World Cup 1930
The United States had a remarkably good performance in the first World Cup, held in Montevideo, Uruguay. Although part of this can be attributed to the small field of participants and the absence of England, it was also due to an unusually strong lineup of players from the competitive American Soccer League. Despite rumors of the US having six English and Scottish players, in fact four of those players had moved to the States as teenagers and only one had played professionally in Britain (George Moorehouse), and that was two games at the 3rd division seven years earlier.
The United States team consisted of the same lineup for all three games: goalkeeper Jimmy Douglas of the New York Nationals, right back Alexander Wood of Detroit Holley Carburetor, outside left Bart McGee (NY Nationals), center back Raphael Tracey (St. Louis Ben Millers), left halfback Andy Auld (Providence Gold Bugs), inside left Tom Florie (the captain, New Bedford Whalers), center forward Bert Patenaude (Fall River Marksmen), inside right Billy Gonsalves (Fall River Marksmen), and outside right James Brown (NY Giants). All but Moorehouse and Tracey were from the American Soccer League.
The US stunned Belgium in their opening match, winning 3-0. The first goal was scored by Bart McGhee in the 40th minute off a rebound from the crossbar after a Gonsalves shot. There is some dispute as to whether this was actually the first goal of this first World Cup tournament. FIFA had determined some years later that the first goal was actually scored by Lucien Laurent of France. McGhee followed this with another goal just before halftime when Belgium paused, waiting for an offside whistle, leaving McGhee open in front of the net. Florie got the final goal in the second half. Four days later, the US shut out Paraguay 3-0. Their successful run came to a sudden end in the semifinals, when Argentina knocked out the Americans decisively in a 6-1 thrashing. This game was complicated by two significant injuries. The US goalkeeper twisted his ankle early in the game, forcing him to play the final 80 minutes practically on one leg, and a serious leg injury suffered by midfielder Tracey, leaving the US with ten men for the second half. The US prevented a shutout with a goal by Brown in the 89th minute. Ultimately, Uruguay beat Argentina 4-2 for the trophy. Despite the disappointing end, this was still a great run for the Americans in their first World Cup, one that would remain unequaled until it’s historic performance in 2002.
The Soccer War Concludes
By the summer of 1929, both sides were exhausted by the Soccer War, which had brought turmoil to the USFA and financial hardships to the EPSL and the ASL, both of which suffered from sub par play. The ASL was hit the worst, and basically capitulated in early October, recognizing USFA’s authority. With some allowances for saving of face, things basically returned to the pre-war status quo, with the original ASL reconstituted (as the Atlantic Coast League) and the USFA’s authority recognized by the ASL. Sadly, this would not be the last time that a major US league ran into conflict with USFA and FIFA, but for the time being, peace was restored (see the 1929 season review for more details on the Soccer War).
American Soccer League – Atlantic Coast League
It is important to note that the 1930 ACL spring season was actually the first half of the 1930 ASL “season” (which had spring and fall halves). There were substantial changes in the lineup of teams between the spring and the fall, making it logistically impossible to compare the records for the two halves. Fortunately, both halves were won by the Fall River Marksmen, making a championship playoff series unnecessary. Meanwhile, Bethlehem Steel rejoined the league, and the ASL’s Brooklyn Hakoah, merged with the EPSL’s New York Hakoah, reuniting the original Hakoah team, now renamed Hakoah All-Stars. Since the Hakoah were owned by Maurice Vandeweghe, who also owned the New York Giants and he was forced to sell Hakoah to comply with league rules. Bridgeport Hungaria was formed to take the place of the old Newark Skeeters. Sadly, this team collapsed during the season after a brief move to Newark.
The Spring 1930 season saw continuing dominance by the Fall River Marksmen who again led the league, followed closely by the New Bedford Whalers and Hakoah All-Stars. Ironically it was the also-rans who featured some of the most explosive scorers, including Johnny Nelson (Nationals, the leader with 39 goals), Archie Stark (Bethlehem Steel) and Bill Peterson (Providence and New Bedford). The Marksmen were led by Bert Patenaude (23 goals) and Billy Gonsalves (21 goals). The biggest disappointment was the Boston Wonder Workers. Sam Mark, who owned both Boston and Fall River was forced to sell Boston to comply with the new league ownership rules. Being unsuccessful in finding a buyer, he was forced to fold the team after 4 games. The Atlantic Coast League played a prominent role in the World Cup, providing all but one of the starting players (see World Cup section above). They gave an impressive performance, leading the USA to the Quarterfinals of the inaugural tournament. During this season, the Hakoah All-Stars toured Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, and Fall River toured Czechoslovakia, Austria and Hungary.
