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Soccer in a football world: The American Soccer League (Defunct as of 1/06/21)


Xibalba

Last team for the ASL East.  

26 members have voted

  1. 1. Which team do you want to include in the ASL East?

    • Atlanta Phoenix
      5
    • Charlotte Royals
      5
    • Panamerica S.C (Miami)
      12
    • Jacksonville Pirates
      3

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  • Poll closed on 06/14/2020 at 10:00 PM

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15 hours ago, Raptorman415 said:

Love the Pittsburgh look! It's like you mixed West Ham with the Steelers. The backstories also are phenomenal. Love the detail. How many teams do you have planned? Because I can't wait to see them all. Keep it up!

 

Thanks!, I haven't quite pinned down the number of clubs yet, I want to give at least every large US city it's own team. Mixing and matching teams from the ASL and other defunct soccer leagues. 

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Detroit Corinthians S.C

 

 

 

 

About the Club

 

While places like Chicago, Pittsburgh and Toronto had established amateur soccer teams, Detroit unfortunately did not have the same situation to rely on. Fearing the possibility that they could lose out on this golden opportunity to join the new Midwest division, representatives of the Detroit District Soccer League hastily created a club to enter the new competition, The Detroit Wolverines. While many thought that this rag tag team of Detroit amateur soccer players would finish dead last, the Wolverines did have a secret weapon in their arsenal. Gil Heron, one of the first true icons of the ASL. When Heron returned to the U.S following WWII, he joined amateur side Venetia of the Detroit District Soccer League. During that season, he netted an astounding 44 goals in 14 games. This peaked the attention of the newly founded Wolverines, and he was included in their roster for the 46/47 season. During that season the gifted winger scored 15 goals in 8 games, and led the club to it's first championship. After that inaugral season, trouble was brewing however. The league had an average attendance of about 2000 - 4000, a moderate success but not the large crowds that the management was hoping for, especially considering how much they've spend during the past season. The Wolverines where not able to field a team for the next season, and the Detroit spot was given to the Detroit Pioneers. Heron, did not join the Pioneers but joined the Chicago Maroons instead. However, as the second season got underway, both Chicago sides folded, and where replaced with the Chicago Tornados. Heron did not make the move to the new team and joined amateur teams Chicago Sparta and then later Detroit Corinthians instead, from which he made his dream move to Scottish giants Celtic making him just miss out on a return to the ASL, as the Detroit Corinthians merged with The Pioneers and took the Wolverines then still vacant spot as the city's undisputed top soccer side.  While the new club found a stable footing as the new division matured, it would take the return of a star to propel them to the top of US Soccer. As Heron returned to Detroit after playing in Scotland and England.

 

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  • Xibalba changed the title to Soccer in a football world: The American Soccer League (27/08 Detroit Corinthians Added)
8 hours ago, Xibalba said:

 

Thanks!, I haven't quite pinned down the number of clubs yet, I want to give at least every large US city it's own team. Mixing and matching teams from the ASL and other defunct soccer leagues. 

I sure hope this includes Charlotte, especially with the MLS buzz going on right now! This series is fantastic, and I can't wait to see what's next.

the user formerly known as cdclt

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3 hours ago, RightGuard said:

Who's Detroit's kit maker?

 

Macron, the Italian brand. They make kits for the CPL, Stoke City, Hibernian (Scotland), and a handful of other "big" clubs and a ton of others too. They rebranded slightly hence the more modern logo as opposed to the older one. spacer.png

 

 

 

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56 minutes ago, NJMHero21 said:

what happened to the teams after this

 

Some teams joined other leagues, while others slipped back down to amateur levels. The whole entirely of the second ASL was a essentially teams dropping in and out of the league.

 

For those interested, you can find the teams Wikipedia article in the intro post if you want to read up on what happened to the team in real life. There is also now a team map included.    

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Rose City Soccer Club

 

 

 

 

About the Club

 

The club was originally founded in 1986, as F.C Portland and it joined the Western Soccer Alliance. A new soccer competition that focused mainly on the West Coast. In 1989 was a year of tremendous change for the club. It had a change of ownership, which improved the level of professionalism of the club, while at the same time the league was expanding. This drew the eye of the ASL, as they where looking to have a second chance at expanding on the west coast following their failed merger in 1968. In 1990, a deal was reached which saw Portland join the ASL together with the Sacramento, Santa Barbara, Seattle and Phoenix. For the following season, the club held a inquiry with fans about a possible name change. While initially the team was going to be named after the Timbers, a small majority of supporters opted for Rose City S.C. The club first became Western Division Champions in 2013, and became ASL Champions in 2015. The team has a large and passionate fan base, and has become one of the stalwarts of the American Soccer League over the past 10 years. 

 

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  • Xibalba changed the title to Soccer in a football world: The American Soccer League (01/09 Rose City S.C Added)
  • 2 weeks later...

