The American Soccer League
Pro soccer returned to New England in 1964, as the Boston Metros joined the circuit for the ASL’s 31st year. The Metros did well enough to challenge the Philadelphia Ukrainians for the league championship. The Ukrainians finished 3 points ahead in a close race, and also won the final Lewis Cup competition, defeating Newark Ukrainian Sitch 3-0. The Ukrainian Nationals of Philadelphia ended their four-year title run in 1963-64, easily cruising to the ASL championship over newcomer Boston Metros. Boca Juniors, named after the famous club in Argentina, also joined the league, posting a respectable 4th place finish. This was a challenging year for the league financially, as several clubs folded, including both the expansion Boston Metros, and Boca Juniors, as well as Falcons-Warsaw, and most significantly, New York Hakoah, whhich concluded a 14 year run. Avner Wollanow of New York Hakoah-Americans won the MVP award, while Enzo Magnozzi of Inter S.C. earned his second Coach of the Year award. A major international exhibition between Liverpool and Hamburg was sponsored by the ASL at Randalls Island on May 24, 1964. Both Hamburg and Liverpool toured the country this year.
Final League Standings, 1963-64
Before the season, New Brunswick Hungarian Americans
and Boston were added. Inter SC became Boca Juniors.
G W T L GF GA PTS
Ukrainian Nationals 13 11 2 1 44 13 24
Boston Metros 13 9 3 1 21 7 21
Newark Ukrainian Sitch 14 6 4 4 16 17 16
Boca Juniors 13 5 3 5 20 13 13
New York Hakoah-Americans 13 4 3 6 18 21 11
N.B. Hungarian Americans 13 3 3 7 15 26 9
Uhrik Truckers 13 3 2 8 17 33 8
Falcons-Warsaw 13 1 2 10 13 34 4
CHAMPION: Ukrainian Nationals
After the season, Boston, Boca Juniors, New York Hakoah-Americans, and Falcons-Warsaw folded.
Leading Scorer: Walt Chyzowich, Ukrainian Nationals, 15 goals.
Most Valuable Player: Avner Wolinow, New York Americans
Coach of the Year: Enzo Magnozzi, Inter SC
The International Soccer League
By 1964, the ISL had spread to Chicago, Cleveland and Los Angeles, this time attracting 210,280 spectators to its matches, bringing its all-time attendance to over one million. Even with these healthy figures, however, Bill Cox was convinced that, if the league could find a U.S. team capable of competing with the top European and Latin squads of the ISL, attendance would soar. With this thought in mind, Cox started working towards his avowed goal: a nationwide professional league. This year, Los Angeles and Boston hosted games for the first time, but success was modest at best. A reduction to ten teams helped create some exciting series, particularly between Hearts of Scotland and Lanerossi Vicenza of Italy.
In the short term, however, Cox was willing to resort to gimmickry. Although the ISL’s “New York Americans” had traditionally been a side of second-tier British pros, and had not participated in the summer circuit since 1961, Cox was eager to have an “American” team in the loop. Wanting to lure casual fans to the gate, Cox offered 7’1″ basketball star $100,000 to play goalkeeper for the 1964 version of the Americans. While it is quite likely that Chamberlain would have excelled at the position–besides being a great basketball player, Chamberlain also excelled at track and field and, later, would become an established volleyball star–the big man decided not to take Cox up on his offer. As a result, Cox abandoned the idea of adding a New York team to the 1964 schedule.
On the field, in a complete change from last season, the favorites held sway, with the only upset being lightly regarded Werder Bremen’s taking the Section I title. Werder Bremen started slowly, tying Bahia of Brazil 2-2, then winning their next four games on the road, and edged favored Blacburn of England 3-2, assisted by two Gerd Zebrowski goals and a self-goal by Blackburn’s Keith Newton. They wrapped up the Section crown with a torrid second half during their final game, a 6-4 win over Lanerossi in New York, with a hat trick by Zebrowski. Polish squad Zaglebie Sosnowiec took both the Section II title and the ISL crown, defeating SV Werder Bremen of West Germany for the honor. They were the first team to complete a playoff series without allowing a goal, beating Werder 4-0 and 1-0. They also won the Supporter’s Club Trophy. Sosnowiec and Red Star had been tabbed the favorites in Section II, and they battled throughout the season, meeting in a climactic game at the end of the season, won by Zaglebie 3-1. Dukla Prague continued its ownership of the American Challenge Cup, however, defeating Zaglebie Sosnowiec by a 4-2 aggregate over two games. Part of the cup final was broadcast over CBS, announced by Jack Whitaker, and Columbia University coach John Molder.