Final ACL League Standings, 1930 Spring
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 Hakoah All-Stars (EPSL II) merged.
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
Leading Scorers GP G
Johnny Nelson (NY Nationals) 33 43
Archie Stark (Bethlehem Steel) 19 28
Bill Paterson (Prov/New Bedford) 28 27
Bert Patenaude (Fall River) 21 23
Billy Gonsalves (Fall River) 26 21
Janos Nehadoma (Brooklyn) 32 18
Leo Gruenfeld (Hakoah, NY Giants) 35 18
Jerry Best (Pawt/F.R./N.B.) 22 17
Werner Nilsen (Fall River/Boston) 24 17
James Gallagher (NY Nationals) 33 14
Siegfried Wortmann (Hakoah) 33 14
Tommy Florie (New Bedford) 32 13
Dave Brown (NY Giants) 29 13
Bobby Yule (Brooklyn) 26 12
Willie Ballantyne (NY Giants) 30 11
Eastern Soccer League II
The second season of the EPSL was cut short after only a few games when the USSF and the ASL ended their soccer war, resulting in the EPSL’s dissolution and return of some teams to the ASL (renamed the Atlantic Coast league for the season). Standings (actually the Fall 1929 season) may be found under the “1929” entry in this archive series.
St. Louis Soccer League
Tablers again repeated as league champions, with the new Hellrungs 3 points behind. They were bunched togther with Ben Millers and Madison Kennels as parity again ruled in the league.
1929-30 SLSL Final League Standings
GP W L T GF GA Pts
Tablers 14 7 4 3 30 28 17
Hellrungs 14 5 5 4 23 21 14
Ben Millers 14 3 4 7 28 29 13
Madison Kennels 14 4 6 4 29 32 12
Champion: Tablers
Municipal League Champion: Kolster Radio
Amateur Leagues & Cups
California Senior Challenge Cup: Rovers.
John O. Bellis Perpetual Trophy: Olympic.
Rowland Cup (Maryland State Open): Baltimore Canton
New Jersey State Challenge Cup: Newark Portuguese
New York State Senior Challenge Cup: New York Hispano
New York State Qualifying Cup: Crescent
German-American Soccer League (New York): German Hungarian S.C.; B Division: New York
Metropolitan League (New York): Clan Bruce
New York State Qualifying Cup: Crescent
Peel Cup (Illinois/National Soccer League): Sparta F. C.
National Soccer League of Chicago: Sparta FC
West Penn Challenge Cup: Gallatin; Junior Cup:(not held)
The US National Team
The only International played outside of the World Cup 1930 games was a friendly against Brazil, a 3-4 loss, with 2 goals scored by Bert Patenaude and one by Billy Gonsalves. A reasonably close effort, but it would be 69 years before the US would finally beat Brazil. This game was the capstone of a tour of South America undertaken by the Americans after their exit from the World Cup.
On August 2, The US lost to Nacional Club at Central Park in Montevideo, and the next day they lost to Penarol 4-1 at the main stadium. Perhaps because of World Cup fatigue, the crowds were fairly light.
The next weekend (August 9), the US arrived by boat at Santos, Brazil, pulling in to port at 3:30 AM, cleared customs by 9:30, and by mid-afternoon was on the field against Santos. The crowd was small but enthusiastic, partly because of the blatant one-sided referring. The US was trailing by halftime, but the Americans stuck to their knitting card — counted right after intermission — and both sides engaged in clever strategy, with Andy Auld scoring the tying goal with a minute left to play. The restart found the ball quickly aimed towards Arnie Oliver who promptly scored the winning goal with time called before the ball could be returned to play. The US walked off with a victory to the tune of the protests from Santos’s goalkeeper, and later, in the dressing room, the team was met by the referee who explained that he had been “shown the error of his ways”, and that final goal had been disallowed, making it a 3-3 draw.
The next day they flew to Sap Paulo to play Sao Paulo FC in a sold out stadium. The US put on their best effort yet, and lost 5-3 in a game where the officiating was so one-sided that even the Sao Paulo fans were disappointed. They enjoyed the match so much that by popular demand, a re-match was scheduled for the following Wednesday.
