5 April 1931 - Johnny Nelson's Last Match

On 5 April 1931, a knee injury ended the playing career of forward Johnny Nelson, one of the top all-time scorers of the original American Soccer League. He was 26. 

The Scottish-born Nelson started his professional career with Yonkers Thistles, but moved to Brooklyn Wanderers (pictured) in 1923. In five years there, he made 126 appearances, scoring 101 goals. In 1928, he moved to Fall River, scoring 10 goals in 14 appearances for the Marksmen, then moved again later that year to J&P Coats, where he finished out the 1928-29 season, adding another seven goals in 12 appearances.

For the start of the 1929-30 season, he joined the New York Nationals, where he would finish his career (though they changed their name to the New York Giants in 1930). He finished as the league's top scorer for the Spring 1930 season and, in all, knocked home a staggering 105 goals for New York in 98 appearances and helped them win the title for the Spring 1931 season.

Unfortunately, he did not make it to the end of that season, as he suffered a career-ending knee injury that April. Though he was only 26, his career tally of 223 goals in 250 games ranks him second on the ASL's all-time scoring list, behind Bethlehem Steel's Archie Stark (253 goals in 293 appearances over ten seasons).

Afterward, Nelson worked as a carpet designer. He passed away in Yonkers in 1984 at the age of 79.

1 May 1926 - Possession Is Great, But It's What You Do With It That Counts

On 1 May 1926, Viennese club Hakoah, on a tour of the United States, played a match against a group of American Soccer League All-Stars at the Polo Grounds in Manhattan. The match drew a crowd of 46,000, setting a US attendance record that would not be broken until after Pelé signed for the New York Cosmos in 1977.

Founded in 1909, Hakoah (pictured) was an all-Jewish sports club, taking their name from the Hebrew word for "strength." Their football squad was very successful, finishing second in the Austrian league in 1922, then winning the title in 1925. They frequently toured the world, drawing large crowds in part by attracting spectators from the local Jewish populations.

Hakoah's 1926 US tour pulled in some of the largest crowds ever to attend football matches in the US, with three successive matches drawing 25,000, followed by 30,000, and then 36,000, before setting the record with 46,000 on 1 May.

Hakoah's opponents on the day were an All-Star team drawing from the rosters of the New York Giants and Indiana Flooring. The goalkeeper was the Giants' Pete Renzulli, who later described Hakoah as having the ball for 87 out of the 90 minutes in the match. The All-Stars, however, made the best of their limited possession, scoring three times off counter-attacks to win 3-0.

Despite the crowds, the tour was a financial failure for Hakoah, reportedly losing over $30,000 for the club. But Hakoah's players enjoyed the tour so much that many chose to remain in the US and eventually formed a new club named New York Hakoah, who went on to win the 1929 US Open Cup.

2 October 1928 - A "Renegade League" Sounds More Exciting Than It Actually Is, Unfortunately

On 2 October 1928, the United States Football Association suspended the nation's top league, the American Soccer League. Established in 1921, the ASL was the United States' first professional league. It was regional, with its teams based primarily around New York and Philadelphia.

The suspension arose from a dispute between the ASL and the USFA over the USFA-run National Challenge Cup (the forerunner of today's U.S. Open Cup). The Challenge Cup was played during the ASL season and was open to all clubs in the nation operating under the USFA umbrella. Thus, ASL clubs often found themselves interrupting their season to travel miles away and play against amateur teams in front of small crowds. The poor crowds combined with high travel expenses to strain the finances of the ASL clubs.

In 1928, the ASL boycotted the Challenge Cup (which they had also done in 1924). Nevertheless, three ASL clubs--Bethlehem Steel, New York Giants, and Newark Skeeters--ignored the boycott and entered the Cup competition. The ASL promptly suspended them, which in turn led the USFA, and later FIFA, to suspend the ASL.

The ASL operated as a renegade league for the rest of the 1928-29 season, while the USFA established a new professional league, the Eastern Professional Soccer League, to take its place. In 1929, at the start of the following season, the ASL agreed to comply with the USFA's demands.

The battle between the ASL and USFA irrevocably damaged the ASL, however, and the league, which had by then merged with the EPSL, dissolved in the spring of 1933.

3 January 1932 - When Giants Roamed The Earth

On 3 January 1932, the New York Giants came back from an 8-3 deficit to win the league 9-8 on aggregate over the New Bedford Whalers.

The Giants were owned by Charles Stoneham, who also owned the New York Giants baseball team. When he first acquired the football team in 1927, they were known as Indiana Flooring (and later, the New York Nationals), while another team in the league used the New York Giants name. When those Giants changed their name in 1931 to New York Soccer Club, Stoneham claimed the name for his team, who went on to win the Spring 1931 American Soccer League title.

In the fall table, they finished as runners-up to New Bedford, setting up a home-and-away playoff to decide the league's consolidated champions for the year. New Bedford hosted the first leg at their Battery Park ground on New Year's Day, winning 8-3. The teams then met at the Polo Grounds in New York City for the second leg two days later.