Chicago Union Soccer Club

 

 

 

About the Club

 

While the club was founded in 1947, it's roots go deeper than that and all starts with one person. Ferdinand Weiszmann. He was the owner of the Chicago Maroons and applied the ASL for membership, while the league did not accept his request it did advise him to maybe create a Midwestern division of the ASL, and in 1947 he did just so. Recruiting fellow Chicagoans Vikings, along with teams from Detroit, Toronto. During that inaugural seasons both teams from Chicago had very different experiences however, the Maroons where languishing at the bottom, while the Vikings where riding high, making the play-off final, which they lost to the Detroit Wolverines. While the division was a moderate succes at the end of the first season, it became clear that Weiszmann overestimated the appeal of the sport. This exposed the financial mismanagement that went on behind the scenes, forcing the ASL central committee in New York to step in. The Detroit Wolverines where disbanded, and a new financially stable team was introduced in the league, Both Chicago teams folded and returned to play in the amateur division. A new club was created, the Chicago Tornadoes, Consisting of the best players of both the Maroons and the Vikings. With the city now having one professional soccer club, the team changed it's color's to match the city's flag and changed it's name to the Chicago Union. While they where heavyweights in their own division, they could not translate that on the national stage. With their first national title coming in 1981, and a second title following in 1998, the club still has to reach it's full potential. 

 

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  • Xibalba changed the title to Soccer in a football world: The American Soccer League (15/09 Chicago Union Added)
  • 3 weeks later...

Baltimore Canton Soccer Club

 

About the Club

 

The club was founded in 1917, as part of a youth sports team setup. They where the first uniformed soccer team in the state of Maryland and where regular contenders in State wide competitions. Following the founding of the second ASL, the club's leadership seeing the teams's success in the youth leagues, decided to enter the ASL for it's inaugural season with a semi-professional adult team. The first seasons saw Baltimore achieve relative success in the top half of the table, coming close to a league title in 1935/36. In 1938, they where joined by Baltimore German and the Charm City Derby was born. The sport was gaining popularity in the city as both Baltimore teams where regular fixtures in the top half of the league. But around the late 40's this came to an abrupt end. The financial situation of the league was dire, especially after it's resource draining expansion in the Midwest. With two teams in one city, many thought the market in the area was already over saturated. So the owner sold his team to a group of entrepreneurs from Trenton to the dismay of many fans. The team started play in the 1948-49 season as the Trenton Americans. This left fans distraught as they couldn't just support their fierce rival. But disaster struck again as the following season as the Baltimore German (now renamed Americans) folded the next season, leaving both sets of fans without their teams. After several seasons of no soccer activity, a new club from the city joined the ASL, Baltimore Pompeii. Several of it's players used to play for both Baltimore clubs, and right of the bat there was a big interest in the new club.  But their was a big twist of fate yet again. The Trenton Americans, who effectively still owned the Baltimore colors and name folded during the 1954/55 season. This prompted the board of Baltimore Pompeii to inquire about the rights of the original Baltimore SC. While they where initially rebuffed, the ASL central committee ruled that Pompeii could in theory reacquire the rights if there where no buyers for the Trenton franchise. Eventually there was nobody who wanted to take over the failing club and Pompeii bought it for the symbolic fee of 1 dollar. With these rights now back in Baltimore, the club took on the name Baltimore Canton S.C and reverted to using the original crest and colors, as well as the date of establishment.   

 

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  • Xibalba changed the title to Soccer in a football world: The American Soccer League (06/10: Baltimore Canton Added)

Kearny Scots Athletic Club (No Longer Canon)

 

About the Club

 

The Scots where founded in 1895, by Scottish Immigrants settling in the Kearny area. The club is one of the oldest still active clubs in the United States and participated in the first soccer competition of it's kind. The National Association Football League, From roughly 1895 to 1899. When the competition folded, the Scots returned to play in smaller regional leagues. The club was also noticeably absent from the first American Soccer League, as the town did not have any team in the league, dispite being known as Soccertown, U.S.A. This changed as they joined the second and current ASL. Where they where joined by Kearny Celtic. They dominated the ASL during the late 30's. Winning 5 titles in a row and cementing their place as one of the original powerhouses of the league. During the 1942, the club tried to Americanize like many of their contemporaries, and changed their name to the Kearny Americans. This was however not successful as many other teams already where known as the Americans, so there was not a lot to differentiate them from other teams. So they switched back to their original name. The club also stands out, as it was one of the few small town clubs to survive the shift towards the big cities. Their crosstown rival did not as the Kearny Celtics where bought and moved to Newark.

 

 

 

 

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  • Xibalba changed the title to Soccer in a football world: The American Soccer League (08/10 Kearny Scots crest added)

The whole Baltimore Canton set looks great.

 

I'm really curious to read the "About the Club" entry.  The fact that you put the club in Canton suggests you did your homework about Baltimore soccer history (or already know your stuff).  East Baltimore was the hotbed of soccer in the olden days.

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