Dec. 26, 1924 – Shawsheen FC granted ASL franchise

Shawsheen FC, which won the 1924 National Challenge Cup (U.S. Open Cup) title, competed on “… one of the finest soccer grounds in the country,” according to the Boston Globe. The Balmoral Park field still exists in Andover, Mass.

At that time, New England was showing the way in soccer in the U.S., according to The Boston Globe.

Jan. 6, 1925 – “Soccer Banner Year in 1924”

“Nationally, soccer is booming … Massachusetts, the real hotbed of the soccer game in this country, had its best season ever … although the Bay State is the real hotbed of soccer, Rhode Island runs it pretty close. The record attendance for a soccer game in this country last year went to Tiverton Stadium, the home of the Fall River team, when more than 14,000 fans paid admission to see the Fall River and J. and P. Coats battle in a second round game in the National Cup series.”

Jan. 7, 1925 – “Abbot Worsted on Trail of American League Franchise”

The Abbot Worsted team twice reached the National Challenge Cup (U.S. Open Cup) semifinals and won the 1921 and ’22 Massachusetts State Cup title. According to the company’s J.C. Abbot: “We are not satisfied to play second fiddle to any team in this State. With the record that my team has had in the last three seasons no team has a better right to be in the forefront of professional soccer in the East than our Forge Village outfit.”

A year later, the competition was proving to be difficult for Shawsheen, which lasted less than a year in the ASL. The Indians resigned from the league with a record of 11W-14L-3D in March 1926.

Dec. 25, 1925 – Indiana Flooring 1:1 Shawsheen Village, ASL game at New York Oval (Att.: 2,100)

U.S. national teamer Bob Millar opened the scoring with a “clever overhead kick” off a corner. Charlie Cook’s “magnificent drive” equalized for Shawsheen “five minutes from the interval.” The Shawsheen lineup included co-leading scorers Alec Lorimer, “one of the premier wing halves in the history of the ASL,” according to American Soccer League 1921-31/The Golden Years of American Soccer, and Edmund Smith, a U.S. international. Andy Straden, who played for the U.S. national team, scored five goals in five games for Shawsheen during the 1925-26 season.

Dec. 26, 1925 – Bethlehem Steel FC 6:0 Shawsheen

Goals: Jim Purvis (4), Archie Stark (2).

TODAY IN NEW ENGLAND SOCCER HISTORY