American Soccer League (1933-1983)

Tombstone

Formed: 1933
Disbanded: 1984

First Game:
Last Game: August 21, 1983

Seasons:
States & Provinces:  

Leadership

Commissioner:

  • December 1974 – November 1979: Bob Cousy
  • 1979 – December 1980: Otto Radich
  • December 1980 – September 1981: Mario Machado
  • 1982: No Commissioner

President:

  • 1983: Dr. William Burfeind
9-21-1981 Commissioner Mario Machado Announces Departure

Attendance

Trophy Case

ASL Most Valuable Player

YEARPLAYERPOSITIONTEAM
1976Jimmy HinchForwardLos Angeles Skyhawks
1977Ringo CantilloForwardNew Jersey Americans
1978Jimmy RollandForwardLos Angeles Skyhawks
1979Poli GarciaForwardCalifornia Sunshine
1980George GorlekuSweeperPennsylvania Stoners
1981Billy BoljevicForwardNew York Eagles
1982Brian TinnionForwardDetroit Express
1983Peter SimoniniGoalkeeperJacksonville Tea Men

 

ASL Rookie of the Year

YEARPLAYERPOSITIONTEAM
1976
1977Mal RocheForwardSacramento Spirits
1978
1979
1980Eric SmithDefenderPennsylvania Stoners
1981Tony SuarezForwardCarolina Lightnin'
1982Franco PaonessaForwardRochester Flash
1983Matt EnglishForwardJacksonville Tea Men

 

ASL Coach of the Year

YEARCOACHTEAM
1976
1977
1978Derek LawtherCalifornia Sunshine
1979Willie EhrlichPennsylvania Stoners
1980
1981Jimmy McGeoughNew York United
1982Brian HarveyOklahoma City Slickers
1983

 

Background

The American Soccer League (1933-1983) began life in the big cities and outlying industrial areas of the Northeast during the Great Depression.  In fact, the league referred to here is actually a reincarnation of the original ASL, which played in New England, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania from 1921 to 1933.

For most of its 50-year existence, the ASL was a cluster of ethnically-identified clubs in the Northeast.  Teams came and went on annual basis, often dropping out or changing identities in the middle of seasons.  See the alphabetical listings below just for the city of Baltimore to get an idea of the churn. Until 1969, the ASL played a fall-to-spring schedule that mirrored the traditional football calendar played in Europe and elsewhere.  In 1969, the ASL switched to the summer schedule more familiar to American fans.

1970’s: Nationwide Expansion

When the tide began to rise for pro soccer in the United States during the 1970’s, the league began to expand its geographic footprint and take on the trappings of larger pro leagues.  By 1972, the ethnic team names were largely gone, although a few clubs such as the New York Apollo (formerly the New York Greeks) chose names that still hewed to the ethnic identities of their organizers.  The league hired former Boston Celtics star Bob Cousy as Commissioner.  Cousy was the first to admit he knew little about the game of soccer, but it was assumed that the future Pro Basketball Hall-of-Famer would raise the league’s national PR profile and he did.  By 1976, the ASL reached the West Coast, launching expansion franchises from Los Angeles to Tacoma. Eventually, the league took out office space on Lexington Avenue in Manhattan.

During this time, the ASL served as the 2nd Division league in the United States to the far bigger-budgeted North American Soccer League (1968-1984).  It was not uncommon for ASL teams to lose their top players to the NASL, although the escalator sometimes ran in the other direction as well, with top NASL and foreign stars such as Phil Parkes, Eusebio and Jeff Bourne sometimes slumming it for a few seasons or playing out their final days before small crowds in ASL cities.

Demise

Ultimately, the ASL’s boom period in the 1970’s was unsustainable, just as the NASL’s was.

The league retreated from the West Coast for good following the 1980 season. By 1983, the ASL was effectively clustered in the Deep South, of all places, with the exception of two outlier clubs in Detroit and Allentown, Pennsylvania.

The league folded following the 1983 season after a small group of owners defected to launch the doomed United Soccer League (1984-1985), leaving the ASL with too few clubs to continue.  A new East Coast-based league launched in 1988 reviving the American Soccer League name, but this was an entirely different organization.

 