There, the Giants took a 3-0 lead into the break with goals from Shamus O'Brien (20'), Bert Patenaude (23'), and Bart McGhee (30'). While McGhee had been with the team since 1925, both O'Brien and Patenaude (pictured) were in their first seasons with the club, with O'Brien moving from the former New York Giants. Patenaude moved from the New York Yankees, which was a brief-lived merger between the Fall River Marksmen and the New York Soccer Club.

Down 8-6 on aggregate at the start of the second half, New York drew level with goals from O'Brien (53') and Jimmy Gallagher (67'). Gallagher, like McGhee, had been with the team since 1925, but had previously played for the other New York Giants team in 1924. Then, in the 80th minute, Patenaude scored again to put the Giants up 9-8, which ended up as the final score.

Despite the constant use of the New York Giants name in the American Soccer League from 1923 to 1932, when the second Giants team folded, the 1931 league title was the only one won by a team with that name.

5 April 1931 - Johnny Nelson's Last Battle

On 5 April 1931, a knee injury ended the playing career of forward Johnny Nelson, one of the top all-time scorers of the original American Soccer League. He was 26.

The Scottish-born Nelson started his professional career with Yonkers Thistles, but moved to Brooklyn Wanderers (pictured) in 1923. In five years there, he made 126 appearances, scoring 101 goals. In 1928, he moved to Fall River, scoring 10 goals in 14 appearances for the Marksmen, then moved again later that year to J&P Coats, where he finished out the 1928-29 season, adding another seven goals in 12 appearances.

For the start of the 1929-30 season, he joined the New York Nationals, where he would finish his career (though they changed their name to the New York Giants in 1930). He finished as the league's top scorer for the Spring 1930 season and, in all, knocked home a staggering 105 goals for New York in 98 appearances and helped them win the title for the Spring 1931 season.

Unfortunately, he did not make it to the end of that season, as he suffered a career-ending knee injury that April. Though he was only 26, his career tally of 223 goals in 250 games ranks him second on the ASL's all-time scoring list, behind Bethlehem Steel's Archie Stark (253 goals in 293 appearances over ten seasons).

Afterward, Nelson worked as a carpet designer. He passed away in Yonkers in 1984 at the age of 79.

1 May 1926 - Possession Is Great, But It's What You Do With It That Counts

On 1 May 1926, Viennese club Hakoah, on a tour of the United States, played a match against a group of American Soccer League All-Stars at the Polo Grounds in Manhattan. The match drew a crowd of 46,000, setting a US attendance record that would not be broken until after Pelé signed for the New York Cosmos in 1977.

Founded in 1909, Hakoah (pictured) was an all-Jewish sports club, taking their name from the Hebrew word for "strength." Their football squad was very successful, finishing second in the Austrian league in 1922, then winning the title in 1925. They frequently toured the world, drawing large crowds in part by attracting spectators from the local Jewish populations.

Hakoah's 1926 US tour pulled in some of the largest crowds ever to attend football matches in the US, with three successive matches drawing 25,000, followed by 30,000, and then 36,000, before setting the record with 46,000 on 1 May.

Hakoah's opponents on the day were an All-Star team drawing from the rosters of the New York Giants and Indiana Flooring. The goalkeeper was the Giants' Pete Renzulli, who later described Hakoah as having the ball for 87 out of the 90 minutes in the match. The All-Stars, however, made the best of their limited possession, scoring three times off counter-attacks to win 3-0.

Despite the crowds, the tour was a financial failure for Hakoah, reportedly losing over $30,000 for the club. But Hakoah's players enjoyed the tour so much that many chose to remain in the US and eventually formed a new club named New York Hakoah, who went on to win the 1929 US Open Cup.

2 October 1928 - A "Renegade League" Sounds More Exciting Than It Actually Is, Unfortunately

On 2 October 1928, the United States Football Association suspended the nation's top league, the American Soccer League. Established in 1921, the ASL was the United States' first professional league. It was regional, with its teams based primarily around New York and Philadelphia.

The suspension arose from a dispute between the ASL and the USFA over the USFA-run National Challenge Cup (the forerunner of today's U.S. Open Cup). The Challenge Cup was played during the ASL season and was open to all clubs in the nation operating under the USFA umbrella. Thus, ASL clubs often found themselves interrupting their season to travel miles away and play against amateur teams in front of small crowds. The poor crowds combined with high travel expenses to strain the finances of the ASL clubs.

In 1928, the ASL boycotted the Challenge Cup (which they had also done in 1924). Nevertheless, three ASL clubs--Bethlehem Steel, New York Giants, and Newark Skeeters--ignored the boycott and entered the Cup competition. The ASL promptly suspended them, which in turn led the USFA, and later FIFA, to suspend the ASL.

The ASL operated as a renegade league for the rest of the 1928-29 season, while the USFA established a new professional league, the Eastern Professional Soccer League, to take its place. In 1929, at the start of the following season, the ASL agreed to comply with the USFA's demands.

The battle between the ASL and USFA irrevocably damaged the ASL, however, and the league, which had by then merged with the EPSL, dissolved in the spring of 1933.