Final league standings and playoff results The first American Soccer League was the first true viable professional soccer league in the United States. It operated from 1921-1933, flourishing through the mid 1920s, then becoming involved in a disastrous “soccer war” with the USSFA and FIFA over commitments to the US Open Cup. Eventually financial problems brought on by the Depression resulted in its untimely demise. The next season the ASL II was formed. The success of the ASL I is significant, as the NFL was in its infancy during the 1920's, and until the late 1920's, the ASL's success equalled or even surpassed the NFL Crowds in excess of 10,000 were not uncommon, and if the league had been able to overcome its problems and continue, then the 1990's may well have seen soccer as the American national sport rather than gridiron football. Teams operated mainly in the northeastern United States, particulary the Philadelphia-New Jersey-New York area. This information was mostly researched by Colin Jose, author of the comprehensive history of the NASL, who is currently writing a book about the history of the ASL I, and was made available by Mark Pollak (mpollak@pipermar.com) "The American Soccer League: The Golden Years of American Soccer 1921-1931", by Colin Jose, is a 560 page comprehensive repository of ASL II info, published July 1998 by Scarecrow Press. (ISBN 0-8108-3429-4). $70.00 (+ 3.00 P&H;), order from Scarecrow press, 4720 Boston Way, Lanham, MD 20706 800/462-6420. Many players from the ASL came over from Scotland. Additional information about some of them may be accessed through the Scottish Football History" website. Point scoring system: 2 points for a win, 1 for a draw, 0 for a loss. 1921/22 GP W D L GF GA PTS Philadelphia Field Club24 17 4 3 72 36 38 New York Field Club 24 14 5 5 59 33 33 Todd Shipyards (Bkln) 24 12 5 7 56 37 29 Harrison Soccer Club 24 8 7 8 45 44 23 J & P Coats (Pawtucket)23 9 5 9 34 40 23 Fall River United 24 5 1 18 28 57 11 Holyoke Falcos 22 2 3 17 17 64 7 Jersey City Celtics 5 0 0 5 5 24 0 CHAMPION: Philadelphia Field Club Harrison used to be known as Kearny Erie A. A (NAFBL). Early in the season, Jersey City folded. After the season, Holyoke, and Todd Shipyards withdrew. 1922/23 Before the season, Philadelphia changed their name to Bethlehem Steel. A new Philadelphia, along with Paterson and Brooklyn were added. Fall River changed their name to Marksmen. GP W D L GF GA PTS J & P Coats (Pawtucket)28 21 2 5 68 30 44 Bethlehem Steel 28 18 6 4 56 26 42 Fall River Marksmen 28 15 5 8 53 36 35 New York Field Club 23 10 4 9 53 42 24 Paterson Silk Sox 20 9 4 7 38 31 22 Brooklyn Wanderers 25 5 5 15 24 52 15 Harrison Field Club 21 4 2 17 26 56 10 Philadelphia Field Club25 3 2 20 24 72 8 CHAMPION: J&P; Coats (Pawtucket) After the season, Paterson and Harrison withdrew. 1923/24 Before the season, Newark and the New York Giants were added. GP W D L GF GA PTS Fall River Marksmen 27 19 6 2 59 19 14 Bethlehem Steel 27 17 4 6 59 32 38 New York Field Club 26 15 7 4 66 35 37 J & P Coats (Pawtucket)24 10 5 9 54 53 25 Brooklyn Wanderers 27 9 5 13 47 57 23 New York Giants 25 6 6 13 35 59 18 Philadelphia Field Club25 5 2 18 30 62 12 Newark Skeeters 23 3 1 19 20 53 7 CHAMPION: Fall River Marksmen After the season, New York Field Club withdrew. 