Long before the National Basketball Association version of the name, the Boston Celtics were a successful soccer club – “the Irish club from Sullivan Sq.” in Charlestown, according to The Boston Globe. Former U.S. national teamer Jackie Lyons, who played in the 1928 Olympics, led the way for the Celtics against the defending champion Clan MacGregor of Quincy.
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. [Read more…] about April 23, 1968 – Boston Beacons 3:0 Detroit Cougars at Fenway Park (Att. 4,406). Beacons’ inaugural home match
Boston ’s entry in the National Professional Soccer League (which became the North American Soccer League) to be called the Boston Beacons … “after consideration of thousands of suggestions from area sports fans.” [Read more…] about April 7, 1967 – Birth of the Boston Beacons
Andy Stevens scored both goals as the New Bedford Whalers took a 2-0 win over Bethlehem Steel in an American Soccer League match. On the same day, Bethlehem Steel Corp. reported in its 22nd annual statement “shipments and deliveries by subsidiary companies of $304,361,805 for the fiscal year ending Dec. 31, 1926 … net income for the year was equivalent to $7.48 per share on the common stock (up from $5.30 the previous year).” The next day, Bethlehem Steel would concluded its two-day road trip with a 4-2 win over the Providence Clamdiggers. [Read more…] about March 19, 1927 – Bethlehem Steel loses in New Bedford, profits big time
Soccer games set for March 13, 1937 were called off because of snow, but a full schedule was played the following day. The Boston Globe story in March 14, 1937 editions previewing the American Professional League season-opener between Lusitania Recreation and the Boston Celtics noted: “Celts are on the spot and have to win this match or take an awful panning from the fans.” But the Lucy Recs took a 4-1 win over the Celtics in “the American Pro League opener” at Lincoln Park. “Despite the snowstorm of the previous day the pitch was in great shape.”
Bobby Green scored three goals, Poly Guyda one for Lusitania. Mike McDonough converted for the Celtics. J. Lyons listed at rh in Celts lineup, could have been Jackie Lyons, who played in the 1928 Olympics. Poly Guyda played for the U.S. in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and went on to coach at Harvard.
TODAY IN NEW ENGLAND SOCCER HISTORY
On this day in 1928, the Providence Clamdiggers and Boston Wonder Workers played to a 0-0 draw. In the first half, former Chelsea FC center forward Bill Finlayson hit the post and Boston’s Bobby Blair, the American Soccer League’s second-leading scorer (38 goals) the previous season, missed an open net . The Boston Globe story notes Providence goalkeeper Joe Kennaway, who would go on to play for Celtic FC, “fell prone in the mud,” but Blair “hurried his boot and as a result shot clear over the bar.” Blair “rocked the upright with a fine drive” late in the game. In the final two minutes, Boston’s Johnny Ballantyne (Partick Thistle, Queen’s Park Rangers) and Providence’s Jimmy Bardell were ejected for fighting. [Read more…] about Feb. 12, 1928 – The story of Barney Battles