The Frank Worthington debacle Although much improved, the Fury remained an inconsistent side. Through April, the team was 2-4. However, help was on the way with the arrival of Ball and the acquisition of another goal scorer, Frank Worthington, on loan from Bolton. Worthington finished the 1978-79 season as the […]
Locations
History of Philadelphia Fury, part two: The Fury simmers
Steve Holroyd’s look at the history of the Philadelphia Fury continues.
History of the Philadelphia Fury, part one: Enter the Fury
Part one of a history of the Philadelphia Fury of the original NASL.
1916: Bethlehem Steel FC travels to St. Louis
Over the 1916 Christmas holiday, Bethlehem Steel FC, holders of the National Challenge Cup and the American Cup, traveled to St. Louis for two games to decide the unofficial title of champion of the United States.
Turkey Bowl
American football is a Thanksgiving tradition, but so is soccer. In fact, Thanksgiving Soccer is nearly as old as the holiday itself. A day of national thanksgiving goes back to the colonial period, but it took President Abraham Lincoln to institute it as a late-November holiday. Modern soccer, codified […]
When a goal is not a goal
An examination of the Columbia-Rutgers game played on Nov. 2, 1872 shows it was played under a form of association football rules, not American gridiron rules.
Philadelphia and the other first professional soccer league in the U.S.
Formed in reaction to the National League baseball-backed American League of Professional Football, the American Association of Professional Football appears to have played its first games before, and outlived, the ALPF.
1934: USA vs. Mexico and the “little truck”
Aldo “Buff” Donelli’s quartet of goals in the one-off playoff game against Mexico powered the US to a berth in the 1934 World Cup. It would 46 years before the US would defeat Mexico again.
It’s time to remember the Ukrainian Nationals
Steve Holroyd on the remarkable record of the Ukrainian Nationals, which included four US Open Cup titles between 1960 and 1966.
Philadelphia German Americans win the 1936 US Open Cup
On May 3, 1936, Philadelphia German Americans became the first amateur team, and the first team from the city of Philadelphia, to win the US Open Cup.
1913: Innisfails of St. Louis comes East
Our series on inter-city games involving Philadelphia area teams and St. Louis teams in the 1910s continues. When, a year after winning the American Cup, Tacony FC traveled to St. Louis in 1911, they came back from two goals down to draw 4–4 with St. Louis champion St. Leos in what newspaper reports […]
The Cosmos’ takeoff in 1977
The Cosmos may not have always been “The Cosmos!” but by the end of the 1977 season, in which they won their second NASL title, they definitely were.
The “champions of the Middle West” come to Philly, 1912
Tacony FC’s trip to St. Louis in December of 1911 to decide the “championship of America” had ended in disappointment. They would have a chance for revenge in March of 1912 when the St. Leos team of St. Louis embarked on a tour against leading East Coast teams.
1911’s “soccer championship of America”: Philadelphia’s Tacony FC in St. Louis
Part One of a series looking at inter-city games involving Philadelphia area teams and St. Louis teams in the 1910s. Soccer in the United States at the start of the 1910s was undergoing a rise in organization and popularity. That organization was largely locally based and varied in both scope […]
Yankee, Cowboy, Fenian Bastard: An American Catholic at Rangers Football Club
In 1976, Hugh O’Neill — born in Kearney, NJ into a family of Celtic supporters — became the first “admitted Catholic” to play for Rangers.
2-3-5 in the 215: Tactics in the early days of Philadelphia soccer
One formation ruled the game of soccer in Philadelphia for 60 years, the 2-3-5.
Connie Mack’s soccer team
Connie Mack is a baseball legend. In Philadelphia in 1901, he also had a soccer team.
Len Oliver Q&A: Looking ahead
Our series of Q&A’s with Philadelphia-born National Soccer Hall of Famer Len Oliver concludes.
Steve Moyers: American-born goalscorer
A look at the all-time leading American-born goalscorer in the original NASL.
Len Oliver Q&A: Playing in the pros in 1950s Philadelphia and beyond
Our series of conversations with Philadelphia-born National Soccer Hall of Famer Len Oliver continues.
Philadelphia Soccer in the 1940s and 1950s, part 5: The pro game in 1950s Philadelphia
National Soccer Hall of Famer Len Oliver’s series continues.
