Fall River F.C. (1932) Explained

Fall River Football Club, was the name used by a United States soccer clubs, based in Fall River, Massachusetts. They played in the American Soccer League during the 1931 and 1932 season. The name is often used and is not to be confused with the Fall River F.C. team owned by Sam Mark.

Fall River F.C. II

In 1931, after Mark relocated his team to New York and renamed them the New York Yankees, a group of Fall River businessmen, led by an ex-Marksmen player Harold Brittan, then bought Gold Bugs, moved them into Mark's Stadium, and renamed them Fall River F.C.^[1]

The new club played for just one season, Spring 1931, eventually finishing fifth. However, during their short existence they did win two notable prestige friendlies. On February 22, 1931, they beat Vélez Sársfield 5–2. Then on May 31 with a team that included Joe Kennaway, Bill Paterson and Tom Florie they beat Celtic 1–0. Kennaway subsequently signed for Celtic after impressing them with his performance in goal. By early 1931 the Great Depression had severely effected the stability of the ASL and several teams relocated, merged and even disappeared. On April 19, 1931, Fall River absorbed New Bedford Whalers.^[2] On May 31, 1931, Fall River defeated Celtic F.C. before a crowd of 7,000 at Mark's Stadium.^[3] The club folded after the first half of the season.^[4]

Fall River F.C. III

This Fall River F.C. team played during the Fall 1932 American Soccer League season. The exact origins of this team are unclear. New Bedford Whalers, the successor team of both the earlier Fall River F.C./Providence Clamdiggers and the Marksmen, also began the Fall 1932 season but they only survived for six games before folding. However one of their former players, Billy Gonsalves finished the season at the new Fall River club, scoring 7 goals in 12 games, as he helped them win the league title.^{[5] [6]}

Year-by-year

Year	Division	League	Reg. Season	Playoffs	National Challenge Cup
Spring 1931	1	ASL	5th	No playoff	Did not enter
Fall 1932	1	ASL	Champion	No playoff	N/A

Honors

Fall River F.C. II

• American Soccer League
  • Winners Fall 1932: 1

Notes and References

1. News: Fall River Group Buys Soccer Team . The Boston Globe . February 23, 1931.
2. News: New Bedford Club Sold, To Merge With Fall River . The Boston Globe . April 20, 1931.
3. News: Fall River Beats Glasgow Celtics . The New York Times . June 1, 1931.
4. News: Collins . George . Boston Team Ready For Soccer Opening . The Boston Globe . September 10, 1931.
5. Web site: American Soccer - 1933 . 2008-03-11 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090820062217/http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/year/1933.html . 2009-08-20 . dead .
6. Web site: Billy Gonsalves . 2008-03-11 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080328222923/http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/gonsalves.html . 2008-03-28 . dead .