| Founded | 1895 |
|---|---|
| First season | 1895 |
| Folded | 1921 |
| Country | United States |
| Number of teams | 36 |
| Level on pyramid | 1 |
| Most championships | West Hudson A.A. (6) |
The National Association Football League (also spelled National Association Foot Ball League) (NAFBL) was a semi-professional U.S. soccer league which operated between 1895 and 1898. [1] The league was reconstituted in 1906 and continued to operate until 1921. [2]
The NAFBL was formed in January 1885 [3] and by April 1895, the NAFBL began operation as the third significant U.S. soccer league. It drew its teams primarily from northern New Jersey and New York City. [4] Few records exist for the league, but the teams and standings for four of the five seasons do exist. [5] After its first spring-summer season in 1895, the NAFBL moved to a winter schedule in the fall of 1895.
On December 16, 1895, the NAFBL opened its second season with a game pitting the Kearny Scottish-Americans and the International Athletic Club. [6] In 1899, a deep recession, accompanied by the Spanish–American War led to the collapse of several athletic leagues and teams, among them the NAFBL. On August 14, 1906, the league was revived and continued in operation until 1921. [7] That year, several of the top NAFBL teams, frustrated by the amateur/semi-professional nature of the league, joined with other top North Atlantic U.S. teams to form the first fully professional U.S. soccer league, the American Soccer League.
Source: [8]
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 Kearny Scots are an American soccer club based in Kearny, New Jersey. The club presently plays in the Eastern Premier Soccer League, which is a United States Adult Soccer Association-affiliated league and an amateur affiliate of the professional third tier National Independent Soccer Association. The Scots are one of the oldest continuously operating soccer clubs in the United States.
Robert Millar was a soccer player who played as a forward and the coach of the United States national team at the 1930 FIFA World Cup. During his at times tumultuous Hall of Fame career, he played with over a dozen teams in at least five U.S. leagues as well as two seasons in the Scottish Football League. He finished his career as a successful professional and national team coach.
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.
David "Davey" Brown was an American soccer forward. He spent most of his career playing for teams in New Jersey and New York, gaining his greatest fame with the New York Giants. He is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame.
John J. "Rabbit" Hemingsley(also spelled Heminsley) was a U.S. soccer center forward who played the first two U.S. national team games in 1916. He spent seven seasons in the National Association Football League and five in the American Soccer League.
James "Jimmy" or "Bow" Ford was an American soccer outside right who earned one cap with the U.S. national team in 1916. He played professionally in the National Association Football League and the American Soccer League, scoring goals in the first two National Challenge Cup Finals.
Thomas Walter Stark was a soccer player who played as a right half. He spent several seasons in both the National Association Football League and the first American Soccer League. Born in Scotland, he earned one cap for the United States national team in 1925.
Tommy Duggan was an American soccer outside right who played in both the National Association Football League and American Soccer League. He is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame.
Paterson True Blues was a professional U.S. soccer team founded in 1887 and disestablished after 1915. The True Blues, based out of Paterson, New Jersey, are best known as one of the dominant soccer teams of its era and one of the first U.S. soccer dynasties.
Philadelphia Tacony Disston Athletic Association Football Club, better known as Disston A.A. and nicknamed The Sawmakers was a U.S. soccer team sponsored by the Disston Saw Works company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The team played for several years in local Philadelphia leagues before joining the National Association Football League. It was a perennial contender in both league and cup play until 1921. No records exist for the team after that year.
Clark Athletic Association, also known as East Newark Clark A.A., was a U.S. soccer team sponsored by the Clark Mile End Spool Cotton Company. It spent two seasons in the National Association Football League where it was co-champion in 1909.
The 1920–21 National Challenge Cup was the annual open cup held by the United States Football Association now known as the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
Patrick Butler was an early twentieth-century Irish soccer player who appears to have spent his entire career in the U.S. leagues. He was a member of the Bethlehem Steel teams which won the 1916 National Challenge Cup and the 1917 and 1919 American Cup Butler began his career on the front line, playing both inside and outside forward on both sides of the field. He ended his career at the right half back position.
The 1908 American Cup was the annual soccer tournament held by the American Football Association. The West Hudsons won the tournament for the second time in three years defeating the Paterson True Blues in the final as they did in 1906.
The fourth season of the National Association Foot Ball League began on Saturday, October 30, 1897 after eight major teams New York City and in New Jersey had "sunk all their differences" and agreed to put the NAFBL on a firm financial basis. Among the new features was that the matches would be scheduled "so that teams which cannot play on Saturdays will be allowed to play on Sundays, and vice-versa." The original lineup featured the New Jersey teams of Americus A.A. ; Centreville A.C. (Bayonne); the Scottish-Americans of Newark; the Kearny Scots of the Newark suburb of Kearny, New Jersey; the True Blues and the Crescents ; and Arlington A.A., with the Brooklyn Wanderers as the New York team.
The 1898 American Cup was the fourteenth edition of the soccer tournament organized by the American Football Association. The Arlington Athletic Association won the series against the Kearny A.C. At the annual AFA meeting at Union Hall in East Newark on September 25, 1897, the committee elected was Dr. J.W. Reid of Arlington A.A. as president, William Robertson of Kearny as Secretary, and John McCance of Kearny Association as Treasurer.
The 1907 American Cup was the sixteenth edition of the soccer tournament organized by the American Football Association. The Clark Athletic Association won the final match against the Scottish Americans.
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