| American Soccer League | |
| Country: | United States |
| Promotion: | None |
| Relegation: | None |
The American Soccer League, established in 1921, 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.[1] Disputes with the United States Football Association and FIFA, as well as 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 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.[2] The ASL's first secretary was Thomas Cahill, who had founded the United States Football Association and who had been the first head coach of the U.S. national team.[1]
By 1924, the combination of excellent pay and a high level of play drew talented overseas players, especially from Scotland[3] and England, with 50 European internationals good enough to play for their national teams playing in the ASL.[1] This led to a significant amount of resentment in Europe and threats of sanctions from FIFA, including the possible expulsion of the USFA.[4] 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.[5] 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 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 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".[6] [7] [8] The ASL team owners defied USFA and FIFA, relying on 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.[9] This led to the SNYSA, under the leadership of Nat Agar, owner of 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.[10] 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 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 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.[11] [12]
| Year | Winner (number of titles) | Runners-up | Top Scorer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1921–22 | Philadelphia F.C. (1) | New York F.C. | Harold Brittan | |
| 1922–23 | J. & P. Coats F.C. (1) | Bethlehem Steel F.C. | Daniel McNiven | |
| 1923–24 | Fall River Marksmen (1) | Bethlehem Steel | Archie Stark | |
| 1924–25 | Fall River Marksmen (2) | Bethlehem Steel | Archie Stark | |
| 1925–26 | Fall River Marksmen (3) | New Bedford Whalers | Andy Stevens | |
| 1926–27 | Bethlehem Steel (1) | Boston S.C. | Davey Brown | |
| 1927–28 | Boston S.C. (1) | New Bedford Whalers | Andy Stevens | |
| 1928–29 | Fall River Marksmen (4) | Brooklyn Wanderers | Werner Nilsen János Nehadoma | |
| 1929 | Fall River Marksmen (5) | Providence F.C. | Bill Paterson | |
| 1930 | Fall River Marksmen (6) | New Bedford Whalers | Jerry Best | |
| 1931 | New York Giants (1) | New Bedford Whalers | Bob McIntyre | |
| 1932 | New Bedford Whalers (1) | Hakoah All-Stars | Bert Patenaude | |
| 1932–33 | Fall River F.C. (1) | Pawtucket Rangers |
| Team | ASL Seasons | ASL Evolution of Franchise | Prior League | Subsequent League | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=left | Bethlehem Steel F.C. | 1922/23–1928/29, 1929/30 | Philadelphia F.C.→Bethlehem Steel F.C. | – | – | |
| align=left | Bohemian Queens | 1932–1933 | Bohemian Queens→Prague Americans | – | – | |
| align=left | Boston S.C. aka Wonder Workers | 1924/25–1929/30 | – | – | – | |
| align=left | Boston S.C. aka Boston Bears | 1931–1932 | – | – | – | |
| align=left | Bridgeport F.C. | 1929/30 | Bridgeport F.C.→Philadelphia F.C. | – | – | |
| align=left | Bridgeport F.C. | 1929/30 | Hungaria F.C.→Bridgeport F.C.→Newark Americans | ESL | – | |
| align=left | Brookhattan F.C. | 1933 | New York Field Club→Brookhattan F.C. | – | ASL II | |
| align=left | Brooklyn Wanderers F.C. | 1922/23–1931 | – | NJSL | – | |
| align=left | Brooklyn Wanderers F.C. | 1932–1933 | – | – | ASL II | |
| align=left | Celtic F.C. aka Jersey City Celtics | 1921/22 | – | – | – | |
| align=left | Falco F.C. aka Holyoke Falcos | 1921/22 | – | ??? | ??? | |
| align=left | Fall River F.C. aka Marksmen | 1922/23–1930 | Fall River F.C.→ New York Yankees→New Bedford Whalers | – | – | |
