Feb 28, 1926 – Boston’s Cup Hopes Blasted

J&P Coats took a 5-3 win over Boston in the Eastern semifinal of the National Cup – the U.S. Open Cup. “Fully 6000 were in the Stadium when the game started,” according to the Boston Globe report. Bill Adam scored four goals and McGrane one for the Threadmen. Bobby Blair had two goals and Tommy Fleming one for Boston, whose team nickname was “The Woodsies.”

The Globe game story listed a Fall River dateline, but in the advance the venue was to be “Sam Mark’s Stadium” in Tiverton, R.I., noting Cup games would start at 3 p.m. Sunday. Mark had constructed the stadium across the state line to avoid Blue Laws, so games involving his team, the Fall River Marksmen, could be played on Sundays.

In the days after this game, a Globe headline noted: “Attractiveness of Soccer is Fast Appealing to Fans.”

Teams also apparently competed in the “State Cup,” a separate competition from the “National Cup.” Boston was set to meet Fore River Shipyard in the State Cup “just as soon as the ice and snow clear away.”

TODAY IN NEW ENGLAND SOCCER HISTORY