Pito Villanon Explained

Pito Villanon
Birth Place:	Cuba
Position:	Striker
Years1:	1948–1958
Clubs1:	Brookhattan

Pito Villanon was a Cuban football player who spent eleven seasons with Brookhattan in the American Soccer League. At the time, he was one of a handful of black professional athletes, playing in an integrated American sports league.^[1] He is reputedly the first black player in the American Soccer League.^[2]

During his eleven seasons in the ASL, Villanon led the league in scoring twice (1948-49, 1952-53).^[3] He was also the 1952-53 ASL MVP. In 1948, Villanon and his teammates finished runner-up in the 1948 National Challenge Cup. They also finished runner-up in league play in 1954.^[4]

Notes and References

1. https://www.espn.com/espn/blackhistory2007/news/story?id=2763306 Heron the forgotten pioneer of U.S. soccer
2. https://books.google.com/books?id=1mK2xw1E6dAC&dq=pito+villanon+soccer&pg=PA103 Soccer in a Football World
3. Web site: ASL II Leading Scorers, 1933-1983 . 2011-11-12 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171211233825/http://homepages.sover.net/~spectrum/aslscorers.html . 2017-12-11 . dead .
4. Web site: The Year in American Soccer - 1954 . 2011-11-12 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150726055231/http://homepages.sover.net/~spectrum/year/1954.html#ASL . 2015-07-26 . dead .