Michael Bookie

A forward for a number of top teams in Ohio, Western Pennsylvania and New England, and a member of the United States squad at the 1930 World Cup in Uruguay.

Before moving to Cleveland in 1926, he had played two seasons in the American Soccer League, in 1924-25 for the Boston Wonder Workers and in 1925-26 for the New Bedford Whalers. His ASL stint came after he had played several seasons in the Pittsburgh area, including the Jeanette team that reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open Cup in 1923 and the Vestaburg team that reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open in 1923.

During his Cleveland years, in the late 1920s and early 1930s, he played primarily for Slavia and Magyar, the two top teams in the Cleveland league. Those years included two games for Cleveland teams against noteworthy foreign touring teams in 1927, for the Cleveland All-Stars against Nacional of Uruguay and for Cleveland Magyar against Hakoah of Austria.

Although Bookie didn’t play in any of the United States’ three games in the 1930 World Cup, he did play in three of the team’s games during its South American tour on the way home from the World Cup.

Inducted in 1986.