedicated champion of the game like Tom Cahill or Edgar Lewis, Sam Mark built one of the great American soccer teams, the Fall River Marksmen.
The Cosmos’ takeoff in 1977
Roger Allaway looks at how the New York Cosmos became “The Cosmos!” in 1977.
Got mud?
Three replays and lots of mud in the 1914 American Cup quarterfinal between Bethlehem Steel and West Hudson.
If you can’t beat ’em, sign ’em
Dave Lange looks at the pipeline of St. Louis talent who played for Michigan State beginning in the 1960s.
The unusual Edgar Lewis
Roger Allaway on the driving force behind the powerhouse Bethlehem Steel team of 100 years ago, a man who was an oddity in American soccer.
Did St. Louis almost get a soccer stadium in 1932?
Dave Lange looks at the long obscure story of interest in building a soccer stadium in St. Louis in 1932.
Kicking off those Bunglesome Bloomers: Women’s soccer in Baltimore, 1920-23
A brief history of women playing soccer in Baltimore between 1920 and 1923
The Archives Room: The greatest Open Cup final?
In the 1960 US Open Cup final, Philadelphia’s Ukrainian Nationals came from behind three times over 120 minutes to win the championship with Mike Noha scoring all five of the Uke Nats goals. Roger Allaway has the story.
St. Louis Stadium Firsts
Dave Lange rounds up some facts and firsts about sites for soccer matches in St. Louis.
St. Louis Soccer Club tour of Sweden, 1920
Dave Lange looks at the St. Louis-based team that visited Sweden in 1920, following the path of visits by the USMNT in 1916, and Bethlehem Steel in 1919.
The Cosmos-Whitecaps classic of 1979
Roger Allaway on the second leg of the 1979 championship semifinal between New York Cosmos and Vancouver Whitecaps, considered by many to be the best game in the history of the original NASL.
A soccer Christmas story, 1884
Dave Lange recounts the first international matches in the US, which took place over the Christmas holiday in 1884 between local St. Louis sides and a team representing Canada’s Western Football Association.
Stix by any other name…
Roger Allaway looks at what’s behind the name of some of the most storied teams in US soccer history.
Who scored the first professional goals in US soccer history?
Who scored the first goals in the earliest US professional leagues? Brian Bunk looks at the available evidence.
A soccer sculpture in Harrison
Tom McCabe on the recent unveiling of a statue in Harrison, New Jersey, commemorating the history of soccer in the West Hudson.
That second leg is a killer
Roger looks back to the 1931 ASL championship to show how second-leg games can result in surprises.
Marksmen celebrate a century: The history of a storied American club
Derek Gonsalves reviews the history of the Fall River Marksmen, arguably the preeminent US club of its day, to mark the 100th anniversary of its founding.
Sailor lads, jolly tars, and rovers of the briny deep: International ship-crew soccer matches in the US, 1890-1905, part 3
Ed Farnsworth’s review of matches between US clubs and British ship crew teams between 1890 and 1905 concludes with a look at games in Oregon, California, Hawaii, and Texas
Sailor lads, jolly tars, and rovers of the briny deep: International ship-crew soccer matches in the US, 1890-1905, part 2
Ed Farnsworth’s review of matches between US clubs and British ship crew teams between 1890 and 1905 continues with a look at games played in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
Sailor lads, jolly tars, and rovers of the briny deep: International ship-crew soccer matches in the US, 1890-1905, part 1
Ed Farnsworth’s review of matches between US clubs and British ship crew teams between 1890 and 1905 begins with a look at matches played in New York and Northern New Jersey.
“The Noxious Scottish Weed”: Early North American soccer and the Laws of the Game
Ed Farnsworth, Tom McCabe, and Kurt Rausch consider why the first soccer associations in North America favored the Scottish FA over the English FA as the source for their Laws of the Game.
The rise and fall: Fall River and Pawtucket soccer, 1883-1896
In the decade after the founding of the Fall River’s East End team, Fall River and Pawtucket rose to be perhaps the preeminent center of soccer in the United States. Then, over the course of three seasons, organized soccer in the cities collapsed. Ed Farnsworth looks at the rise and fall.
“Talented but Tainted”: Henry “Harry” Boyd in the US, 1891-92
Ed Farnsworth and Kurt Rausch look at the season Scottish-born Henry “Harry” Boyd spent in the US in 1891-92 during which he played for Chicago Thistle, Fall River Olympics, and also Fall River East End, the latter with whom he won the American Cup. Boyd’s playing career in England and Scotland included stints at Sunderland Albion, Burnley, West Bromwich Albion, Third Lanark, Woolwich Arsenal, and Newton Heath.
The origin of the National Soccer Hall of Fame
Ed Farnsworth looks at how a reunion of old teammates in Philadelphia led to the formation of the National Soccer Hall of Fame.
Red, White, and the Blue Ribbons: The Bavarian Soccer Club’s 1976 National Amateur Cup Championship
SASH member Robert A. Gansler has made a documentary about the Bavarian Soccer Club, five-time winners of the National Amateur Cup, and twice winners of the USASA National Open Cup.
SASH Session Review: Soccer in the South Central and Midwestern United States
A review of December’s SASH session on the history of soccer in the South Central and Midwestern United States. Includes video from the session.
