1929 Eastern Professional Soccer League . The season began on September 2, 1929. By this time, the financial losses suffered by the American Soccer League, SNYSA and ESL had begun to mount. With the stock market crash a month later, the corporate sponsorship on which many of the teams depended began to dry up. Consequently, the ASL began negotiations with the USFA to rejoin the association. This led to additional negotiations regarding the merger of the ASL and ESL. As these went on, the ESL began its 1929-30 season. By the end of the first half in November 1929, Bethlehem Steel led the standings with twenty-three points off an 11-2-1 record.
Team [1] | GP | W | D | L | Pts | Pct. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bethlehem Steel | 13 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 22 | .846 |
New York Hakoah | 12 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 19 | .792 |
New York Giants | 12 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 18 | .750 |
Newark Portuguese | 11 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 11 | .500 |
New York Hispano | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 8 | .400 |
Victoria Hungaria | 12 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 8 | .333 |
Newark Skeeters | 8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 1 | .063 |
IRT Rangers | 10 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 1 | .050 |
Bethlehem Steel Football Club (1907–1930) was one of the most successful early American soccer clubs. Known as the Bethlehem Football Club from 1907 until 1915 when it became the Bethlehem Steel Football Club, the team was sponsored by the Bethlehem Steel corporation. Bethlehem Steel FC played their home games first at East End Field in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley, then later on the grounds Bethlehem Steel built on Elizabeth Ave named Bethlehem Steel Athletic Field.
The Newark Skeeters was an American soccer club based in Newark, New Jersey and was a member of the American Soccer League and the Eastern Soccer League.
New Bedford Whalers was the name of three American soccer teams based in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The first Whalers played in the Southern New England Soccer League between 1914 and 1918. The second Whalers played in the American Soccer League between 1924 and 1931 before merging into Fall River F.C. The third Whalers were then formed when Fall River merged with New York Yankees. They played in the ASL between 1931 and 1932.
New York Giants was a name used by three different New York City soccer teams. Two of these teams were associated with the New York Giants baseball franchise. The first team that used the name played in the American League of Professional Football in 1894. The second team played in the American Soccer League between 1923 and 1930 while the third team played in the same league between 1930 and 1932.
Archibald McPherson Stark was a soccer player who became the dominant player in U.S. leagues during the 1920s and early 1930s. He spent nine seasons in the National Association Football League and another twelve in the American Soccer League. He also earned two caps, scoring five goals, as a member of the U.S. national team. He holds the U.S. single-season scoring record with 67 goals scored during the 1924–25 season which is the current World Record. He was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1950.
Rudy Kuntner was a U.S.-Austrian soccer forward who was a member of the U.S. team at the 1928 Summer Olympics. He is also known as a long time stage manager for the Metropolitan Opera and is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame
Philip Slone was a U.S. soccer wing half. He spent a single season each in the short-lived Eastern Soccer League and Atlantic Coast Conference, then ten years in the American Soccer League. He was a member of the U.S team at the 1930 FIFA World Cup and is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame.
Jack Deal was a former U.S. soccer forward. He played five seasons in the American Soccer League and earned two caps with the U.S. national team, one at the 1928 Summer Olympics.
William Shamus O'Brien was a U.S.-Scottish soccer inside left. During his Hall of Fame career, O'Brien spent eight seasons in the first American Soccer League and another five in the second American Soccer League.
Nathan "Nat" Agar was an English-American soccer player, coach, referee, team owner and league executive. He was part of the formation of the United States Football Association, but later fought it as a team owner and league official of the American Soccer League and Southern New York State Football Association during the 1928 "Soccer War." He also coached three United States national team games against Canada in 1925 and 1926.
The Eastern Professional Soccer League, better known as the Eastern Soccer League (ESL), was an American soccer league which existed for only a season and a half in 1928 and 1929. Born of the internecine strife between soccer organizations in the United States known as the “Soccer War”, the ESL was created by the United States Football Association (USFA) as a counter to the professional American Soccer League which was contesting USFA control of professional soccer in the country.
Andy Stevens was an English-Canadian soccer center forward who began and ended his career in Canada but also spent six seasons in the American Soccer League. He was a two time league leading scorer with the ASL and was a member of the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame's 2006 Team of Distinction, the 1933 Toronto Scottish. In 2017, as part of the "Legends Class" he was elected to the Hall of Fame as an individual player.
Ernő Schwarz or Schwarcz was a Hungarian American soccer player, coach and promoter who served as head coach of the United States men's national soccer team. He played professionally in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Austria and the United States, earning two caps, scoring two goals, with the Hungarian national team in 1922. Schwarz founded, owned, managed and played for the New York Americans in the first and second American Soccer Leagues. He was also the ASL and International Soccer League vice president. His daughter was married to United States national team player Ben Zinn.
Interborough Rapid Transit Rangers, better known as the IRT Rangers, were an early twentieth century U.S. soccer team sponsored by the New York City Interborough Rapid Transit Company.
Max Grünwald was an early twentieth century Austrian football (soccer) inside forward who played professionally in Austria and the United States.
Moses “Moritz” or “Moschkatz” Häusler was an early twentieth century Austrian football inside forward who played professionally in Austria and the United States. He also earned seven caps with the Austria national football team between 1923 and 1925.
Statistics of American Soccer League in season 1928–29.
These are the statistics of the Fall 1929 American Soccer League.
William McCaw "Red" Ballantyne was a Scottish association football inside right who played in Scotland, the United States, and Canada.
The American Soccer League, established in 1921, was the first of four different professional soccer sports leagues in the United States to use the ASL name. It was formed by the merger of teams from the National Association Football League and the Southern New England Soccer League. For several years the ASL's popularity rivaled the popularity of the National Football League. Disputes with the United States Football Association and FIFA, as well as the onset of the Great Depression, led to the league's collapse in spring 1933.