| align=left | Fall River United A.A.F.C. | 1921/22 | – | – | – | |
| align=left | Fall River F.C. | 1931 | Providence F.C.→Fall River F.C.→ New York Yankees→New Bedford Whalers | – | – | |
| align=left | Fall River F.C. | 1932 | – | – | – | |
| align=left | Fleisher Yarn F.C. | 1924/25 | – | ??? | ??? | |
| align=left | Hakoah All-Stars | 1929/30–1932 | – | ESL | – | |
| align=left | Hakoah F.C. aka Brooklyn Hakoahs | 1929/30 | Hakoah F.C.→Hakoah All-Stars | – | – | |
| align=left | Harrison S.C. | 1921/22–1922/23 | Harrison S.C.→Newark F.C. | NAFBL | – | |
| align=left | Hartford F.C. | 1927/28 | – | – | – | |
| align=left | Indiana Flooring Co. F.C. | 1924/25–1926/27 | New York F.C.→Indiana Flooring Co. F.C.→ New York Nationals S.C.→New York Giants | – | – | |
| align=left | J. & P. Coats A.A.F.C. | 1921/22–1928/29 | J. & P. Coats F.C.→Pawtucket Rangers | SNEL | – | |
| align=left | Jersey City F.C. | 1928/29 | – | – | – | |
| align=left | National Giants F.C. | 1923/24 | Paterson F.C.→National Giants F.C.→New York Giants S.C.→ New York S.C.→New York Yankees→New Bedford Whalers | – | – | |
| align=left | Newark F.C. aka Newark Skeeters | 1923/24–1928/29 | Harrison S.C.→Newark F.C. | – | ESL | |
| align=left | Newark Americans | 1929/30–1932 | Hungaria F.C.→Bridgeport F.C.→Newark Americans | – | – | |
| align=left | New Bedford F.C. aka New Bedford Whalers | 1924/25–1928/29, 1929/30–1931 | New Bedford F.C.→Fall River F.C.→ New York Yankees→New Bedford Whalers | – | – | |
| align=left | New Bedford Whalers | 1931–1932 | Fall River United→Fall River F.C.→ New York Yankees→New Bedford Whalers | – | – | |
| align=left | New York Americans | 1931, 1932–1933 | – | – | ASL II | |
| align=left | New York Field Club | 1932 | New York Field Club→Brookhattan F.C. | – | – | |
| align=left | New York F.C. | 1921/22–1923/24 | New York F.C.→Indiana Flooring Co. F.C.→ New York Nationals S.C.→New York Giants | NAFBL | – | |
| align=left | New York Giants S.C. | 1924/25–1928/29, 1929/30–1930 | Paterson F.C.→National Giants F.C.→New York Giants S.C.→ New York S.C.→New York Yankees→New Bedford Whalers | – | – | |
| align=left | New York Giants | 1930–1931 | New York F.C.→Indiana Flooring Co. F.C.→ New York Nationals S.C.→New York Giants | – | NSL | |
| align=left | New York Nationals S.C. | 1927/28–1930 | New York F.C.→Indiana Flooring Co. F.C.→ New York Nationals S.C.→New York Giants | – | – | |
| align=left | New York S.C. | 1930 | Paterson F.C.→National Giants F.C.→New York Giants S.C.→ New York S.C.→New York Yankees→New Bedford Whalers | – | – | |
| align=left | New York Yankees | 1931 | Fall River United→Fall River F.C.→ New York Yankees→New Bedford Whalers | – | – | |
| align=left | Paterson F.C. | 1922/23 | Paterson F.C.→National Giants F.C.→New York Giants S.C.→ New York S.C.→New York Yankees→New Bedford Whalers | NAFBL | – | |
| align=left | Pawtucket F.C. aka Pawtucket Rangers | 1928/29–1932 | J. & P. Coats F.C.→Pawtucket Rangers | – | ASL-NE | |
| align=left | Philadelphia F.C. | 1921/22 | Philadelphia F.C.→Bethlehem Steel F.C. | – | – | |
| align=left | Philadelphia F.C. | 1922/23–1927/28 | – | – | – | |
| align=left | Philadelphia F.C. | 1928/29 | – | – | – | |
| align=left | Philadelphia F.C. | 1929/30 | Bridgeport F.C.→Philadelphia F.C. | – | – | |
| align=left | Prague Americans | 1933 | Bohemian Queens→Prague Americans | – | – | |
| align=left | Providence F.C. aka Clamdiggers/Gold Bugs/Fletchermen | 1924/25–1931 | Providence F.C.→Fall River F.C.→ New York Yankees→New Bedford Whalers | – | – | |
| align=left | Shawsheen F.C. aka Shawsheen Indians | 1925/26 | – | NL | – | |
| align=left | Springfield F.C. | 1926/27 | Springfield F.C.→Providence F.C.→Fall River F.C.→ New York Yankees→New Bedford Whalers | – | – | |
| align=left | Todd Shipyards F.C. | 1921/22 | – | – | – |