April 23, 1968 – Boston Beacons 3:0 Detroit Cougars at Fenway Park (Att. 4,406). Beacons’ inaugural home match

Boston Beacons investors included the Celtics’ Red Auerbach and Red Sox general manager Dick O’Connell. The team had hired coach Jack Mansell a year earlier, but had been unable to make player acquisitions until shortly before the start of the 1968 season. On the eve of the opener, team spokesman Joe McKenney said the Beacons were “hoping for 5,000” attendance. Ticket prices ranged from $1 to $4.50. Leigh Montville’s preview in the Boston Globe noted the crowd would include Cardinal Cushing and the governor, John A. Volpe, and the team would provide a pre-game demonstration of the rules of the game.

“You have to say it was a historic moment for soccer in Boston,” Mansell said after the match. “I mean, you can always look back and say the first game at Fenway Park was a resounding win for the Boston Beacons.”

John Milner scored twice, giving the Beacons the lead with a 66^th-minute goal, and Erik Dyreborg once.

Three days later, the Beacons fell, 4-0, to the Los Angeles Wolves in a game delayed for 30 minutes by a light failure on Jersey Street. The LA goals were scored by Brazilian Carlos Metidieri (2), Peruvian Jorge Benitez and Argentinian Jorge Piotti, who all had played for the Boston Tigers the previous season.

TODAY IN NEW ENGLAND SOCCER HISTORY