The Year in American Soccer – 1942

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)