Formed in reaction to the National League baseball-backed American League of Professional Football, the American Association of Professional Football appears to have played its first games before, and outlived, the ALPF.
Philadelphia
It’s time to remember the Ukrainian Nationals
Steve Holroyd on the remarkable record of the Ukrainian Nationals, which included four US Open Cup titles between 1960 and 1966.
Philadelphia German Americans win the 1936 US Open Cup
On May 3, 1936, Philadelphia German Americans became the first amateur team, and the first team from the city of Philadelphia, to win the US Open Cup.
1913: Innisfails of St. Louis comes East
Our series on inter-city games involving Philadelphia area teams and St. Louis teams in the 1910s continues. When, a year after winning the American Cup, Tacony FC traveled to St. Louis in 1911, they came back from two goals down to draw 4–4 with St. Louis champion St. Leos in what newspaper reports […]
The “champions of the Middle West” come to Philly, 1912
Tacony FC’s trip to St. Louis in December of 1911 to decide the “championship of America” had ended in disappointment. They would have a chance for revenge in March of 1912 when the St. Leos team of St. Louis embarked on a tour against leading East Coast teams.
1911’s “soccer championship of America”: Philadelphia’s Tacony FC in St. Louis
Part One of a series looking at inter-city games involving Philadelphia area teams and St. Louis teams in the 1910s. Soccer in the United States at the start of the 1910s was undergoing a rise in organization and popularity. That organization was largely locally based and varied in both scope […]
2-3-5 in the 215: Tactics in the early days of Philadelphia soccer
One formation ruled the game of soccer in Philadelphia for 60 years, the 2-3-5.
Connie Mack’s soccer team
Connie Mack is a baseball legend. In Philadelphia in 1901, he also had a soccer team.
Len Oliver Q&A: Looking ahead
Our series of Q&A’s with Philadelphia-born National Soccer Hall of Famer Len Oliver concludes.
Len Oliver Q&A: Playing in the pros in 1950s Philadelphia and beyond
Our series of conversations with Philadelphia-born National Soccer Hall of Famer Len Oliver continues.
Philadelphia Soccer in the 1940s and 1950s, part 5: The pro game in 1950s Philadelphia
National Soccer Hall of Famer Len Oliver’s series continues.
Len Oliver Q&A: The impact of club soccer on Philly’s high school & college game
Our series of Q&As with Philadelphia-born National Soccer Hall of Famer Len Oliver continues.
Philadelphia soccer in the 1940s and 1950s, part 4: High school and college soccer, products of the clubs
Len Oliver’s series on playing soccer in Philadelphia in the 1940s and 1950s continues with a look at how the high school and college game benefited from local clubs.
Dick, Kerr Ladies come to Philadelphia, 1922
Women’s soccer has come a long way in the US. In 1922, it came all the way from England to Philadelphia.
Abolish the penalty kick!
A little more than one hundred years ago, the Philadelphia Inquirer led a campaign to abolish the penalty kick.
Q&A with Len Oliver: Philly amateur soccer in the 1950s
Our series of Q&As with National Soccer Hall of Famer Len Oliver continues.
Bethlehem Steel FC’s 1919 tour of Scandinavia
In 1919, Bethlehem Steel became the first US club to embark on an overseas tour.
Philadelphia soccer in the 1940s and 1950s, part 3: Moving up through the amateur ranks
Philadelphia-born National Soccer Hall of Famer Len Oliver describes moving up the Philadelphia amateur soccer ranks in the 1940s and 1950s, playing in international friendlies, and trying out for the US Olympic team.