Statistics of American Soccer League in season 1928–29.
Overview The first half of the 1928–29 season began on September 1, 1928. This season saw the onset of the Soccer War., a struggle between the American Soccer League and the United States Football Association for control of the sport. It began when the league boycotted the National Challenge Cup in September 1928.The Globe -- Bethlehem; Thursday, September 13, 1928 Within a week, three ASL teams, Bethlehem Steel, Newark Skeeters and New York Giants, defied the boycott and entered the cup.The Globe -- Bethlehem; Wednesday, September 19, 1928 On September 24, 1928, Bill Cunningham, president of the American Soccer League, suspended the three teams and fined them each $1000.00.REGRET LEAGUE ACTION AGAINST THREE CLUBS In response, the USFA helped create a competing league, the Eastern Professional Soccer League which included the three teams suspended by the ASL, as well as teams from the Southern New York Soccer Association and the newly created New York Hakoah. In a bizarre twist, the first half of the season ended for some teams as early as December 25, 1928, and for others as late as January 13, 1929. The second half of the season then began on December 29, 1928, for some team and for other, not until January 5 or January 13, 1929. This created a situation in which some teams were still playing first half games while other teams were playing their second half games.
In December 1928, the league admitted Jersey City as the league's ninth team for the second season. Jersey City made it seven games into the second half before withdrawing from the league and disbanding. Then on March 23, 1929, J&P Coats also withdrew from the league following its victory over Brooklyn that day. The team came under new ownership which renamed it the Pawtucket Rangers and re-entered the league, taking J&P Coats' record and position in the standings. The team played its first game, a 2–1 loss to Fall River on March 30, 1929. The league had one last team withdrew when the New Bedford Whalers left the league and jumped to the Eastern Professional Soccer League after its 4–0 victory over Boston on March 17, 1929. The Fall River Football Club topped the standings in both the first and second half of the season and were declared league champion.
League standings Percentage is a percentage of games won to games played.
First half PlaceTeamGPWLDGFGAPtsPct1 Fall River F.C.311795643643 .6942 Brooklyn Wanderers311867796142 .6773 New York Nationals291388705334 .5864 Providence 2413511534431 .5345 New Bedford Whalers 2911612514728 .4836 Boston 288812496024 .4297 Philadelphia 18369274012 .3338 J&P Coats 284717286915 .2689 New York Giants832315178 .50010 Bethlehem Steel 63031286 .50011 Newark Skeeters 70167300 .000
Second half PlaceTeamGPWLDGFGAPtsPct1 Fall River F.C.221165382428 .6362 Providence221237463727 .6143 J&P Coats /Pawtucket RangersTeam played 18 games as J&P Coats and 7 games as the Pawtucket Rangers.2513210423928 .5604 New York Nationals21876685523 .5485 Brooklyn Wanderers 20569425018 .5366 Philadelphia 18639365415 .4507 Boston257414455518 .4178 New Bedford WhalersWithdrew from the ASL after March 17, 1929, and entered the Eastern Professional Soccer League.14716372815 .3609 Jersey CityWithdrew following February 10, 1929, loss to Providence.720511234 .286
League Cup The winners of the League Cup final were awarded the H.E. Lewis Cup. The finalist were tied on aggregate goals (4 each) after their two match series, and so were required to play a third winner take all match at a neutral site, Hawthorne Field in Brooklyn.
Bracket
Semifinals
New Bedford advances, 4–3, on aggregate.
New York advances, 8–7, on aggregate.
Final
New York wins Lewis Cup, 8–6, on aggregate.
Goals leaders RankScorerClubGamesGoals1 Janos Nehadoma Brooklyn Wanderers4843 Werner Nilsen Boston53433 John Nelson J&P Coats43394 Bill Paterson Providence35335 Hookey Leonard New York Nationals 50316 Sam Kennedy J&P Coats37237 Freddie Wall Philadelphia2322 Tec White Fall River F.C.49229 Bart McGheeNew York Nationals 301910 Herbert CarlssonNew York Nationals451811 Leslie Lyell Brooklyn Wanderers451712 Billy Adair Brooklyn Wanderers4316 Bert Patenaude Philadelphia281614 David RobertsonBrooklyn Wanderers381515 Jerry Best New Bedford Whalers3014 Jack GreenProvidence371417 Jim Purvis Philadelphia291318 Bobby CurtisBrooklyn Wanderers411219 Nils Nygren Boston2911 Mike McLeavyProvidence3111 Pete Fitzpatrick New York Giants431122 Billy GonsalvesBoston3210
External links The Year in American Soccer - 1929
References