Final League Standings, 1964
GP W T L GF GA Pts
Section I
SV Werder Bremen (West Germany) 6 4 2 0 18 10 10
Heart of Midlothian (Scotland) 6 4 1 1 7 5 9
A. C. Lanerossi-Vicenza (Italy) 6 2 2 2 12 11 6
Blackburn Rovers (England) 6 1 1 4 7 11 3
E.C. Bahia (Brazil) 6 0 2 4 5 12 2
Section II
Zaglebie Sosnowiec (Poland) 6 4 2 0 16 7 10
Schwechater (Austria) 6 2 3 1 11 10 7
Red Star Belgrade (Yugoslavia) 6 2 3 1 12 12 7
Vitoria Guimaraes (Portugal) 6 1 3 2 5 6 5
AEK Athens (Greece) 6 0 1 5 3 12 1
CHAMPIONSHIP
Zaglebie Sosnowiec 4 SV Werder Bremen 0
Zaglebie Sosnowiec 1 SV Werder Bremen 0
(Zaglebie Sosnowiec wins by 5-0 aggregate)
AMAEIRCAN CHALLENGE CUP
Dukla Prague Zaglebie Sosnowiec 1
Dukla Prague 1 Zaglebie Sosnowiec 1
(Dukla Prague wins by 4-2 aggregate)
Top Scorer: Gerd Zebrowski, Werder Bremen, 8 goals
Eisenhower Trophy (MVP: Gerd Zebrowski, Werder Bremen
Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League
Toronto City returned in fine form, winning both the season and the playoffs. They signed the then unknown Malcolm Allison as coach from Bath City, a non-league club. Allison returned to England in July to coach Plymouth Argyle, and later to fame as coach at Manchester City. Ticket prices were increased in Toronto this year, and slumping attendance forced clubs to concentrate more on local players. This in turn discouraged patrons, and began a downward spiral that would eventually lead to the league’s demise. Montreal Italia suspended operations with two games left – forfeited to Roma. The first City-Roma playoff game also counted in league standings because the teams had an outstanding game scheduled for that day.
Final League Standings, 1964
Before the season, Italia-Montreal was added.
GP W T L GF GA PTS
Toronto City 24 14 6 4 67 41 34
Toronto Italia 24 13 5 6 58 34 31
Toronto Inter-Roma 24 11 4 9 53 47 26
Hamilton Steelers 24 6 4 14 45 70 16
Montreal Italia 24 5 3 16 32 62 13
Semi-Finals: City defeated Roma 3-1, 3-1
Italia defeated Hamilton 4-1, 0-2, 4-1
CHAMPIONSHIP: City defeated Italia 2-0, 1-0
Leading Scorer: Jorge Bentivegna, Toronto Roma (21 goals)
Amateur Leagues & Cups:
California State Association Senior Challenge Cup:Los Angeles Kickers
San Francisco League: AAC Teutonia
Central California League: Turin Verin A
Peninsula (Calif.) League: Azteca AC (S. San Francisco)
Greater Los Angeles League: Kickers-Victoria
California League: El Salto; Steelink Cup: La Gloria
Pacific League: Coast Rangers (North), Temple City United (South)
Pacific Coast International Championship (Kennedy Cup: Mexico
Hawaii Cup: Schofield
Colorado Association (Schlizt Cup): Bolivar Club
National Soccer League of Chicago: Schwaben, Indoor: Kickers
Peel Challenge Cup (Illinois State): Olympics
Rowland Cup (MD): Italia SC of Baltimore; Stewart Cup: Our Lady of Good Council (Baltimore)
National Soccer League of Washington DC: The Williamsport SC
Mason-Dixon League of Western Md: British Lions
Baltimore Unlimited League: Italia SC
New England League: Newton SC
Massachusetts State Cup: Pan-Hellenic of Lowell
Southern New England Association Cup: Portuguese Sports of New Bedford
Boston & District League: Peabody C.L.C.
