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Frank Dell'Apa

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MLB

Feb. 15, 1931 – Fall River FC 2:3 ASL All Stars at Mark’s Stadium (Att.: 700)

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Bert Patenaude scores both Fall River goals past Kennaway. Scheduled opponent, Velez Sarsfield, delayed by “railway mishap in Texas … en route to the East.” Velez, a team that included players from Argentina’s 1930 World Cup team that defeated the U.S., 6-1, in the semifinals, arrived for a Feb. 22, 1931 match. Both goalkeepers — Joe Kennaway (Celtic FC) and Johnny Reder (first baseman for the Boston Red Sox) — would change teams in 1932. Jeremiah Best scored twice and Watson one goal for the All-Stars.

Feb. 15, 1925 – Fall River 3:0 J&P Coats. Lewis Cup game at Mark’s Stadium (Att.: 12,000)

“… all hopes of a record-breaking crowd for a soccer game in this country were dashed with the heavy rain that fell just before game time in Tiverton.”

According to The Boston Globe: “Boston’s 2-0 victory (over the New York Giants) means three teams out of the four remaining in this professional Cup series, making clearer the argument that New England teams are the game’s best supports (sic) from both a playing and financial point of view.”

New York Giants 0:2 Boston Wonder Workers, Lewis Cup match (Att.: 1,500)

Goals: Stevens, Fleming. Note: Battles hits bar early

Feb. 15, 2011 – Revolution sign Argentinian defender Franco Coria

NEW ENGLAND SOCCER HISTORY

Jan. 31, 1967 – Boston awarded NPSL franchise

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The Boston team was set to play in the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL), which was not sanctioned by the USSFA, at Fenway Park. Directors included former Celtics’ coach Red Auerbach and Red Sox executive vice president Dick O’Connell. [Read more…] about Jan. 31, 1967 – Boston awarded NPSL franchise

Jan. 7, 1933 – Boston SC 3:1 Victoria Mills, National Challenge Cup, Brookline Town Field

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Boston SC had a chance to make a run in the National Challenge Cup (U.S. Open Cup), according to The Boston Globe: “There is magic to the word(s) “National Cup,” at least to soccer fans … While Boston has garnered most of the other soccer honors, at one time or another, winning the National Cup has eluded this city … (in 1926) the local pro team reached the semifinal but, when everyone expected Boston to win, the team collapsed and J&P Coats unexpectedly won.” [Read more…] about Jan. 7, 1933 – Boston SC 3:1 Victoria Mills, National Challenge Cup, Brookline Town Field

Dec. 20, 1890 – Fall River Rovers 4:1 Olympics at Jarvis Field, Cambridge, Mass.

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According to The Boston Globe, the game between two Fall River soccer teams was “arranged by Gov.-elect Russell with Col. Spencer Borden of his prospective staff while the former was here to speak during the campaign.” There had been “a movement … to add Association foot ball to the regular list of sports at Harvard …”

The Rovers and Olympics had each won in two previous games against each other in 1890.

A separate Globe story reported: “…. The Fall River contingent … arrived home at 8 o’clock and the Rover men immediately began to paint County St., where the winning team’s clubs are situated, a bright red. The Olympics were favorites in betting … 50 to 10 … About $2,000 was wagered on the game by local sports.”

Another match under association football rules had been scheduled in Boston: “A game has been arranged between two Fall River teams for Christmas day on the Brotherhood base ball grounds.”

Dec. 25, 1890 – Chase Rovers 2:1 Fall River Clippers at Congress St. Grounds (Att.: 200)

”The cold wind whistled around the grounds made memorable by the brilliant work of Boston’s famous champions of 1890 (the Boston Reds baseball team, which lasted two seasons) and the foot ball players were unable to keep warm, not to speak of the spectators.”

TODAY IN NEW ENGLAND SOCCER HISTORY

Dec. 5, 1931 – Boston SC 2:1 New Bedford Whalers at Lincoln Park

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Boston SC’s Jimmy Cairney scored the winning goal with a “back heeler” that deflected off Caldwell past New Bedford Whalrs goalkeeper Johnny Reder (who would go on to play first base for the Red Sox in 1932). New Bedford was in first place in the ASL before the match. [Read more…] about Dec. 5, 1931 – Boston SC 2:1 New Bedford Whalers at Lincoln Park

Nov. 8, 1925 – U.S. 6:1 Canada at Ebbets Field, Brooklyn (Att.: 8,000)

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Davey Brown opened the scoring with the first of his two goals, the U.S. breaking the game open with five second-half goals. Gordon Burness, who played for the U.S. in 1926, equalized off a header from Ed McLaine off a corner kick by former Blackburn Rovers and Queen’s Park Rangers winger Roy Faulkner. Archie Stark, who scored 67 goals for Bethlehem Steel in the 1924-25 ASL season and later toured with Fall River, broke the deadlock with the first of his four goals, off a Billy Herd pass.

