Pullman F.C. was one of the dominant American soccer teams of the early twentieth century. Established in 1883 as the Pullman Company team, it was an inaugural member of the Chicago League of Association Football before moving to the Association Football League. It dominated the Peel Cup during the 1910s and early 1920s.
In 1883, Pullman F.C. played the 39th Street Wanderers at Pullman’s Lake Calumet athletic field complex in the first official association football game in Chicago [1] , opening the inaugural season of the seven team Chicago League of Association Football (CLAF). Over the years, the Pullman Company sponsored numerous soccer teams, including teams for women, but the senior team remained in the CLAF for decades, competing for both the league championship, known as the Spalding Cup, and league cup, known as the Jackson Challenge Cup. Starting in 1901, Pullman also competed in a regional Midwestern professional soccer circuit, founded by Charles Comiskey in 1901 to take advantage of the popularity of the sport. The circuit included teams from Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Louis, and Detroit. It folded however in 1904.
In 1904, a new Chicago league, the Association Football League (AFA), was created as a rival to the CLAF. Pullman soon jumped leagues as the CLAF faded into obscurity to be replaced by the AFA as the city’s dominant league. In 1912, Pullman built a soccer stadium for its team at 104th and Corliss. In 1913, the AFA collapsed, but was quickly replaced by the Chicago and District League, better known as the Chicago Soccer League. In 1917, Pullman disbanded its senior team. In 1920, the team was re-established. In the early twenties, Pullman moved to the Chicago Major Soccer League. It disbanded permanently in 1929.
| Year | League | Reg. Season | Peel Cup | National Challenge Cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1909/10 | AFA | 2nd | Third round | N/A |
| 1910/11 | AFA | 8th | ? | N/A |
| 1911/12 | AFA | 1st | Champion | N/A |
| 1912/13 | AFA | 1st | Champion | N/A |
| 1913/14 | AFA | 1st | Champion | Quarterfinal |
| 1914/15 | AFA | 1st | Champion | Fourth round |
| 1915/16 | CSL | 1st | ? | Semifinal |
| 1916/17 | ? | ? | ? | Second round |
| 1917/18 | On hiatus | |||
| 1918/19 | On hiatus | |||
| 1919/20 | On hiatus | |||
| 1920/21 | ? | ? | Champion | Second round |
| 1921/22 | CSL | 2nd | Final | Quarterfinal |
| 1922/23 | ? | ? | Champion | First round |
| 1923/24 | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| 1924/25 | ? | ? | Champion | Fourth round |
| 1925/26 | ? | ? | Champion | Quarterfinal |
| 1926/27 | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| 1927/28 | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| 1928/29 | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Jackson Cup (League Cup)
League Championship
 | This article about a soccer club from Illinois is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
