Feb. 9, 1929 – ‘Biggest crowd, best soccer of the season’

Bobby Blair scored twice as J&P Coats took a 3-0 win over the Providence Gold Bugs, remaining unbeaten in the second half of the ASL season in “a contest which brought about the biggest crowd and best soccer of the current season,” according to 2/10/29 editions of the Boston Globe. Providence’s Joe Kennaway would go on to become Celtic FC goalkeeper from 1931-39.

On the same day, the Boston Wonder Workers were upset, 4-3, by Jersey City at the Walpole Street Grounds. The visitors from Skeeterville “inject(ed) Jimmy Douglas, Olympic goalie of 1924 into their lineup” and “deserved to win,” according to the Globe account. “The field was heavy, in fact it was ankle deep in mud …”

Werner “Scotty” Nielsen “mulled up” a chance to tie the score after going in alone on Douglas.

Nielsen was playing for the Boston Norwegian-Americans before joining the Wonder Workers as a 22-year-old for the 1926-27 season. Nielsen scored a league-leading 43 goals in 53 matches in the 1928-29 season and went on to perform for the U.S. in the 1934 World Cup.

Douglas was the U.S. ‘keeper in a victory over Estonia (3-0) in the 1924 Olympics, and in all three games as the U.S. reached the semifinals of the 1930 World Cup.

TODAY IN NEW ENGLAND SOCCER HISTORY