The American Soccer League
As the war heated up, more and more players were being mustered into service, although those stationed nearby were able to play at least part of the season. But an increasing number of players were being sent overseas on tours of duty, and the depletion of the rosters was becoming a major concern. Baltimore Americans had withdrawn from the league, and Baltimore S. C. assumed their name. The ASL launched their first league wide war effort, with the gates from the derby games of the second round being donated for Army Emergency relief and the Navy Relief Fund. The Philadelphia Americans stumbled early as they began the defense of their league title in a contentious and tense league race.
Brookhattan and Kearny Celtic were the early leaders in the close race, with the Americans briefly holding the lead about ten rounds in. But it was the surging Hispano club, spearheaded by Billy Gonsalves and Fabri Salcedo, and ably guarded by goalkeeper Gene Olaf, who surged into the lead early in January and cruised on to win a close race over Brookhattan. The Americans had to settle for third, but they made up for that disappointing finish by winning the Lewis Cup competition.
The NY Americans and Brookhattan celebrated the construction of the new and vastly improved Starlight Park in the Bronx. The old Starlight had been commandeered along with the adjacent Coliseum by the U. S. Army and was no longer available. The league wrestled with the challenges posed by the new “D” registration form. The “D” form had been instituted a few years previous to combat the problem of promising amateurs quitting their team on a few days notice to take a better offer elsewhere (usually for more money). However, the new registrations backfired, leading many clubs to sign amateurs for the year and then not letting them try out with major clubs, denying them opportunities to advance. The amateurs would say that they don’t get any compensation for training these players, but at the same time they hinder the progress of promising talent, which hurts the game as a whole. Clearly some third alternative was needed to address this problem.
Other recent changes were received with mixed reaction from fans, among them, the allowance of substitutions, three per game in the case of the ASL, as well as the option of expulsion of players for major infractions as opposed to merely replacing them, and changing the Lewis Cup later rounds to single elimination on a neutral site as opposed to the two-leg series. But there was general consensus that Derby games (matches pitting two teams from the same city) were considered a major asset.
Final League Standings, 1942-43
Before the season, Brooklyn Hispano changed their name to Brooklyn
Giants, but the new name didn’t catch on. Baltimore SC became
Baltimore Americans. Kearny Irish became Kearny Celtic.
G W T L PCT GF GA PTS
Brooklyn Hispano 18 11 3 4 .695 38 23 25
Brookhattan 18 10 2 6 .612 49 34 22
Philadelphia Americans 18 10 1 7 .584 47 28 21
Brooklyn Wanderers 14 7 1 6 .536 21 27 15
Baltimore Americans 16 7 2 7 .500 32 35 16
New York Americans 16 6 4 8 .445 25 28 16
Kearny Celtic 16 6 2 8 .438 37 44 14
Kearny Scots 15 4 2 9 .334 28 42 10
Philadelphia Nationals 17 5 1 11 .324 27 43 11
LEAGUE CHAMPION: Brooklyn Hispano
LEWIS CUP WINNER: Philadelphia Americans
LEADING SCORERS:
GP G A
Chapppie Sheppell, Kearny Irish 15 12 14
Fabri Salcedo, Hispano 18 10 6
Duke Nanoski, Philly Americans 15 10 7
Jennette, Brookhattan 17 10 6
Quinones, Hispano 16 9 9
Kuntner, Brookhattan 17 9 5
Boyle, Brookhattan 15 8 6
Billy Gonsalves, Hispano 16 8 4
Jackson, Brooklyn Wanderers 13 7 0
Carroll, Kearny Scots 15 7 5
Dick, Philly Americans 17 7 4
Waldkewicz, Philly Nationals 12 7 1
Nick Kropfelder, Baltimore A's 12 7 0
Amateur League and Cup Champions
New York Senior State Challenge Cup: (No competition)
Dr. Manning Challenge Cup (NY): Celtic Circle
Eastern District League (NYC): Maccabi (Premier Division); Simplex (A Division)
German-American League (NYC): S. C. Eintracht
Metropolitan League (NYC): Local 32 (Premier Division); Segura (1st Division); Metropolitan Cup: Bronx Scots
National League of New York: (No competition)
New Jersey State Challenge Cup: Hoboken
Keystone League (Pittsburgh): Morgan Strasser
West Penn Challenge Cup: (No competition)
Rowland Cup (Maryland State): Santa Maria K. C.
Stewart Amateur Cup (Maryland): No competition
St. Louis Municipal League: El Reys
Peter J. Peel Cup (Illinois State): Slovaks & Vikings (Co-Champs)
California Association Senior Challenge Cup: B&F; Scots of Los Angeles
John O. Belis Perpetual Trophy: American A. C. Teutonia
The US National Team
The National Team was inactive this year.
International Tours
There were no international tours this year.
The College Game
Intercollegiate soccer activity was severely curtailed due to the war, to the point that no conference champion trophies were awarded..
1943 College Conference Champions: Intercollegiate Soccer Football Association (ISFA): No Award California Intercollegiate Soccer Conference: (No Champion) Middle Atlantic Intercollegiate Soccer League: (No Champion) Middle Atlantic States Athletic Conference: (No Champion) New England Intercollegiate Soccer League: (No Award)
College All-American Squad, 1943:
Goal Gorsline, Navy Right Fullback Jarina, Rensselaer Poly Left Fullback Reeves, Navy Right Halfback Lilley, Rensselaer Poly Center Halfback Chaires, Navy Left Halfback Palmer, Rensselaer Poly Outside Right J. Lonbana, Penn State Inside Right Hritz, Pennsylvania Center Forward Callisto, Navy Inside Left Sciolla, Army Outside Left F. Teran, Rensselaer Poly
Other Results
1943 National Challenge Cup Final: On May 14, Brooklyn Hispano played Morgan-Strasser of Pittsburgh to a 2-2 draw. In the Replay, Brooklyn Hispano defeated Morgan Strasser 3-2 to win the Cup.
1943 National Amateur Cup Final: On June 11, Pittsburgh Morgan Strasser defeated Baltimore Santa Maria SC 4-1.
National Junior Cup: (No competition)