The Len Oliver Archive
Quick links to essays by, and interviews with, Len Oliver.
Articles by: Ed Farnsworth
Len Oliver, 1933-2022
National Soccer Hall of Famer and longtime SASH supporter Len Oliver has passed away at the age of 88.
Sailor lads, jolly tars, and rovers of the briny deep: International ship-crew soccer matches in the US, 1890-1905, part 2
Fall River, International matches, Massachusetts, Pawtucket, Rhode Island:
Ed Farnsworth’s review of matches between US clubs and British ship crew teams between 1890 and 1905 continues with a look at games played in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
Sailor lads, jolly tars, and rovers of the briny deep: International ship-crew soccer matches in the US, 1890-1905, part 1
AAPF, AFA, ALPF, International matches, Kearny, New Jersey, New York, Newark:
Ed Farnsworth’s review of matches between US clubs and British ship crew teams between 1890 and 1905 begins with a look at matches played in New York and Northern New Jersey.
The rise and fall: Fall River and Pawtucket soccer, 1883-1896
Boston, Fall River, Massachusetts, Pawtucket, Rhode Island:
In the decade after the founding of the Fall River’s East End team, Fall River and Pawtucket rose to be perhaps the preeminent center of soccer in the United States. Then, over the course of three seasons, organized soccer in the cities collapsed. Ed Farnsworth looks at the rise and fall.
The origin of the National Soccer Hall of Fame
Ed Farnsworth looks at how a reunion of old teammates in Philadelphia led to the formation of the National Soccer Hall of Fame.
Behind the footage: BSFC plays AIK and a select Swedish Provinces team in 1919
International Tours, Pennsylvania:
Ed Farnsworth looks at the first and third matches of Bethlehem Steel FC’s 1919 tour of Sweden and Denmark.
The life — and murder — of the first American-born president of U.S. Soccer
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Profiles, USSF:
Elmer Schroeder was elected as the first native-born president of US Soccer in 1932. Two decades later he was murdered.
Behind the footage: The opening game of the USMNT’s 1916 Scandinavian tour
Ed Farnsworth looks at the opening match of the United States Football Association’s first international tour, which was in Stockholm against a club side, Tigrarna Fotbollkubben.
Philly’s first international club friendly
A friendly between a local cricket club and a touring English cricket club in 1901 helped spur soccer’s resurgence in Philadelphia after the depression that followed the Panic of 1893.
After the collapse: ALPF vs. ALPF in Baltimore and Fall River, 1894-96
AAPF, AFA, ALPF, Baltimore, Boston, Brooklyn, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Newark, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia:
Following the collapse of the ALPF after only 16 games over two weeks, four former ALPF sides met in seven additional matches, including a series of three games in Fall River for the “championship of America.” Former Boston and Brooklyn ALPF professionals continued in Fall River after that.
The origins of soccer in Philadelphia, part 5: Local college-based football after the 1863 Laws of the Game
College Soccer, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia:
The series on the origins of soccer in Philadelphia continues with a look at the development of university- and college-based football in the 1870s.
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