American Soccer League Franchises

FRANCHISEYEARS ACTIVEASL CHAMPIONS
Allentown1939Never
Baltimore Americans1939-19491946
Baltimore Bays1973Never
Baltimore Canton1934-1936Never
Baltimore Flyers1967-1968Never
Baltimore German1938-1939Never
Baltimore Pompei1957-1961Never
Baltimore Rockets1953-1957Never
Baltimore S.C.1936-1942Never
Baltimore St. Gerard's1966-19671967
Baltimore Soccer Club1961-1962Never
Baltimore Stars1972Never
Bethlehem Hungarians1938-1939Never
Boca Juniors1963-1964Never
Boston Astros1969-19751975 (Co-Champions)
Boston Metros1963-1964Never
Boston Tigers1965-1968Never
Brookhattan1938-19571945
Brookhattan-Galicia1957-1959Never
Brooklyn Celtic1933-1935Never
Brooklyn F.C.1933-1934Never
Brooklyn Giants1942-1943Never
Brooklyn Hakoah1948-1956Never
Brooklyn Hispano1933-19561943
Brooklyn Italians1956-1961Never
Brooklyn St. Mary's Celtics1935-1942Never
Brooklyn Wanderers1942-1948Never
California Sunshine1977-1980Never
Carolina Lightnin'1981-19831981
Chicago Americans1972Never
Chicago Cats1975-1976Never
Cincinnati Comets1972-19751972
Cleveland Cobras1975-1981Never
Cleveland Stars1972-1974Never
Colombo1959-19601960
Columbus Magic1979-1980Never
Connecticut Wildcats1973-1974Never
Connecticut Yankees1975-1978Never
Dallas Americans1983Never
Delaware Wings1972-1974Never
Detroit Express1981-19831982
Detroit Mustangs1972-1973Never
Elizabeth Falcons1954-1959Never
Falcons S.C.1959-1962Never
Falcons-Warsaw1962-1964Never
Fall River Astros1967-1968Never
Fall River S.C.1967-1968Never
Galicia-Honduras1961-1962Never
Galicia S.C.1959-1961Never
Georgia Generals1982Never
Golden Bay Buccaneers1976Never
Golden Gate Gales1980Never
Hartford Kings1966-1968Never
Hartford S.C.1964-1968Never
Indiana Tigers1973-1974Never
Indy Daredevils1978-1979Never
Inter-Brooklyn Italians1961-1962Never
Inter S.C.1962-1963 & 1965-1966Never
Jacksonville Tea Men19831983
Kearny Americans1941-1953Never
Kearny Celtic1942-1951Never
Kearny Irish1933-19421934
Kearny Scots1933-19411937, 1938, 1939, 1940 & 1941
Las Vegas Seagulls1979Never
Los Angeles Skyhawks1976-19791976
Ludlow Lusitano1955-1956 & 1957-1958Never
Ludlow S.C.1956-1957Never
Miami Americans1980Never
Nashville Diamonds1982Never
New Brunswick Hungarian1967-1969Never
New Brunswick Hungarian-Americans1963-1967Never
New England Oceaneers1977Never
New England Sharks1981Never
New Jersey Americans1976-19791977
New Jersey Brewers1973-1975Never
New Jersey Schaefer Brewers1972Never
New York Americans1933-19561936 & 1954
New York Apollo1973-19791973, 1975 (Co-Champions) & 1978
New York Brookhattan1933-1938Never
New York Eagles1978-1979 & 1981Never
New York Greeks1971-19721971
New York Hakoah1962-1964Never
New York Hakoah-Americans1956-19621957, 1958 & 1959
New York Inter1966-1969Never
New York United1980-1981Never
Newark Falcons1964-1967Never
Newark Germans1933-1937Never
Newark Ukrainian-Sitch1962-1970Never
Nor'East United1972Never
Oakland Buccaneers1976Never
Oklahoma City Slickers1982-1983Never
Olimpia1965-1967Never
Passon Phillies1936-1938Never
Paterson Caledonian1936-1938Never
Paterson F.C.1939-1941Never
Pennsylvania Stoners1979-19831980
Philadelphia1938-1939Never
Philadelphia Americans1941-19531942, 1944, 1947, 1948 & 1952
Philadelphia German-Americans1933-19411935
Philadelphia Nationals1941-19541949, 1950, 1951 & 1953
Philadelphia Passon1939-1941Never
Philadelphia Spartans1969-1972Never
Philadelphia Ukrainians1957-1958Never
Philadelphia Ukrainians1969-1970Never
Phoenix Fire1980 (Preseason Only)Never
Pittsburgh Cannons1972Never
Pittsburgh Miners1975Never
Ponta Delgada S.C.1951-1953Never
Rhode Island Oceaneers1974-19761974
Rochester Flash1981-1982Never
Rochester Lancers1967-1969Never
Roma S.C.1964-19681966
Sacramento Gold1978-19801979
Sacramento Spirits1976-1977Never
St. Louis Frogs1972Never
Santa Barbara Condors1977Never
Southern California Lazers1978Never
Syracuse Scorpions1969-1970Never
Syracuse Suns1971 & 1973-1974Never
Tacoma Tides1976Never
Trenton Americans1953-1955Never
Trenton Athletics1948-1951Never
Trenton Highlanders1938-1939Never
Uhrik Truckers1953-19651955 & 1956
Ukrainian Nationals1957-19681961, 1962, 1963, 1964 & 1968
Utah Golden Spikers1976Never
Utah Pioneers1976Never
Virginia Capitol Cavaliers1971Never
Washington Britannica1967Never
Washington Cavaliers1972Never
Washington Darts1968-19691968 & 1969
Worcester Astros19751975 (Co-Champions)

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Comments

2 Responses

  1. Thanks for the listing. I remember following some of these teams in the 1950s, when I was first introduced to soccer at prep school. We had no role models. I searched out one game at Zarega Oval in the Bronx. There may have been a hundred people there. The field was nearly all dirt, especially around the goals. Some years later I saw a few NY Eagles games in Albany.

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