There are a number of resources available online to assist you in researching US soccer history. Here are a few to help get you started.
American Soccer History Archives
An extensive website on US (as well as Canadian) soccer history that includes year-by-year summaries (1909-2011), as well as many informative articles on a wide range of topics. Click here to view the website.
National Soccer Hall of Fame Player and Builder Bios
Capsule biographies of players and others inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame are available here on the SASH website, as well as the US Soccer Federation website. You can also view eligibility and election criteria for the Player, Veteran Player, and Builder ballots, as well as the Colin Jose Media Award.
Also available here on the SASH site are complete listings of the US Men’s National Team and the US Women’s National Team results.
Spalding Guides
The Spalding Guide was the yearbook for American soccer between 1904 and 1924 and contains a wealth of information on local and national topics. The Spalding Guide of a given year of publication covers events of the preceding season (e.g., the 1910 Spalding Guide covers the 1909-1910 season). PDF copies of the Spalding Guide are available for download through the Library of Congress and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
- Spalding’s Association Foot Ball Guide (Published 1905, covers 1904-1905 season: SIUE)
- Spalding’s Official Association “Soccer” Foot Ball Guide (Published 1907, covers 1906-1907 season: SIUE)
- Spalding’s Official Association “Soccer” Foot Ball Guide 1909 (Published 1909, covers 1908-1909 season: SIUE)
- Spalding’s Official Association “Soccer” Foot Ball Guide 1910 (Published 1910, covers 1909-1910 season: LOC)
- Spalding’s Official Association “Soccer” Foot Ball Guide 1911 (Published 1911, covers 1910-1911 season: SIUE)
- Spalding’s Official Association “Soccer” Foot Ball Guide 1912 (Published 1912, covers 1911-12 season: SIUE)
- Spalding’s Official Association “Soccer” Foot Ball Guide 1913 (Published 1913, covers 1912-1913 season: SIUE)
- Spalding’s Official Association “Soccer” Foot Ball Guide 1914-15 (Published 1914, covers 1913-1914 season: LOC, SIUE)
- Spalding’s Official Association “Soccer” Foot Ball Guide 1915-16 (Published 1915, covers 1914-1915 season: LOC)
- Spalding’s Official Association “Soccer” Foot Ball Guide 1916-1917 (Published 1916, covers 1915-1916 season: LOC, SIUE)
- Spalding’s Official Association “Soccer” Foot Ball Guide 1917-1918 (Published 1917, covers 1916-1917 season: LOC, SIUE)
- Spalding’s Official Association “Soccer” Foot Ball Guide 1918-1919 (Published 1918, covers 1917-1918 season: LOC, SIUE)
- Spalding’s Official Association “Soccer” Foot Ball Guide 1919-1920 (Published 1919, covers 1918-1919 season: SIUE)
- Spalding’s Official Association “Soccer” Foot Ball Guide 1921-1922 (Published 1921, covers the 1920-1921 season: LOC, SIUE)
- Spalding’s Official Association “Soccer” Foot Ball Guide 1922-1923 (Published 1922, covers the 1921-1922 season: LOC, SIUE)
- Spalding’s Official Association “Soccer” Foot Ball Guide 1923-1924 (Published 1923, covers the 1922-23 season: SIUE)
FIFA World Cup Technical Reports
World Cup technical reports provide a wealth of information on the tournament beginning with the 1966 World Cup in England for the men’s tournament and 1991 for the women’s tournament.
Men
- 1990 (Italy) Pt. 1, Pt. 2, Pt. 3, Pt. 4, Pt. 5, Pt. 6
- 1994 (USA) Pt. 1, Pt. 2, Pt. 3, Pt. 4
- 1998 (France) n/a
- 2002 (Japan/South Korea) Pt. 1, Pt. 2
- 2006 (Germany) Pt. 1, Pt. 2
- 2010 (South Africa)
- 2014 (Brazil)
Reports on the men’s Confederations Cup (1997-), U-20 World Cup (1977-), U-17 World Cup (1985-), Club World Cup (2000-), Futsal (1989-), Beach Soccer (2008-), and Boys Youth Olympic Football Tournament (2010-) can also be found on the FIFA website.
Women
- 1991 (China) Pt. 1, Pt. 2
- 1995 (Sweden) Pt. 1, Pt. 2
- 1999 (USA) Pt. 1, Pt. 2
- 2003 (USA)
- 2007 (China)
- 2011 (Germany) Report, Physical Analysis
- 2015 (Canada) Report, Physical Analysis
- 2019 (France) Report, Full Report Physical Analysis, Key Findings Physical Analysis
Reports on the women’s U-20 World Cup (2002-), U-17 World Cup (2008-), and Girls Youth Olympic Football Tournament (2010-) can also be found on the FIFA website.
Olympic Reports
Reports by the International Olympic Committee, the U.S. Olympic Committee, and FIFA contain summaries of the football tournament. Below are links to official reports through 2008 archived by the LA84 Foundation on the tournaments the U.S. Men’s National Team participated in (1924, 1928, 1936, 1948, 1952, 1956, 1972, 1984, 1988; US U-23 MNT in 1992, 1996, 2000, 2008) and those the U.S. Women’s National Team participated in (1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016).