Len Oliver Q&A: The impact of club soccer on Philly’s high school & college game
Our series of Q&As with Philadelphia-born National Soccer Hall of Famer Len Oliver continues.
Philadelphia soccer in the 1940s and 1950s, part 4: High school and college soccer, products of the clubs
Len Oliver’s series on playing soccer in Philadelphia in the 1940s and 1950s continues with a look at how the high school and college game benefited from local clubs.
Paying the pros
A look at the background and occupations of professional soccer players in the original American Soccer League.
Dick, Kerr Ladies come to Philadelphia, 1922
Women’s soccer has come a long way in the US. In 1922, it came all the way from England to Philadelphia.
Dick, Kerr Ladies in Washington, DC, 1922
In 1922, the world’s greatest women’s team played in Washington, DC as part of the US tour.
Abolish the penalty kick!
A little more than one hundred years ago, the Philadelphia Inquirer led a campaign to abolish the penalty kick.
Live From Acapulco, It’s Tabare Ramos!
Tab Ramos is presently coaching the US at the U-20 World Cup. In 1982, it took a private jet and helicopter to get him to a New Jersey high school championship playoff game.
Q&A with Len Oliver: Philly amateur soccer in the 1950s
Our series of Q&As with National Soccer Hall of Famer Len Oliver continues.
Bethlehem Steel FC’s 1919 tour of Scandinavia
In 1919, Bethlehem Steel became the first US club to embark on an overseas tour.
Philadelphia soccer in the 1940s and 1950s, part 3: Moving up through the amateur ranks
Philadelphia-born National Soccer Hall of Famer Len Oliver describes moving up the Philadelphia amateur soccer ranks in the 1940s and 1950s, playing in international friendlies, and trying out for the US Olympic team.
Loose threads
Tom McCabe on ONT Football Club, American soccer’s first dynasty, the American Football Association, the sports first governing body in the US.
The search for the Falcos
The Holyoke Falcos were one of the founding members of the American Soccer League in 1921, although they dropped out after just a single season. In many ways the search for information on the Falcos reveals some of the challenges involved in researching the history of American soccer.
A timeline of early soccer in Cleveland: “Socker’s” roots spread (1905-1906)
Part 2 of Craig Tower’s timeline of early Cleveland soccer history.
A timeline of early soccer in Cleveland: Beginnings (1889-1905)
Craig Tower presents a timeline if soccer’s beginnings in Cleveland.
Q&A with Len Oliver: Youth and junior soccer with Lighthouse Boys Club
Our series of Q&A’s with US Soccer Hall of Famer Len Oliver continues.
Philadelphia soccer in the 1940s and 1950s, part 2: Youth & Junior League soccer with the Lighthouse Boys Club
Part two of a six part series in which National Soccer Hall of Famer Len Oliver recalls growing up playing soccer in 1940s and 1950s Philadelphia continue with his time playing for the Lighthouse Boys Club.
Evolution of a kit: Bethlehem Steel FC
Between 1912 and 1930, Bethlehem Steel FC played in at least 11 different jersey designs.
The game that never ends
Tom McCabe on the importance of pickup soccer games.
Q&A with Len Oliver: Philly soccer in the 1940s & 1950s
The first in a series of Q&A’s with National Soccer Hall of Famer Len Oliver.
Philly and the first USA international tour
On June 9, 1916, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported, “Word was received in this city yesterday that all arrangements had been completed for an All-American soccer team to tour Sweden and Norway in July. The Sweden Football Association, through its secretary, C.L. Kornerup, has cabled a guarantee of $4000 to cover […]
Philadelphia soccer in the 1940s and 1950s, part 1
Part one of a six part series in which National Soccer Hall of Famer Len Oliver recalls growing up playing soccer in 1940s and 1950s Philadelphia.
That wooden sign
In recognition of Throwback Thursday, Tom McCabe recalls the wooden sign that used to hang behind Archie Stark’s tavern in Kearny, New Jersey
A Boca American
Peter Millar joined Inter in 1961 and by the end of his first season he led the league in scoring and was voted its top player. He took home the Most Valuable Player award again after the 1962-63 campaign, and by early 1964 a black and white photograph of a […]
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