1924/25 Before the season, Boston, New Bedford, Providence, Indiana, and Fleisher were added. GP W D L GF GA PTS Fall River Marksmen 44 27 12 5 113 38 66 Bethlehem Steel 44 29 5 10 127 53 63 Brooklyn Wanderers 44 22 8 14 68 56 52 Boston Wonder Workers 41 22 7 12 75 53 51 New Bedford Whalers 41 21 7 13 69 55 49 Providence Clamdiggers 42 18 11 13 85 59 47 J & P Coats 42 19 5 18 89 76 43 New York Giants 43 16 6 21 78 84 38 Indiana Flooring (N.Y.)43 16 6 21 68 69 38 Fleisher Yarn (Phil.) 39 11 6 22 68 114 28 Newark Skeeters 39 8 3 28 39 104 19 Philadelphia Field Club42 2 6 34 27 146 8 CHAMPION: Fall River Marksmen LEWIS CUP: Boston Wonder Workers defeated Fall River Marksmen, 2-1 After the season, Fleisher Yarn withdrew. They were the 1924 US amateur champions, beating the Swedish-Americans in the final. 1925/26 Before the season, Shawsheen was added. GP W D L GF GA PTS PCT Fall River Marksmen 44 30 12 2 143 52 72 .819 New Bedford Whalers 44 28 5 11 119 70 61 .693 Boston Wonder Workers 43 23 7 13 100 65 53 .634 Bethlehem Steel 35 23 6 12 115 58 52 .616 Providence Clamdiggers 39 21 5 13 90 62 47 .602 Indiana Flooring (N.Y.)42 18 6 18 83 81 42 .500 Brooklyn Wanderers 40 16 7 17 76 71 39 .487 J & P Coats (Pawtucket)40 15 7 17 76 91 37 .474 New York Giants 37 13 6 18 76 90 32 .432 Shawsheen (Ma.)Indians 44 11 3 30 33 89 25 .284 Philadelphia Field Club44 8 3 33 41 150 19 .215 Newark Skeeters 38 5 6 27 30 124 15 .202 CHAMPION: Fall River Marksmen LEWIS CUP: New Bedford Whalers defeated New York Giants, 5-1, 0-3 Shawsheen only played 29 games; balance were forfeits; last game was on 3/27/1926. 1926/27 Before the season, Springfield was added. GP W D L GF GA PTS PCT Bethlehem Steel 44 29 8 7 114 52 66 .750 Boston Wonder Workers 44 25 7 12 90 59 55 .648 Fall River Marksmen 44 24 8 12 98 72 56 .636 New Bedford Whalers 44 24 6 14 124 72 54 .614 New York Giants 44 21 7 16 120 102 49 .557 Indiana Flooring 43 19 9 15 77 81 47 .547 Brooklyn Wanderers 44 18 6 20 83 96 42 .477 Providence Clamdiggers 43 15 10 18 73 96 40 .465 J & P Coats (Pawtucket)44 11 14 19 48 72 36 .409 Newark Skeeters 38 13 6 25 54 91 32 .363 Philadelphia Field Club44 11 4 29 64 123 26 .295 Springfield Babes 27 7 7 13 44 74 21 .239 CHAMPION: Bethlehem Steel LEWIS CUP: Boston Wonder Workers defeated Brooklyn Wanderers, 2-0, 3-0 Springfield withdrew in late December - 17 forfeits. Philadelphia withdrew at the end of the season. 1927/28 1st half Before the season, New York Nationals, Philadelphia and Hartford were added. GP W D L GF GA PTS PCT Boston Wonder Workers 29 18 7 4 65 36 43 .741 Bethlehem Steel 29 18 5 6 70 49 41 .706 New Bedford Whalers 29 17 7 5 68 45 41 .706 Brooklyn Wanderers 29 13 9 7 68 50 35 .603 Fall River Marksmen 31 14 6 11 75 58 34 .548 New York Giants 30 13 6 11 73 57 32 .533 Providence Clamdiggers 30 9 8 13 47 59 26 .433 J & P Coats (Pawtucket)32 6 7 19 39 66 19 .297 Newark Skeeters 30 7 3 20 46 77 17 .283 New York Nationals 30 7 3 20 41 77 17 .283 Hartford Americans 11 4 2 5 14 14 10 .454 Philadelphia Celtic 10 2 1 7 17 35 5 .222 Playoff: New Bedford defeated Bethlehem, 2-0. Philadelphia was suspended in October after 10 games. Hartford was asked to resign in October to balance the league. 