The

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

had recently entered

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and the

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

world felt the effects as increasing numbers of players joined the armed forces to wage battle in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. Soccer was not as hard-hit as some other sports, but all leagues felt the impact; in fact the

Čechie Čechie is the personification of the Czech nation, which was used in the 19th century as reaction on personification of competing nationalism represented by Germania or Austria. See also * Flag and Coat of Arms of the Czech Republic * Czech ...

team of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

lost every member of its roster to enlistment. The United States Soccer Football Association issued a call to its member associations for teams to resist the temptation to strengthen their teams at the expense of others — when wealthy, but decimated teams eye the poorer but complete teams, their wallets and checkbooks should remain pocketed in the name of fair play. A welcome consequence of the war situation was a willingness of the USFA's own warring factions to end their dispute and work together in relative harmony during those trying times. Many soccer organizations launched fund raising campaigns and benefit matches to raise money to provide support for U.S. soldiers through, among other means, the provision of soccer equipment and gear to enhance their recreational opportunities. One such project was the Soccer Football Chain Letter Fund launched by

Thomas Cahill Thomas Quinn Cahill (March 29, 1940 – October 18, 2022) was an American scholar and writer. He was best known for ''The Hinges of History'' series, a prospective seven-volume series in which the author recounts formative moments in Western civ ...

and the USFA. Other welcome events included record attendance figures in some late-round games of the

National Challenge Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in that country. The 2023 U.S. O ...

that were well promoted. One of the major topics of discussion was the pros and cons of substitutes. At the time the laws did not specifically allow nor outlaw substitutes per se, but the consensus was that eventually they would become a reality. For the 1917-18 year, the USFA reported receipts of $6,318.64 and disbursements of $3,034.39, giving the USFA a net worth of $2,784.25 in cash and one $500.00

Liberty Bond A liberty bond (or liberty loan) was a war bond that was sold in the United States to support the Allied cause in World War I. Subscribing to the bonds became a symbol of patriotic duty in the United States and introduced the idea of financia ...

Bracket

''Home teams listed on top of bracketUSOpenCup.com
/ref>'' (*) replay after tied match

Final

First game

Replay

References

External links

National Challenge Trophy

2009-10-20)
HickokSports.com

National Challenge Cup - Google News Archive
* United States Soccer Football Association
Britanica Online Encyclopedia

{{DEFAULTSORT:1917-18 National Challenge Cup U.S. Open Cup

Nat Nat or NAT may refer to: Computing * Network address translation (NAT), in computer networking Organizations * National Actors Theatre, New York City, U.S. * National AIDS trust, a British charity * National Archives of Thailand * National As ...