Gentlemen of Color: Oliver and Fred Watson, the earliest known African American soccer players in the United States
Ed Farnsworth and Brian Bunk on Oliver “Allie” Watson and Fred Watson, two brothers from Rhode Island who between them from 1894 to 1901 were the first African Americans to play in a senior soccer league, to play and score in an American Cup match, win a league championship, and play for a professional team.
SASH Virtual Session Book Talk: A photographic tour of early Chicago soccer history with Gabe Logan Updated with video from the session
UPDATED WITH VIDEO FROM THE SESSION. Gabe Logan presents a photographic tour with images from his book, The Early Years of Chicago Soccer, 1887-1939
Behind the footage: BSFC plays AIK and a select Swedish Provinces team in 1919
Ed Farnsworth looks at the first and third matches of Bethlehem Steel FC’s 1919 tour of Sweden and Denmark.
SASH uncovers footage of first overseas tour by a US club, Bethlehem Steel FC’s 1919 Scandinavian Tour
The footage is from two matches during the 1919 tour and is the earliest known footage of a professional US soccer team.
The life — and murder — of the first American-born president of U.S. Soccer
Elmer Schroeder was elected as the first native-born president of US Soccer in 1932. Two decades later he was murdered.
Footage from the Fall River Marksmen’s 1930 Central European tour
Derek Goncalves recounts the Marksmen’s 1930 Central European tour. Includes footage of the final match of the tour from the National Film Institute of Hungary.
Fifty Years On: Teska and Schellscheidt on the 1970 U.S. Open Cup
Heinz Teska and Manny Schellscheidt reflect on Elizabeth SC’s run through the US Open Cup in 1970. Includes a video interview.
Reading your own obituary: Samuel Bustard, the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic, and the evolution of New York Metro Area soccer
Kurt Rausch’s examination of the career of Samuel Bustard — who was widely, and wrongly, reported dead during the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic — illuminates soccer in the New York Metro Area in the 1910s and 1920s.
Philly’s first international club friendly
A friendly between a local cricket club and a touring English cricket club in 1901 helped spur soccer’s resurgence in Philadelphia after the depression that followed the Panic of 1893.
What did referee Dattilo really say to Colombo in Belo Horizonte?
How a regional dialect may have played a part in a famous incident during the USMNT’s historic victory over England in the 1950 World Cup.
After the collapse: ALPF vs. ALPF in Baltimore and Fall River, 1894-96
Following the collapse of the ALPF after only 16 games over two weeks, four former ALPF sides met in seven additional matches, including a series of three games in Fall River for the “championship of America.” Former Boston and Brooklyn ALPF professionals continued in Fall River after that.
What Happened to Mark’s Stadium?
The original Mark’s Stadium was built in 1921. What happened to it?
The origins of soccer in Philadelphia, part 5: Local college-based football after the 1863 Laws of the Game
The series on the origins of soccer in Philadelphia continues with a look at the development of university- and college-based football in the 1870s.
The origins of soccer in Philadelphia, part 4: The first account of soccer-style football after codification?
The series on the origins of soccer in Philadelphia continues with a look at football in Philadelphia in the years immediately after the 1863 FA code.
Philadelphia Soccer and the 1918 Spanish Flu Epidemic
A look at soccer in Philadelphia during the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic.
The origins of soccer in Philadelphia, part 3: 19th century football before codification
The series on the origins of soccer in Philadelphia continues with a look at 19th-century football before the 1863 Laws of the Game.
The origins of soccer in Philadelphia, part 2: Colonial football
A look at football in colonial and post-independence Philadelphia.
James and Joe, part 2
The story of James Currie and Joseph Cunat, two soccer-playing soldiers who served during World War I, concludes.
Including Kearny’s Leonard Raney
In the fall of 1922, Leonard H. Raney played on the first-ever varsity soccer team for Kearny High School. That New Jersey town, which would later be dubbed Soccer Town, USA, had long been a soccer hotbed. It was rare for African Americans to play soccer in the 1920s, and while African-American participation in the game still lags today, Raney was a soccer pioneer.
James and Joe, part 1
The first of a two-part series telling the story of two soccer-playing soldiers who served during World War I.
The origins of soccer in Philadelphia, part 1: Native American and British footballing traditions
The first installment of a ten-part series on the origins of soccer in Philadelphia.
The Barrow School Socker Foot Ball Team
A look at Black players on the “Barrow School Socker Foot Ball Team,” champions of Springfield, Massachusetts’ Junior League in 1908.
An Early Image of Black Soccer in New York City?
Does a 1915 image of a soccer match in New York’s Central Park include black players?
NYC Originals: Thanksgiving Games of the St. George’s Foot Ball Club
Thanksgiving soccer traditions in 19th century New York City.
The AAPF and the ALPF: The beginnings of professional league soccer in the United States
A look at the first professional soccer leagues in the US, the American Association of Professional Football and American League of Professional Football, with new information on the lesser known AAPF.
Harrison’s Maradona: A Recollection of Al “Funze” Jennette
Frank Santamassino’s cousin, Al Jennette, who everyone called Funze, played professional soccer in New York City in the 1940s, and he is one of the many forgotten stars in American soccer history.
All-Scots in Bethlehem and Philadelphia, 1921
The 1921 All-Scots tour was the first by an international team backed by US Soccer.
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