Fall 1929 American Soccer League
Introduction These are the statistics of the '''Fall 1929 American Soccer League'''.
Overview At the beginning of the 1928-29 American Soccer League season, the league initiated a struggle with the United States Football Association. The controversy centered on the National Challenge Cup, but was really about the question of who controlled soccer in the United States, the team owners or the federation bureaucrats. In September 1928, the league announced it was boycotting the Challenge Cup. Three teams decided to defy the league and enter the cup: Bethlehem Steel, Newark Skeeters and New York Giants. By the end of September, the American Soccer League had suspended the three teams. The USFA responded by suspending the ASL, making it an outlaw league according to FIFA rules. The USFA then went further and created a new league, the Eastern Professional Soccer League, made up of the three ex-ASL teams as well as several from the Southern New York Soccer Association. The two competing leagues, the American Soccer League and Eastern Professional Soccer League vied for fans and public support during the 1928-29 season. Several teams and players jumped between the two leagues during the season. Other, European, players returned to Europe in order to retain their FIFA standing. By the summer of 1929, both leagues were in some financial difficulty. Despite this, they both began a 1929-1930 season while simultaneously holding talks on declaring a truce. The collapse of the stock market in October 1929 led to the onset of the Great Depression which exacerbated the financial problems and gave the two leagues and USFA the motivation to find a solution to the conflict. The two leagues continued to play for several more weeks, but by the beginning of November, 1929, both leagues had suspended operations and agreed to merge into one league called the Atlantic Coast League. The Atlantic Coast league began its season on November 6, 1929.Therefore the standings reflect less than one half of the originally scheduled season. The ASL declared Fall River F.C. the champions.
League standings PlaceTeamGPWLDGFGAPtsPct1 Fall River F.C.221534654033 '''.750'''2 Providence221426503430 '''.682'''3 Boston211236442227 '''.643'''4 New York Nationals 211038585323 '''.548'''5 Pawtucket Rangers 19829324118 '''.474'''6 New Bedford Whalers 217212384716 '''.381'''7 Brooklyn Wanderers 175210324712 '''.353'''8 Brooklyn Hakoah 17411241559 '''.265'''9 Philadelphia14221019416 '''.214'''
Goals leaders RankScorerClubGamesGoals1 Bill Paterson Providence22272 John Nelson New York Nationals21263 Bert Patenaude Fall River F.C.21254 Hookey Leonard New York Nationals18165 Billy Gonsalves Fall River F.C. 22146 Werner Nilsen Boston21137 Janos Nehadoma Brooklyn Wanderers /Brooklyn Hakoah18128 Heinrich Schönfeld Brooklyn Hakoah1211 Tommy FlorieNew Bedford Whalers 211110 Dave McEachranBoston2010 Percy Barlow Pawtucket Rangers1510
See also * 1929 Eastern Professional Soccer League
References
External links * The Year in American Soccer - 1929