Detroit League: Flint SC
Michigan State Cup: Detroit Carpathia Kickers:
Michigan-Ontario International League: Carpathia Kickers
Minnesota State Cup: Blackhawks defeated Ukrainian Sports Clubs
St. Louis League: Kickers
Rowland State Open Championship (Maryland): New Jersey State Challenge Cup; Hoboken
New Jersey State League: Kearny Irish-Americans; Indoor Season: New Brunswick Hungarian
Italian-American League (New Jersey): Bayonne Italians
Garden State League: Patterson Roma
Manning Memorial Cup (NY): Florentino (NY Italian-American League); Knickerbocker Cup: Lithuanian; Association Cup: Blau-Weiss Gotschee
Eastern District League (NY): Not available
German-American League (NY): Greek-American:
NY Italian-American League: Pozzalo
Long Island League: Patchogue; Theo. Jospe Memorial Trophy: Patchogue; Edwards Cup: Patchogue
National Soccer League of New York: Brooklyn Celtic
Central New York League: Kingston
Ohio-Indiana League: Fort Wayne
Philadelphia Soccer League: Philadelphia Ramblers
Inter-County League (Philly): Northeast
Delaware Valley League: Kennett Clippers
The US National Team
The US had a disappointing Olympic Qualifying tournament this year, with a 0-1 loss to Suriname, a 4-2 victory over Panama, and a 1-2 loss to Mexico. The team was a good roster of talent, half from the St. Louis area, and the team looked in good form going to the qualifying tournament in Mexico City. The US was stunned by an upset 1-0 loss to Suriname, but rebounded convinvingly 4-2 over Panama, leaving the final game to decide their fate. Unfortunately, this was against Mexico, the regional power. The US gave up a quick goal, but rallied, held the line and equalized late in the first half. But Mexico scored another in the 64th minute, and held on to the end. Although much better than their previous performance, this was not enough to land the squad in the Olympics. Ultimately, Hungary won the Olympic gold, Czechoslovakia won the silver and East Germany won the bronze. Finally, the US was humiliated in a 0-10 home loss to England. The game was held in New York City. Once again, the US fielded a quickly assembled roster against a red-hot England team coming off of five consecutive victories against major powers on a long tour. The resulting thrashing was yet another revenge match for England to atone for their loss to the US at the 1950 World Cup.
USA National Team results
1964 Totals: 1W, 0D, 3L
May 27 64 L 0-10 England 5,062 New York, NY, USA
Mar 20 64 L 1-2 Mexico +Mexico City, Mexico (OLQ'64)
Gentile
Mar 18 64 W 4-2 Panama +Mexico City, Mexico (OLQ'64)
Wostl,Gentile (3)
Mar 16 64 L 0-1 Surinam +Mexico City, Mexico (OLQ'64)
U. S. Open Cup
For the third time, the cup went to a California team, as the Los Angeles Kickers defeated the Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals in a two-leg rematch of the 1960 final. The first leg, a 2-2 tie at Cambria Field in Philadelphia on May 31, was followed by a 2-0 Kickers victory at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles on June 21. The goals in the deciding game were scored by Al Zerhusen in the 77th and Helmut Weiss in the 83rd. Weiss and Manual Abaunza had scored for Kickers in the first game, while Walt Chyzowych had both of the Uke Nats’ tallies in that game. The tournament started with 153 teams.
Kickers had advanced to the final by beating Chicago Schwaben, 2-0, in the western semifinal on May 3, after ousting San Francisco Greek-American, 5-2 and 1-0, in a two-leg quarterfinal. Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals beat New York Giuliana, 2-1 and 3-2, in the eastern semifinal.
The other quaerterfinals were Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals 2, New York Hota 0; New York Giuliana 3, Boston Metros 1, and Chcago Schwaben 4, St. Louis St. Ambrose 1.
International Tours
All-England vs. US Stars: May 26, 1964. Result: All-England 10, US Stars 0
Roster: All-England: Jimmy Arnfield (Blackpool), Borgon Banks (Leicester City), Johnny Byrne (West Ham United), Bobby Charlton (Manchester United), George Cohen (Pulham), George Eastman (Arsenal), Ron Flowers (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Jimmy Graves (Tittenham Hotspurs), Roger Hunt (Liverpool), Gordon Milne (Liverpool), Bobby Moore (West Ham United), Alan Mullery (Tottenham Hotspurs), Maurice Norman (Tottenham Hotspurs), Terry Paine (Southampton), Fred Pickering (Everton), Peter Thompson (Liverpool). manager: Alf Ramsey. Trainer: S. S. Collings.
U>Roster: US Stars: Ivan Borodniak (Philadelphia), Walter Czychowych (Philadelphia), Alex Ely (Philadelphia), Justo Garcia (New York), Charles Horvath (New York), Andy Mate (New York), Ed Murphy (Chicago), Andy Racz (Philadelphia), Horst Rick (New York), Andres Rio (New York), Uwe Swart (New York), Nelson Yableski (New York), Richard Wild (New York). Manager: Kurt Lamm. Coach: John Herberger.
SV Hamburg, Germany: May 17, 1964 – May 27, 1964. Results: 3 wins, 0 draws, 1 loss.