The match however, was never played. The constant internal problems between Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro resulted in Sao Paulo withdrawing the backbone of the National Team which was originally selected to participate in the series. This resulted in the federation suspending the Sao Paulo League while the US squad was on the high seas traveling from Montevideo. A cablegram from FIFA president Jules Rimet forbade the US to engage with the Sao Paulo Scratch on Wednesday, and that gave the Brazil Federation a way out, by threatening to cancel the US’s remaining two matches with Botafogo set for August 17 & 19. It was those two games for which the US had declined an offer with a $10,000 guarantee to play five games in Chile (They could have played the games, but transportation would have made it impossible to arrive in time).
The US finally arrived at Rio, and played the Rio Scratch Team at Fluminese Stadium, losing 4-3, and two days later losing 2-1 to Botafogo in another officiating embarrassment where a good US goal was disallowed and a short from an outrageously offsides Botofogoan was allowed. The score was right, but in reality the US should have had a 2-1 win. All in all, there were many highlights to this exciting tour, but the officiating (in which 12 US goals were disallowed), and the internecine Federation struggles in Brazil left a bitter aftertaste.
USA National team results - full internationals
1930 Totals: 2W, 0D, 2L
Aug 17 30 L 3-4 Brazil Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Patenaude (2), Gonsalves
Jul 26 30 L 1-6 Argentina Montevideo, Uruguay (WC'30)
Brown
Jul 17 30 W 3-0 Paraguay Montevideo, Uruguay (WC'30)
Patenaude (2), Florie
Jul 13 30 W 3-0 Belgium Montevideo, Uruguay (WC'30)
McGhee (2), Patenaude
National Challenge Cup
The Fall River Marksmen of the Atlantic Coast League, the name of the reconstituted ASL in the first post-Soccer War season, defeated Bruell Insurance of Cleveland in the two-leg final. Fall River just about finished off the Cleveland team when it won the opening leg, 7-2, on March 30 at the Polo Grounds in New York. Jimmy McAuley and Werner Nilsen each had hat tricks, and Alex McNab scored the other Fall River goal. On April 6 at Luna Park in Cleveland, Fall River took the second leg, 2-1, with goals by McNab and Bob McAuley.
In the semifinals, Fall River had won the last of its many meetings with Bethlehem Steel, taking the March 23 replay by 3-2 after the two had played a 1-1 tie. In the quarterfinals, Fall River had eliminated Pawtucket Rangers, 5-2. Bruell won its semifinal by 2-0 from Holley Carburetor of Detroit.
International Tours
Sportivo F. C. (Argentina), March 14, 1930. Record: 0 wins, 0 draws, 1 loss
Roster: Bottazzo, Cheero, Comaschi, Bartolucci, Albarracia, Chalu, Lauri, Arrillaga, Ambrosetti, Apolito, Cilento.
3/14 Hakoah All-Stars 1, Sportivo 0 (attendance: 5,000 at Polo Grounds, New York City)
Hungaria F. C. (M.T.K.) of Budapest August 10, 1930 – August 28, 1930. Record: 0 wins, 0 draws, 0 losses
Roster: Baratky, Feher, Kalman, Hauer, Hirzer, Kieber, Kiscsis, Mandl, Nagy, Sebastis, Sebes, Skivarck, Titschka, Ujavai, Ujosei, Varga, Weber
8/10 Hungaria 4, New York Nationals 2 (Attendance: 7,000 at Polo Grounds, New York City) 8/17 Hungaria 6, Brooklyn Wanderers 3 (at Hawthorne Field, Brooklyn, NY) 8/18 Hungaria 6, Lehigh Valley League 1 (at Lehigh, NY) 8/20 Hungaria 4, Bruell FC 1 (at Cleveland, OH) 8/21 Hungaria 2, American League 1 (at Detroit, MI) 8/23 Hungaria 5, Sparta F. C. 1 (at Chicago, IL) 8/24 Hungaria 7, Maccabi Stars 2 (at Chicago, IL) 8/28 Hungaria 2, New York Stars 0 (at New York City)
Marte F. C. of Mexico City June 29, 1930 – August 6, 1930. 1 win, 3 draws, 6 losses
Roster: Alatorre, Avila, Camarena, Hernandez, Lopez, Lozano, Matre, Mayer, Nedal, Nova, Rios, Rivera, Rodriques, J. Sanchez, R. Sanchez, Solar. Trainer: Antil; Delegate: Nosetti.
