An outstanding semipro defender who later became a leading national referee administrator.
Bernabei played for the Harmarville Hurricanes from 1949 to 1963, and was captain of the Pittsburgh-area team when it won U.S. Open Cup titles in 1952 and 1956. Harmarville defeated the Philadelphia Nationals in the 1952 final and Schwaben of Chicago in the 1956 final. Bernabei also led the Harmarville teams that reached the U.S. Open Cup final in 1953 and the National Amateur Cup final in 1950 and 1951. He was named to West Penn League all-star teams every season from 1949 to 1960, and played in 10 West Penn finals.
Bernabei refereed at the high school, college and professional levels for more than 40 years, including two NCAA finals. He eventually moved from refereeing into referee administration, and served as executive director of the National Intercollegiate Soccer Officials Association from 1975 until his death in 2008. He earlier had been NISOA’s national examiner..
Inducted in 1978.
