A forward who paired with Walter Bahr in a series of successful teams, and won three consecutive American Soccer League titles with the Philadelphia Nationals.
McLaughlin and Bahr began playing for Philadelphia Nationals as amateurs while still starring at Temple University. During the 1948-49 ASL season, the two turned pro with Philadelphia Nationals, who were coached by the legendary Jimmy Mills. At that point, the team, which had been playing second fiddle to Philadelphia Americans, took off, helped by the addition to the lineup of several players from the disbanded Baltimore Americans team. With McLaughlin and former Baltimore star Nick Kropfelder providing the one-two punch up front, Philadelphia Nationals won ASL titles in 1949, 1950, 1951 and 1953, and also took the Lewis Cup in 1949, 1951 and 1952.
McLaughlin played one season with Brookhattan in New York after Philadelphia Nationals folded following the 1952-53 season. He later played with the Uhrik Truckers team that won the ASL title in 1956. He finished his club career in the early 1960s with Hakoah of the ASL, German-Hungarians of the German-American League of New York and Erzgebirge of the United Soccer League of Philadelphia.
McLaughlin was a regular for the United States in the 1948 Olympics and with the U.S. national team in the qualifying round of the 1950 World Cup, held the year before in Mexico. However, he wasn’t with the team that went to Brazil for the World Cup in 1950, because he couldn’t get time away from his job.
McLaughlin later returned to the national team for several more games, including the meeting with Scotland in front of 107,765 in Glasgow in 1952, and two World Cup qualifiers against Haiti in 1954.
Inducted in 1981.