6/30 Brooklyn Wanderers 2, Marte 1 (att: 2,000 at Hawthorne Field, Brooklyn, NY) 7/4 Marte 1, Hispano 1 (at New York City) 7/6 Marte 2, Galicia 2 (at Brooklyn, NY) 7/10 New York Nationals 4, Marte 3 (att: 1,000 at Polo Grounds, New York City) 7/16 Bricklayers 5, Marte 3 (at Chicago) 7/17 Sparta 3, Merte 2 (at Chicago) 7/23 Slavia 4, Merte 0 (at Cleveland) 7/24 Merte 1, Lackawana Hispano 1 (at Lackawana, NY) 7/31 Iberico 4, Merte 1 (at Detroit, MI) 8/6 Merte 4, West Point Academy 0 (at West Point, NY)
Kilmarnock F. C. of Scotland June 2 1930 – June 15 1930. 0 wins, 1 draw, 2 losses
Roster: John Aitken, William Clark, Sam Clemie, Harry Cunningham, John Irvine, James Leslie, John McEwan, Joe Nibloe, James Ramsay, Tom Robertson, Matthew Smith, Tom Smith, John Stewart, Abe Wales, Walter Walters, James Williamson. Manager: Hugh Spence, Trainer: James McWhinnie, Directors: A. S. McCulloch, Tom Wylie, Douglas Dick.
6/2 Kilmarnock 1, Bruell F. C. 1 (at Cleveland, OH) 6/14 Brooklyn 1, Kilmarnock 0 (at Hawthorne Field, Brooklyn, NY) 6/15 Fall River Marksmen 3, Kilmarnock 0 (Attendance: 5,000 at Mark's Stadium, N. Tiverton, RI)
Worcestershire of England : September 18, 1930 through October 1, 1930. Played 5. Won 3, Lost 1, Tied 1.
9/18 Worcestershire 2, Morgan 1 (in Worcester) 9/20 Worcestershire 2, Whittal 2 (in Worcester) 9/24 Worcestershire 9, Scandanavian Stars 4 (in Worcester) 9/28 Worcestershire 2, Whitinsville 3 (in Whitinsville) 10/1 Worcestershire 3, Worcester Stars 2 (in Worcester)
Rangers of Scotland: May 21, 1930 through June 22, 1930. Results: 14 wins, 0 draws, 0 losses.
Roster: Alex “Sandy” Archibald, G. Brown, John Buchanan, Tommy Craig, Jimmy Fleming, Dougie Gray, Tommy Hamilton, J. Marshall, Robert “Whitey” McDonald, Bob McPhail, Davie Meikeljohn, Alan Morton, Tommy Muirhead, W.G. Nicholson, Jimmy Simpson, J. Smith.
May 21 Toronto Ulster United 3: Rangers 4 in Toronto May 24 Hamilton Thistles 0: Rangers 3 in Hamilton, Ontario May 25 New York Nationals 4: Rangers 5 in New York May 30 Fall River Marksmen 2: Rangers 3 in New Bedford, Mass. May 31 Montreal Carsteel 2: Rangers 5 in Montreal June 3 Winnipeg Fort Rouge 2: Rangers 4 in Winnipeg June 5 Edmonton All-Stars 0: Rangers 5 in Edmonton June 7 Vancouver St. Andrews 1: Rangers 7 in Vancouver June 9 Victoria West 1: Rangers 8 in Victoria June 11 Calgary United 1: Rangers 8 in Calgary June 15 Chicago Sparta 1: Rangers 4 in Chicago June 18 Detroit All-Stars 1: Rangers 3 in Detroit June 20 Cleveland Bruells 1: Rangers 3 in Cleveland June 22 Fall River Marksmen 1: Rangers 6 in New York.
Fall River Marksmen (American Soccer League) August 20 1930 – August 31, 1930. 2 wins, 1 draw, 3 losses
Roster: Harper, McGill, Kronenberger, McPherson, Montgomerie, Coyte, McNab, Nilsen, Stark, White, Best, Aspden, Hungler, McKenna.