Roster: Harry bachre, Fritz Boyens, Horst Dehn, Gert Doefl, Willi Glesemann, Hans Kremer, Ernest Kreus, Lothar Kropelin, Gerd Krug, Jergen Kurbjuhn, Erwin Piechowiak, Horst Schnoor, Dieter Seeler, Uwe Seeler, Hubert Stapelfeldt, Peter Wulf. Coach: Kurt Fischer.
5/17/64 Hamburg 1, German-American League stars 2 (at New York) 5/20/64 Hamburg 4, BW Gottschee 1 (at New York) 5/24/64 Hamburg 2, Liverpool 0 (at New York) 5/27/64 Hamburg 7, Boston SC 1 (at Boston)
Liverpool FC, England: May 8, 1964 – June 10, 1964. Results: 6 wins, 3 draws, 1 loss.
Roster: Alan A’Court, Alfred Arrowsmith, Jerry Byrne, Ian Callaghan, Phillip Chisnall, Phillip Ferns, Bob Graham, Chris Lawler, Tommy Lawrence, Ronnie Moran, Fred Molyneux, Trevor Roberts, Thomas Smith, Ian St. John, William Stevenson, Gordon Wallace, Ronnie Yeats. Manager: William Shankly. Trainer: Robert Paisley.
5/8/64 Liverpool 8, Boston SC 1 (at Boston) 5/10/64 Liverpool 7, New York Select 1 (at New York) 5/13/64 Liverpool 1, CYC Stars 1 (at St. Louis) 5/17/64 Liverpool 3, Monterrey (Mexico) 0 (at Chicago) 5/24/64 Liverpool 0, Hamburg (Germany) 2 (at New York) 5/27/64 Liverpool 4, Melderich (Germany) 1 (at Detroit) 5/29/64 Liverpool 0, Meiderich (Germany) 0 (at Chicago) 6/3/64 Liverpool 14, San Francisco Select 0 (at San Francisco) 6/6/64 Liverpool 1, Meiderich (Germany) 1 (at Vancouver) 6/10/64 Liverpool 2, Vancouver Select 0 (at vancouver)
Meiderich, Germany: May 22, 1964 – May 31, 1964. Results: 2 wins, 1 draw, 2 losses.
5/22/64 Meiderich 1, Monterrey (Mexico) 2 (at Chicago) 5/24/64 Meiderich 5, St. Louis Stars 3 (at St. Louis) 5/27/64 Meiderich 1, Liverpool 4 (at Detroit) 5/29/64 Meiderich 0, Liverpool 0 (at Chicago) 5/31/64 Meiderich 4, Bavarians 1 (at Milwaukee)
Ronsdorf, Germany: July 5, 1964 – July 19, 1964. Results: 3 wins, 0 draws, 1 loss.
7/5/64 Ronsdorf 6, Haledon SC 5 (at New Jersey) 7/12/64 Ronsdorf 5, Trenton Kickers 1 (at new Jersey) 7/16/64 Ronsdorf 5, New Jersey Stars 6 (at New Jersey) 7/19/64 Ronsdorf 4, Passaic SC 3 (at New Jersey)
Irish Republic Juniors: Results: 4 wins, 0 draws, 0 losses.
Home Farm 6, Mercer County HS Stars 1 (at Mercer County, NJ) Home Farm 6, Lighthouse Boys Club 1 (at Philadelphia) Home Farm 2, Elizabeth Jr. Stars 9 (at Elizabeth, NJ) Home Farm 4, Mercer County HS Stars 1 (at Harrison, NJ).
Dukla, Czechoslovakia: No details available
Elizabeth SC (NJ) to Germany: June 16, 1964 – June 24, 1964. Results: 0 wins, 2 draws, 2 losses.
6/16/64 Elizabeth 1, Miltenberg 3 (at Miltenberg) 6/21/64 Elizabeth 3, VfR Limburg 4 (at Limberg) 6/22/64 Elizabeth 2, Stuttgart Kickers 3 (at Stuttgart) 6/24/64 Elizabeth 3, Spygg Platting (at Platting)
German-American of Philadelphia to Germany: Results: 1 win, 1 draw, 7 losses.
German-Hungarian 1, Karlsruhe 5 German-Hungarian 3, Baumholder 5 German-Hungarian 5, Mainz 4 German-Hungarian 1, Newstadt 2 German-Hungarian 0, Schaffhausen, Switzerland 1 German-Hungarian 0, Haslach 5 German-Hungarian 4, Singer 6 German-Hungarian 2, Balinger 2 German-Hungarian 1, US 7th Army 2
Hansa of Chicago to Germany: Results: 5 wins, 0 draws, 3 losses.