- 1924 (Paris/Chamonix): USOC • IOC (pt. 1, pt. 2, pt. 3, pt. 4)
- 1928 (Amsterdam): USOC • IOC (pt. 1, pt. 2)
- 1936 (Berlin): USOC • IOC (Vol. 1, pt. 1; Vol. 1, pt. 2; Vol. 2, pt. 3; Vol. 2, pt. 4; Vol. 2, pt. 5; Vol. 2, pt. 6)
- 1948 (London): USOC (pt. 1, pt. 2, pt. 3, Pt. 4) • IOC (pt. 1, pt. 2)
- 1952 (Helsinki): USOC • IOC (pt. 1, pt. 2)
- 1956 (Melbourne): USOC • IOC (pt. 1, pt. 2)
- 1972 (Munich): USOC (pt. 1, pt. 2) • IOC (Vol. 1, pt. 1; Vol. 1, pt. 2; Vol. 2, pt. 1; Vol. 2, pt. 2; Vol. 3)
- 1984 (Los Angeles): USOC (pt. 1, pt. 2) • IOC (Vol. 1, pt. 1; Vol 1, pt. 2; Vol. 1, pt. 3; Vol. 2, pt. 1, Vol. 2, pt. 2, Vol. 2, pt. 3) • FIFA
- 1988 (Seoul): USOC (pt. 1, pt. 2) • IOC (Vol. 1, pt. 1; Vol 1, pt. 2; Vol. 1, pt. 3; Vol. 2, pt. 1, Vol. 2, pt. 2, Vol. 2, pt. 3) • FIFA (pt. 1, pt. 2, pt. 3, pt. 4)
- 1992 (Barcelona): USOC (N/A) • IOC (Vol. 1, pt. 1; Vol. 1, pt. 2; Vol. 1, pt. 3; Vol. 1, pt. 4; Vol. 2, pt. 1; Vol. 2, pt. 2 (N/A); Vol. 2, pt. 3; Vol. 2, pt. 4; Vol. 3, pt. 1; Vol. 3, pt. 2; Vol. 3, pt. 3; Vol. 3, pt. 4; Vol. 4, pt. 1; Vol. 4, pt. 2 (N/A); Vol. 4, pt. 3; Vol. 4, pt. 4; Vol. 5, pt. 1; Vol. 5, pt. 2) • FIFA (pt. 1, pt. 2, pt. 3, pt. 4)
- 1996 (Atlanta): USOC (N/A) • IOC (Vol. 1, pt. 1; Vol. 1, pt. 2; Vol. 2, pt. 1; Vol. 2, pt. 2; Vol. 3) • FIFA (pt. 1, pt. 2, pt. 3, pt. 4)
- 2000 (Sydney): USOC (N/A) • IOC (Vol. 1, pt. 1, Vol. 1, pt. 2, Vol. 1, pt. 3; Vol. 2, pt. 1, Vol. 2, pt. 2; Results) • FIFA (pt. 1, pt. 2, pt. 3, pt. 4)
- 2004 (Athens): USOC (N/A) • IOC (Vol. 1, pt. 1; Vol. 1, pt. 2; Vol. 1, pt. 3; Vol. 1, pt. 4; Vol. 1, pt. 5; Vol. 1, pt. 6; Vol. 2, pt. 1; Vol. 2, pt. 2; Vol. 2, pt. 3; Vol. 2, pt. 4; Vol. 2, pt. 5; Vol. 2, pt. 6; Vol. 2, pt. 7; Results) • FIFA
- 2008 (Beijing): USOC (N/A) • IOC (Vol. 1, pt. 1; Vol. 1, pt. 2; Vol. 2, pt. 1, Vol. 2, pt. 2; Vol. 3; Results, pt. 1; Results, pt. 2, Results, pt. 3) • FIFA
- 2012 USOC (N/A) • IOC (N/A) • FIFA
- 2016 USOC (N/A) • IOC (N/A) • FIFA
The LA84 Foundation Digital Library Collections is the source of the above listed Olympic reports. Among the useful resources available there are The Sporting Life Collection (published 1883-1917) and back issues of Soccer America (2000-2003).
TheCup.us
Contains a large and expanding amount of information on the US Open Cup from the founding of the tournament in 1913. Click here to view the website.
NASL Jerseys and Kenn.com
While focused on team jerseys of the original North American Soccer League, the site also has useful roster information. Click here to view the website. Kenn.com has attendance information for the original NASL as well as other US professional soccer leagues. Click here to view the website.
Historic Soccer Videos
DaveBrett.com contains an extensive archive of video recordings of NASL, US National Team, and other matches.
Online newspaper resources
The digitization of newspaper archives has made information about US soccer history more accessible than ever. Check your local newspaper’s website for archive information. Public and university libraries also have access to newspaper archive databases such as America’s Historical Newspapers (from NewsBank) and ProQuest Historical Newspapers. You can also subscribe to a resource such as Newspapers.com. Free online resources are also available such as the Old Fulton County New York Postcards website (alternate search interface here), the Google Newspaper Archive, and the Chronicling American Newspapers database from the Library of Congress.


