24-721: Statistics of American Soccer League in season 1930. In 1928, a dispute broke out between the American Soccer League and the United States Football Association regarding participation in the National Challenge Cup . The League decided to boycott the cup, but three teams, Bethlehem Steel , the Newark Skeeters and the New York Giants all entered the competition. When the league suspended
48-554: A U.S. athletic association conspiring with a European organization to undermine a U.S. athletic league alienated many U.S. sports fans by creating an image of soccer as a sport controlled by foreigners. These fans turned their backs on soccer, relegating the sport to the position of a minor league, ethnic-based sport for decades to come. – existed before joining ASL. – continued after ASL. – existed before ASL and after ASL. Southern New England Soccer League The Southern New England Soccer League
72-460: The New Bedford Whalers taking the league title based on a single table points system. However, the 1915–16 season introduced many of the problems that would plague the league until its demise. Several teams refused to travel to away games and weather caused the cancellation of others. Those circumstances resulted in the cancellation of the season at a now unknown point at which Fore River
96-544: The United States Football Association and who had been the first head coach of the U.S. national team. By 1924, the combination of excellent pay and a high level of play drew talented overseas players, especially from Scotland and England, with 50 European internationals good enough to play for their national teams playing in the ASL. This led to a significant amount of resentment in Europe and threats of sanctions from FIFA , including
120-523: The 1930 season during the weekend of November 6, 1929. The first half of the season ended the last weekend of April 1930. During the summer of 1930, the league resumed the name American Soccer League, beginning the second half of the season in September and ending the first weekend of January 1931. Although the league attempted to continue operations as it had before the dispute with the USFA, it began to fail during
144-470: The 1930 season. The dispute between the ASL and USFA financially weakened the league and its teams. The onset of the Great Depression in 1929 further exacerbated these problems. This resulted in significant changes in the lineup of teams in the league. Boston became the first team to fail, leaving the league and disbanding after only four games. The second team to fail was one which had just entered
168-466: The 1931 season. The winners of the League Cup final were awarded the H.E. Lewis Cup . Hakoah All-Stars and New York Nationals were forced to play a replay on May 22, 1930, to determine a winner after the first two matches ended in draws, and neither side scored in 30 minutes of extra time at the end of the second match. The first game of the two-game final was originally scheduled for May 25, 1930, but
192-579: The ASL Brooklyn Wanderers , to leave USFA and ally with the ASL. Despite the alliance between the ASL and SNYSA, the creation of a competing league caused severe financial strains on the ASL. The league finally broke and came into compliance with USFA and FIFA. In the fall of the 1929/30 season, the ESL and ASL merged to form the Atlantic Coast League which began a 1930 spring-fall season. After
216-675: The ASL, Bridgeport Hungaria . Based in Bridgeport, Pennsylvania , the team moved to Newark, New Jersey after ten games, played another five in Newark, then withdrew from the league and disbanded. During the mid-season break, Bethlehem Steel F.C. withdrew and disbanded. Then, the New York Giants renamed themselves the New York Soccer Club. The New York Nationals immediately took the name Giants. The Fall River Football Club finished top of
240-480: The USFA. Consequently, the USFA and the two leagued came to an agreement to end the dispute on October 9, 1929. The two leagues entered into discussions to merge. By the first week of November 1929, the merger was complete with the new league taking the name of the Atlantic Coast Soccer League. The new league decided to run a two-part 1930 season. Oddly enough, they decided to play the first games of
264-462: The league and governing body. Matters came to a head in 1928, when the ASL decided to again boycott the Challenge Cup. When three ASL clubs, most prominently Bethlehem Steel , defied the league and entered the cup anyway, the ASL suspended them. In response, the USFA and FIFA declared the ASL an "outlaw league". This sparked the "soccer war". The ASL team owners defied USFA and FIFA, relying on
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#1732855939740288-619: The league's reputation to continue to draw players. At first it seemed as if the ASL might win; however, USFA then helped bankroll the creation of a new league, the Eastern Professional Soccer League (ESL), to rival the ASL. The three ex-ASL teams joined with several teams from the Southern New York Soccer Association (SNYSA) to form the ESL. This led to the SNYSA, under the leadership of Nat Agar , owner of