2nd half GP W D L GF GA PTS PCT New Bedford Whalers 25 13 8 4 52 31 34 .680 Fall River Marksmen 26 15 5 6 55 30 35 .673 New York Nationals 24 10 8 6 39 35 28 .583 Bethlehem Steel 23 10 6 7 43 31 26 .565 Boston Wonder Workers 22 9 6 7 41 34 27 .545 Providence Clamdiggers 26 11 5 10 41 46 27 .519 New York Giants 23 11 3 12 53 50 25 .481 Brooklyn Wanderers 25 9 3 13 39 52 21 .420 J & P Coats (Pawtucket)20 3 3 14 30 54 9 .225 Newark Skeeters 17 2 1 14 18 46 5 .147 Playoff: Bethlehem Steel defeated New York Nationals 2-1, 4-0 Semifinals: Boston defeated Bethlehem 3-1, 0-4 (on disqualification) New Bedford defeated Fall River 3-1, 0-1 CHAMPIONSHIP: Boston defeated New Bedford 4-2. LEWIS CUP: Bethlehem Steel defeated Boston Wonder Workers, 3-2, 2-2 1928/29 1st half Before the season, Philadelphia was added. Providence became the Gold Bugs. Bethlehem Steel, New York Giants, and Newark withdrew to help form the EPSL II. GP W D L GF GA PTS PCT Fall River Marksmen 31 17 9 5 64 36 43 .694 Brooklyn Wanderers 31 18 6 7 79 61 42 .677 New York Nationals 29 13 8 8 70 53 34 .586 Provdence Gold Bugs 24 13 5 11 53 44 31 .534 New Bedford Whalers 29 11 6 12 51 47 28 .483 Boston Wonder Workers 28 8 8 12 49 60 24 .429 Philadelphia Field Club18 3 6 9 27 40 12 .333 J & P Coats (Pawtucket)28 4 7 17 28 69 15 .268 New York Giants 8 3 2 3 15 17 8 .500 Bethlehem Steel 6 3 0 3 12 8 6 .500 Newark Skeeters 7 0 1 6 7 30 0 .000 League standings based on won/loss percentage. 2nd half Before the half, Jersey City was added. J & P Coates became Pawtucket. GP W D L GF GA PTS PCT Fall River Marksmen 22 11 6 5 38 24 28 .636 Providence Gold Bugs 22 12 3 7 46 37 27 .614 Pawtucket Rangers 25 13 2 10 42 39 28 .560 New York Nationals 21 8 7 6 68 55 23 .548 Brooklyn Wanderers 20 5 6 9 42 50 18 .536 Philadelphia Field Club18 6 3 9 36 54 15 .450 Boston Wonder Workers 25 7 4 14 45 55 18 .417 New Bedford Whalers 14 7 1 6 37 28 15 .360 Jersey City 7 2 0 5 11 23 4 .286 CHAMPION: Fall River. LEWIS CUP: New York Nationals defeated New Bedford Whalers, 2-3, 2-1, 4-2 New Bedford withdrew in mid-march to join the EPSL II. 1929 (Fall) Before the season, Brooklyn Hakoah and Bridgeport were added. Boston became the Bears. GP W D L GF GA PTS PCT Fall River Marksmen 22 15 3 4 65 40 33 .750 Providence Gold Bugs 22 14 2 6 50 34 30 .682 Boston Bears 21 12 3 6 44 22 27 .643 New York Nationals 21 10 3 8 58 53 23 .548 Pawtucket Rangers 19 8 2 9 32 41 18 .474 New Bedford Whalers 21 7 2 12 38 47 16 .381 Brooklyn Wanderers 17 5 2 10 32 47 12 .353 Brooklyn Hakoah 17 4 1 12 41 55 9 .265 Philadelphia Field Club14 2 2 10 19 41 6 .214 CHAMPION: Fall River. Philadelphia played their first 6 games as the Bridgeport Bears. The league suspended the season on 10/9/1929 when the soccer wars ended. ASL merged with the EPSL II to form the Atlantic Coast League. Philadelphia did not join the merger. Brooklyn Hakoah merged with the New York Hakoah of the EPSL II to form the Hakoah All-Stars. 1929/30 (Atlantic Coast League) Before the season, the ASL and the EPSL II merged to form the Atlantic Coast League. Fall River, New Bedford, Providence, Pawtucket, New York Nationals, Brooklyn Wanderers, and Boston (who dropped their nickname) joined the league from the ASL I, and Bethlehem and the New York Giants joined from the EPSL II. Brooklyn Hakoah (ASL I), and New York Hakoah (EPSL II) merged to become the Hakoah All-Stars. GP W D L GF GA PTS PCT Fall River Marksmen 26 18 7 1 80 38 43 .814 New Bedford Whalers 33 12 11 10 56 50 35 .530 Hakoah All Stars 33 14 7 12 65 61 35 .530 Providence Gold Bugs 25 12 4 11 53 56 28 .519 New York Nationals 33 14 5 14 88 89 33 .500 Pawtucket Rangers 28 10 7 11 52 57 27 .483 Bethlehem Steel 27 11 4 12 66 54 26 .481 New York Giants 30 11 6 13 67 77 28 .467 Brooklyn Wanderers 32 9 10 13 63 66 28 .438 Newark 15 0 3 12 21 59 3 .100 Boston 4 1 0 3 5 9 2 .250 Newark played their first 10 games as Bridgeport