Burness, born in Montrose, Scotland,  joined the Boston Wonder Workers in 1927 and won the 1931 National Challenge Cup (U.S. Open Cup) with the Fall River Marksmen. Burness and younger brother Harry performed together on the Wonder Workers and continued to compete in the Boston area for several years. Harry Burness was killed in action serving in the U.S. Army in France in 1944. [Read more…] about Nov. 8, 1925 – U.S. 6:1 Canada at Ebbets Field, Brooklyn (Att.: 8,000)

Sept. 27, 1928 – Soccer War declared

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Bethlehem Steel, the New York Giants and Newark Skeeters defied an ASL vote to boycott the National Challenge Cup (U.S. Open Cup) and were suspended from the league, kicking off a “Soccer War.”

According to The Boston Globe: “The seven remaining ASL delegates voted unanimously to uphold president Bill Cunningham’s decision to suspend Bethlehem, the New York Giants and Newark.” That included all five New England teams, represented by Sam Mark (Fall River), Dave Pomfret (New Bedford), Alec Cooper (J&P Coats), Bob MacDonald (Boston) and Sam Fletcher (Providence); plus E.J. Viberg (New York Nationals) and Nat Agar (Brooklyn Wanderers).

New York Nationals owner Horace Stoneham (who also owned baseball’s New York Giants) had been the strongest opponent of scheduling Challenge Cup matches during the ASL season. Ironically, Stoneham’s Nationals were the defending Cup champions. Stoneham’s idea was for the ASL to operate outside the constraints of the U.S. Football Association (now U.S. Soccer), which organized the Challenge Cup. The “Soccer War” lasted for more than a year, contributing to the downfall of the ASL.

Roger Allaway’s story for SASH: http://www.ussoccerhistory.org/what-was-the-soccer-war/

TODAY IN NEW ENGLAND SOCCER HISTORY

Aug. 6, 2011 – Diego Fagundez youngest scorer at Gillette Stadium. Revolution 2:3 Chivas USA (Att.: 11,523)

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Diego Fagundez (b. Feb. 14, 1995) had played in two U.S. Open Cup road matches before making his MLS debut for the New England Revolution. Fagundez replaced Zach Schilawski in the 66th minute, earned a penalty kick less than two minutes later (Shalrie Joseph converted a team-record 10th PK), then his 86th-minute goal concluded the scoring.

“We wanted to get a spark,” Revolution coach Steve Nicol said after the game. “We had thoughts of playing him at some stage. He’s been doing great in training and you can just see his enthusiasm, he’s got a footballer’s brain. He did a fantastic job, he gets the penalty, he gets the goal.”

Fagundez signed a contract Nov. 15, 2010, then made his first Revolution appearance as a substitute for Ousmane Dabo in a 3-2 win over D.C. United in a U.S. Open Cup match in Boyds, Md., on April 26, 2011. Fagundez made his first Revolution start alongside 22-year-old current Atlas Guadalajara striker Milton Caraglio (probably the youngest starting forward pairing in Revolution history) in a 2-1 loss to Seattle on Oct. 1, 2011.

The previous youngest scorer at Gillette was Canada’s Kara Lang (Romero/16 years, 11 months) in a 3-1 win over Japan in the 2003 Women’s World Cup.

TODAY IN NEW ENGLAND SOCCER HISTORY

July 29, 2001 – Boston Breakers 2:1 Washington Freedom, WUSA game at Nickerson Field (Att.: 11,681)

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Kristine Lilly set up Dagney Mellgren for goals in the 25th and 44th minutes as the Breakers (6W-9L-3D, 21 points) pulled within two points of a playoff berth before a capacity crowd. The match had been sold out for a month, partly because of the arrival of the Freedom’s Mia Hamm, whose future husband, Nomar Garciaparra, would hit a home run in a 4-3 Red Sox win over the Chicago White Sox in a game played simultaneously just down Commonwealth Avenue at Fenway Park. [Read more…] about July 29, 2001 – Boston Breakers 2:1 Washington Freedom, WUSA game at Nickerson Field (Att.: 11,681)

June 8, 1992 – THEY WUZ ROBBED

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The Republic of Ireland national team made a strong impact on soccer in New England in the early 1990s, drawing significant crowds and displaying the form that took the team to a berth in the 1988 European Championship and quarterfinals of the 1990 World Cup. [Read more…] about June 8, 1992 – THEY WUZ ROBBED