312-642: The onset of the Great Depression , led to the league's collapse in spring 1933. The original American Soccer League, operating between 1921 and 1933, was the first significant, viable, professional soccer league in the United States. The league operated primarily in the Northeastern United States , mainly in the New York metropolitan area , Massachusetts , Rhode Island , and Pennsylvania . The ASL
336-470: The possible expulsion of the USFA. At the Sixteenth Annual Congress of FIFA on June 4, 1927, the USFA and the other national associations came to an agreement regarding player transfers which defused the situation. The ASL then ran afoul of the USFA when team owners complained that USFA's requirement that ASL teams play in the National Challenge Cup created an unnecessary financial burden. At
360-465: The season was cancelled entirely due to the loss of players to military service in World War I . While the league resumed play in 1919–20 , records have not allowed a complete reconstruction of the season. In the 1920–21 season , the league held what was its most successful season. Only one team played less than ten games, and it disbanded during the season. Most of the teams played at least thirteen with
384-459: The summer break, the league was renamed the American Soccer League and the league finished the fall half of the 1930 season with a different name than it began the spring half. However, the Soccer Wars had permanently crippled the ASL and it collapsed at the end of the 1933 spring season. Ironically, while USFA and FIFA "won" the wars and established their pre-eminence over the ASL, the spectacle of
408-459: The table in both the first and second half. The league saw no need for a playoff and declared the 'Marksmen' champions. The 'Marksmen' also won the league (Lewis) cup and the 1929–30 National Challenge Cup , giving it a domestic treble . Having achieved this distinction, the 'Marksmen' promptly withdrew from the league and merged with the New York Soccer Club to form the New York Yankees for
432-538: The three teams, the USFA offered to bankroll the creation of a new league, the Eastern Professional Soccer League . This new league included the three ex-American Soccer League teams, four teams from the Southern New York Football Association and one newly created team, New York Hakoah . By the fall of 1929, the onset of the Great Depression and the competition between the ASL and EPSL had created significant financial problems for both leagues and
456-468: The time the Challenge Cup ran during the ASL season forcing the ASL teams to travel long distances by train or bus to play cup games, then return to the Northeast to play league games. Therefore, the ASL boycotted the 1924 National Challenge Cup . They reentered the competition the next year after the USFA reduced its take of the gate receipts from 33.3% to 15%. However, resentment continued to simmer between
480-546: Was a semi-professional soccer league based in New England which was established in 1914 and collapsed in 1921. During its short existence, it featured some of the top teams in the northeast United States . Dissatisfaction with league mismanagement led to the end of the SNESL in 1921 as several teams moved to the newly created American Soccer League . The Southern New England Soccer League's first season, 1914–15 , went well with
504-563: Was cancelled due to rain. It took place at night at a neutral site, the Polo Grounds in New York, two days later. The second game of the final was then scheduled for May 28, but rain forced its cancellation as well. The game was continually rescheduled until it was finally played on October 23, 1930. Fall River F.C. won Lewis Cup, 5–1, on aggregate. American Soccer League (1921-1933) The American Soccer League , established in 1921,
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#1732855939740528-610: Was created by the merger of several teams from the National Association Football League (NAFBL) and Southern New England Soccer League in 1921. The move came from a growing disenchantment with the mismanagement of the NAFBL as well as the desire by the United States Football Association (USFA) to create a unified first division league. The ASL's first secretary was Thomas Cahill , who had founded
552-561: Was the first of four different professional soccer sports leagues in the United States to use the ASL name. It was formed by the merger of teams from the National Association Football League and the Southern New England Soccer League . For several years the ASL's popularity rivaled the popularity of the National Football League . Disputes with the United States Football Association and FIFA , as well as
576-431: Was topping the standings. While the 1916–17 season went better than the previous one, it still left a lot to be desired. Two teams played eleven games ( J&P Coats and Crompton) and the rest varied from five to eight games completed. The 1917–18 season was again cancelled for many of the same reasons as the 1915–16 season, but this time the league awarded the championship to J&P Coats . The next year, 1918–19,
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