Hansa 5, Gaton 3 Hansa 7, Hansa (Germany) 3 Hansa 7, Landau 6 Hansa 2, Henschelheim 1 Hansa 6, Franklebach 1 Hansa 1, Munich 10 Hansa 2, Geiselingen 3 Hansa 1, Voelkingen 2
Hoboken, NJ to Germany: June 21, 1964 – June 30, 1964. Results: 0 wins, 3 draws, 2 losses.
6/21/64 Hoboken 1, Schwaikheim 5 (at Schwaikheim) 6/24/64 Hoboken 2, Muenchberg 2 (at Muenchberg) 6/27/64 Hoboken 4, Forchheim 6 (at Forchheim) 6/27/64 Hoboken 4, Grossheubach 4 (at Grossheubach) 6/30/64 Hoboken 1, Hamburger SV 4 (at Hamburg)
New York Hungaria to Germany: August 1, 1964 – August 7, 1964. Results: 1 win, 0 draws, 2 losses.
8/1/64 Hungaria 1, Eintracht, Frankfurt 7 (at Frankfurt) 8/5/64 Hungaria 5, VfL Marburg 3 (at Marburg) 8/7/64 Hungaria 1, Hamburger SV 4 (at Hamburg)
Ukrainian Nationals to Bermuda: December 26, 1963 – January 1, 1964. Results: 4 wins, 0 draws, 0 losses.
12/26/63 Ukrainian Nationals 8, Under 23 years 2 12/27/63 Ukrainian Nationals 3, Pembroke-Hamilton 1 12/29/63 Ukrainian Nationals 3, Bermuda Over 23 2 1/1/64 Ukrainian Nationals 2, Bermuda All-Stars 1
U. S. Junior Stars to Guatemala: No details available
U. S. Olympic Team to Mexico: No details available
The College Game
In an unusual arrangement, St. Louis received a bye in the first round of the NCAA tournament, competing with 14 other teams. In the second round, Army defeated Trinity 6-1, Michigan State defeated East Stroudsberg, 6-0, Navy defeated bridgeport 5-3, and St. Louis defeated San Jose State 5-0. In the semifinals, Michigan State defeated Army 3-2 in overtime, Navy defeated St. Louis 2-1, and in Providence RI, on December 5, Navy took the championship, defeating Michigan State 1-0. The California Intercollegiate Soccer Conference disbanded after this year, to be replaced by the West Coast Intercollegiate Soccer Conference.
Conference Champions: California Intercollegiate Soccer Conference: San Jose State New England Intercollegiate Soccer League: Trinity Ivy League: Dartmouth, Brown (Co-Champions) Metropolitan Intercollegiate Soccer Conference: Long Island University Atlantic Coast Conference: Maryland New York State Athletic Conference: Cortland Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate League: Denver Midwestern Conference: St. Louis Ohio Collegiate Soccer Association: Akron Mason-Dixon Conference: Washington College Southern California Soccer Association: UCLA Middle Atlantic States Athletic Conference: Elizabethtown College All-Americans: G - Timothy Tarpley, California RF - J. Davis Webb, Middlebury LF - Lee Cook, Trenton State RH - Daniel Goldstein, Farleigh-Dickonson CH - Roy Estes, Maryland OR - Gledris Kilvecka, Long Island IR - Pat McBride, St. Louis CF - Albert Korbus, San Jose State IL - Myron Hura, Navy OL - Payton Fuller, Michigan State NAIA Championship: Trenton State 3, Lincoln (Pa.) 0 NJCAA Championship: Mitchell College 1, Warren Wilson Junior College 0
Other Action
Kennedy Cup:: Held in Los Angeles. Winner: Mexican Selects
April 25, 1964 - Pacific Coast League All Stars 3: Los Angeles 2 April 25, 1964 - Mexican Selects 5: San Francisco 0 April 26, 1964 - Los Angeles -: San Francisco - April 26, 1964 - Mexican Selects 4: Pacific Coast League All-Stars 3
1964 National Amateur Cup Final: Chicago Schwaben defeated Philadelphia German-Hungarian, 4-0. This year’s tournament fielded 145 teams.
National Junior Cup: Kutis, St. Louis
CONCACAF Champions Cup: Tournament was abandoned.
CONCACAF U-20 Championship: The US did not participate. Cup won by El Salvador.
National Soccer Hall of Fame: In 1964, Jack Flamhaft, Prudencio “Pete” Garcia and Oscar Koszma were inducted into the Hall of Fame. A new section of the Hall was established for officials selected by the National Intercollegiate Soccer Officials Association. The initial inductees were John Burns, Fred Coggins, John Kalloch, Pat Marcin, Major Morris, George Ritchie, Harry Rodgers, Joseph Triano, and Jimmy Walder.