Hungarian. Boston withdrew after 4 games. After the season, New York Nationals and Bethlehem Steel withdrew. CHAMPION: Fall River. LEWIS CUP: Fall River Marksmen defeated New York Hakoah All-Stars 2-1, 3-0 1930 (Fall) In fall 1930, the league changed its name back to the American Soccer League. Before the season, Newark was added, and the New York Giants became the New York Soccer Club. The New York Nationals were renamed the New York Giants (both due to team sales). GP W D L GF GA PTS PCT Fall River Marksmen 27 13 8 6 54 43 34 .630 New Bedford Whalers 30 15 6 9 75 62 36 .600 Hakoah All Stars 27 10 8 9 40 42 28 .519 Newark Americans 28 11 6 11 62 55 28 .500 New York Soccer Club 27 12 3 12 51 55 27 .500 Providence Gold Bugs 29 12 3 14 46 29 27 .466 Brooklyn Wanderers 30 10 7 13 57 58 27 .450 New York Giants 31 9 7 15 64 86 27 .435 Pawtucket Rangers 31 0 8 14 54 26 26 .419 CHAMPION: Fall River. 1931 1st Half (spring) Before the season, New York Soccer Club and Fall River Marksmen were merged to form the New York Yankees. Providence moved to Fall River and became Fall River Football Club. GP W D L GF GA PTS PCT New York Giants 17 10 2 5 42 28 22 .647 Brooklyn Wanderers 16 9 2 5 32 27 20 .625 New York Yankees 17 9 3 5 40 27 21 .619 Pawtucket Rangers 18 9 3 6 47 33 21 .583 Fall River Football Club16 8 2 6 28 25 18 .558 Hakoah All-Stars 17 5 2 10 25 41 12 .353 Newark Americans 13 4 1 8 18 29 9 .346 New Bedford Whalers 11 3 2 6 18 22 8 .364 Boston Bears 7 1 0 6 10 30 2 .143 Boston suspended play early, but returned for second half of season. New Bedford was absorbed by Fall River c. 4/19/1931. 2nd half (fall) Before the half, New York Americans were added. New York Yankees were absorbed by Fall River, and the team moved to New Bedford GP W D L GF GA PTS PCT New Bedford Whalers 21 14 2 5 60 32 30 .714 New York Giants 20 11 4 5 54 38 26 .650 Pawtucket Rangers 20 13 0 7 58 42 26 .650 Hakoah All-Stars 21 11 4 6 44 34 26 .615 Boston Bears 19 4 3 12 34 50 11 .289 New York Americans 20 3 3 14 32 69 9 .225 Newark Americans 11 1 2 8 16 39 4 .183 CHAMPIONSHIP: New York Giants defeated New Bedford on total goals in a 2-game series (8-3, 6-0). 1932 (spring) (This may be an incomplete set of standings, or a season that was never completed.) GP W D L GF GA PTS New Bedford Whalers 6 3 2 1 8 Hakoah All-Stars 6 3 1 2 7 Boston Bears 6 1 4 1 5 Pawtucket Rangers 6 0 3 3 3 New York Americans 1 0 1 0 1 New York Giants 0 0 0 0 0 Newark Americans 0 0 0 0 0 New York Giants and Newark withdrew after the season. 1932-33 1st half (fall, 1932) Before the season, New York Field Club, Queens, and Brooklyn were added. GP W D L GF GA PTS Fall River Football Club19 10 7 2 27 Pawtucket Rangers 19 10 5 4 25 New York Americans 11 6 3 3 14 New York Field Club 11 5 1 5 11 Brooklyn Wanderers 15 5 2 8 12 Hakoah All-Stars 15 4 4 7 12 Queens Bohemians 9 2 3 4 5 New Bedford Whalers 6 2 0 4 4 Boston Bears 11 2 2 7 6 CHAMPION: Fall River. After the season, Fall River, Pawtucket, New York Field Club, Hakoah, New Bedford and Boston withdrew. 2nd half (spring, 1933) Before the season, Prague was added. GP W D L GF GA PTS Brookhattan 6 4 1 1 11 7 9 New York Americans 6 4 0 2 19 10 8 Brooklyn Wanderers 6 3 1 2 9 11 7 Prague Americans 5 0 0 5 3 13 0 Bohemian Queens 1 0 0 1 2 3 0 After the conclusion of the 1933 spring season, the league folded. The league was completely reorganized during the summer, being reborn in the fall of 1933 as the second American Soccer League.