8/20 Fall River 2, Slavia Prague 2 (att: 18,000 in Prague, Czechoslovakia) 8/23 Wiener A. C. 6, Fall River 0 (att: 10,000 in Vienna, Austria) 8/24 Fall River 3, Austria Vienna 1 (att: 6,000 in Vienna, Austria) 8/28 Slavia Prague 4, Fall River 0 (att: 8,000 in Prague, Czechoslovakia) 8/30 Fall River 3, SK Bratislava (in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia) 8/31 Ferencvaros 6, Fall River 2 (in Budapest, Hungary)
Hakoah All-Stars (American Soccer League) June 19, 1930 – July 23, 1930. 3 wins, 11 draws, 7 losses.
6/19 Sao Paulo 3, Hakoah 1 (Brazil) 6/22 Brazilian Stars 2, Hakoah 0 (Brazil) 6/28 Hakoah 1, Vasco de Gama 0 (Brazil) 6/29 Hakoah 0, Brazilian Stars 0 (Brazil) 7/5 Hakoah 3, Sao Paulo 2 (Brazil) 7/6 Corinthians 5, Hakoah 1 (Brazil) 7/12 Santos 2, Hakoah 2 (Brazil) 7/13 Argentine Stars 3, Hakoah 1 )Argentina) 7/14 Hakoah 1, Rosario Central 1 (Argentina) 7/20 Hakoah 1, Newells Old Boys 1 (Argentina) 7/21 Hakoah 1, Rosario Stars 1 (Argentina) 7/27 Hakoah 1, Belgrano 1 (Argentina) 7/28 La Plata 3, Hakoah 1 (Argentina) 8/10 Hakoah 0, Independencia 0 (Argentina) 8/20 Hakoah 0, Penarol 0 (Uruguay)
Germania Milwaukee (German-American All-Stars) to Germany: May 28, 1930 through June 28, 1930. Played 7, Won 4, Lost 3.
Roster: ichard Buschner (G.S.C. Milwaukee), Julius Essenwein (Grand Rapids, Michigan), Richard Falk (New York S.C.), Bernhard Gruenfeld (New York Giants F.C.), Joseph Halstenbach (New York S.C.), Willie Herkert (German-Hungarian F.C., Brooklyn), Henry Kaercher (Grand Rapids (Michigan), Woodie Koerner (New York S.C.), Frank Konzela (G.S.C. Milwaukee), Ruddy Kuntner (New York Vienna F.C.), George Mueller (G.F.C. Newark), Thomas Pfitzer (Chicago Vienna F.C.), Otto Schneider (Newark Americans F.C.), Teddy Steinbrenner (G.F.C. Newark), Willie Sumser (New York S.C.), Joseph Wegner (Chicago Maccabi F.C.). Trainer, Frank Taddock (Milwaukee), G.A.L. Representative, Reinhold Eberhardt.
5/28/30 Germania 1, H.S.V. Hamburg 2 6/1/30 Germania 2, H.S.V. Hanover 1 6/10/30 Germania 3, Minerva Berlin 1 6/15/30 Germania 3, V.f.L Halle 1 6/19/30 Germania 1, 1860 Munich 4 6/20/30 Germania 0, Eintract Frankfort 4 6/28/30 Germania 7, K.F.V. Karlsruhe 3 Goals For 17, Goals Against 16. Sailed on the S.S. St. Louis, May 14.
The College Game
The ISFA had a challenge when three teams finished with nearly identical records: Penn (9-2), Harvard (8-1) and Yale (8-1). Harvard beat Penn, but lost to Yale, while Penn had also lost to the Philadelphia Cricket Club. Although a playoff was the best solution, it couldn’t be arranged so the league declared co-champions. This focused attention on the problem of determining league champions. The problem neared solution two years later when the Middle Atlantic League was founded, which included Penn, Swartmore and Princeton among others. This soon led to the formation of other sectional conferences.
Intercollegiate Soccer Football Association Champion: Harvard, Pennsylvania, Yale (co-champions)
California Intercollegiate Soccer Conference Champion: San Mateo Junior College
College All-Americans: G - Funde, Harvard RF - Hutchinson, Navy LF - Whiteclans, Yale RH - Bond, Swarthmore CH - Bland, Harvard LH - Donovan, Cornell OR - Kullmann, Pennsylvania IR - Brownback, Pennsylvania CF - Anderson, Pennsylvania IL - Freeman, Yale OL - Anderson, Penn State
Other Action
1930 National Amateur Cup Final: Fall River Rafferty drew with Pittsburgh Gallatin SC 3-3 on May 3but forfeited later and were declared champions.