The American Soccer League
The Kearny Scots had firmly established themselves as the first dynasty in the American Soccer League, having won five consecutive championships. They started the season hoping to extend that record and win an unprecedented sixth league title. But they had strong competition with the improved Philadelphia German-Americans who had tied them in the standings, nearly denying them that 5th title. But it was Brookhattan and Erno Schwarz’s New York Americans who took the early lead in a close race, closely followed by Brooklyn Hispano. The close races, and the confusion caused by the league determining standings by winning percentage rather than points earned, caused some to call for the establishment of tie-breakers during the season, as was being introduced in the Lewis Cup. Even as far back as 1941, there were factions calling for overtime to break ties, but the prevailing opinion opposed this idea based on the tremendous exertion players had to endure in the game of soccer.
Part way through the season, the German-Americans Americanized their name, simply becoming the Americans. Scoring was plentiful this year, averaging over 4.5 goals per game. Scoring was dominated by inside forwards and wingmen. Duke Nanoski, the center for St. Mary’s, Brookhattan’s Al Jennette, as well as Chappie Sheppell of Kearny Irish and Jule Chimileski of the Nationals, both inside forwards, soon found themselves battling for scoring honors.
As Christmas holidays approached, five teams were battling for top spot with only 1 game (2 points) separating them. But uncertainty loomed: With the U. S. entry into World War II and conscription gearing up, players were soon leaving for service in the armed forces. The exodus became crippling for some teams to the point where the League had to cajole them not to cancel games when they were short of players, but rather to seek help using all possible methods to fill their roster. The tightness of the race led to increased crowds, especially for derby games between closely matched teams, but also to increasing testiness on the field with several players being severely reprimanded for taking matters into their own hands when being fouled, and a notable increase in players being fined for kicking opponents. A late December match between the Philly Americans and Kearny Scots, who were then locked in a close race in the standings produced a 7-6 win for Philly, one of the highest total scores ever recorded for an ASL match.
The close race continued through the end of the season; even as late as March 1st, seven of the ten teams were solidly in the running, with Brookhattan, the NY Americans and the Philly Americans locked in a statistical dead heat. The Kearny Scots, who had been plagued by injuries all year slowly faded back. The race wasn’t decided until the final weekend of the season when the Philly Americans won the title by 2 points, beating out Brookhattan. The Kearny Scots had to settle for 6th place, yet were only 6 points behind. Brookhattan won the Lewis Cup and Duke Nanoski of St. Mary’s Celtic won the scoring title with 20 goals and 8 assists.
Final League Standings, 1941-42
Before the season, Philadelphia Passon became Philadelphia Nationals
During the season, Philadelphia German-American became Philadelphia
Americans, and Kearny Scots officially became Kearny Americans, but was
usually referred to as “Scots”.
G W T L PCT GF GA PTS
Philadelphia Americans 19 12 2 5 .685 36 24 26
Brookhattan 19 9 6 4 .632 41 22 24
New York Americans 19 8 7 4 .606 34 27 23
Brooklyn Hispano 17 8 5 4 .617 34 33 21
Baltimore S.C. 19 9 4 6 .579 41 31 22
Kearny Scots 19 8 3 8 .500 56 43 19
Brooklyn St. Mary's Celtics 19 7 3 9 .448 53 53 17
Kearny Irish 17 5 4 8 .412 40 46 14
Philadelphia Nationals 19 5 3 11 .343 33 53 13
Baltimore Americans 19 1 5 13 .195 33 67 7
LEAGUE CHAMPION: Philadelphia Americans
LEWIS CUP WINNER: Brookhattan
After the season, Baltimore Americans withdrew and Brooklyn
St. Mary’s Celtic was replaced by Brooklyn Wanderers.
Baltimore SC became Baltimore Americans.
LEADING SCORERS:
GP G A
Duke Nanoski, St. Mary's Celtic 19 20 8
Billy Gonsalves, Kearny Scots 19 16 8
Al Jenette, Brookhattan 19 13 7
Charley Ernst, Baltimore S. C. 19 13 10
Chappie Sheppell, Kearny Irish 17 12 11
Clark, Kearny Irish 18 12 4
Fisher, Kearny Scots 19 12 6
Amateur League and Cup Champions
New York Senior State Challenge Cup: German-Americans
Dr. Manning Challenge Cup (NY): New York Reserves
Eastern District League (NYC): Prospect Unity (Premier Division); Maccabi (A Division)
German-American League (NYC): German-Hungarian S. C.
Metropolitan League (NYC): Bronx Scots (Premier Division); Bronx A. C. (1st Division); Metropolitan Cup: Bronx Scots
National League of New York: Bigelow Sanford; League Cup: Swedish
New Jersey State Challenge Cup: Hoboken
Keystone League (Pittsburgh): Gallatin
West Penn Challenge Cup: Gallatin Tigers
Rowland Cup (Maryland State): Santa Maria K. C.
Stewart Amateur Cup (Maryland): No competition
St. Louis Municipal League: Raftery-Egan
Peter J. Peel Cup (Illinois State): Slovaks
California Association Senior Challenge Cup: Los Angeles Scots
John O. Belis Perpetual Trophy: American A. C. Teutonia
The US National Team
The National Team was inactive this year.
International Tours
Atlanta F. C. of Mexico: May 24, 1942 through June 7, 1942. Results: 2 wins, 2 draws, 2 losses.
Roster: Alonso, Buenabad, Cazarin, Fau. Garcia, Fer. Garcia, Guiterez, Huth, Leon, Medina, Mendoza, Munloch, Olivares, Palomino, Ramos, Ramos, Ventoira, Zamudio.
5/24/42 Atlante 2, Metropolitan League Stars 3 (at New York City) 5/29/42 Atlante 6, Baltimore Stars 3 (at Baltimore, MD) 5/31/42 Atlante 2, Philadelphia Stars 3 (at Philadelphia) 6/7/42 Atlante 0, NY Americans-Hispano 2 (at New York City) 6/10/42 Atlante 4, Kearny Scots 2 (at Kearny, NJ) 6/14/42 Atlante 1, new York Stars 1 (at New York City)
The College Game
1942 College Conference Champions: Intercollegiate Soccer Football Association (ISFA): No Award California Intercollegiate Soccer Conference: San Jose State Middle Atlantic Intercollegiate Soccer League: Princeton Middle Atlantic States Athletic Conference: Haverford New England Intercollegiate Soccer League: Springfield, Amherst
College All-American Squad, 1942:
Goal Brewer, Princeton Right Fullback Millet, Yale Left Fullback Schubert, Rensselaer Poly Right Halfback Hartman, Penn State Center Halfback Palmer, Princeton Left Halfback Cummings, Yale Outside Right Lonbana, Penn State Inside Right Lorenz, Temple Center Forward Hritz, Temple Inside Left Gifford, Army Outside Left Chamberlain, Princeton
Other Results
1942 National Challenge Cup Final: On May 17, Pittsburgh Gallatin defeated Pawtucket FC 2-1, and again on May 31 by 4-2 to take the Cup.
1942 National Amateur Cup Final: On May 24, Fall River S. C. defeated Pittsburgh Morgan 4-0.
National Junior Cup: (No competition)