Statistics of American Soccer League in season 1927–28.

Overview

New teams

During the 1927 off-season,

Charles Stoneham Charles Abraham Stoneham (July 5, 1876 – January 6, 1936) was the owner of the New York Giants baseball team, New York Nationals soccer team, the center of numerous corruption scandals and the instigator of the "Soccer Wars" which destroyed ...

bought Indiana Flooring and renamed it the New York Nationals. In order to bring the number of teams back to twelve after the withdrawal of the

Springfield Babes The Springfield Babes was an American soccer club based in Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Co ...

and

Philadelphia Field Club Philadelphia Field Club is a name used by four soccer teams based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. All four versions of Philadelphia F.C. competed in the first American Soccer League, but none were in any way related to the other three teams whic ...

the previous season, the league admitted the

Hartford Americans The Hartford Americans was an American soccer club based in Hartford, Connecticut that was member of the professional American Soccer League (1921-1933), American Soccer League. They joined the league in 1927, but were dropped early in the season t ...

and

Philadelphia Celtic Philadelphia Field Club is a name used by four soccer teams based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. All four versions of Philadelphia F.C. competed in the first American Soccer League, but none were in any way related to the other three teams whi ...

New format

With twelve teams in place, the league made significant changes to its schedule from the previous season. Rather than running a single, 44 game, table for the entire season, the league split the season into two halves, each with its own table. At the end of the season, the top two teams from each half would enter a playoff to determine the league championship.

Season

The first half of the 1927-28 season began September 10, 1927, and ended on January 8, 1928. Ten games into the season, Philadelphia Celtic withdrew due to financial problems. By this time, the Hartford Americans were also showing financial weakness. Therefore, the league requested Hartford voluntarily withdraw from the league both to strengthen the league's financial position and to create a balanced schedule for the rest of the season. By the end of the first half, Boston had finished at the top of the table, but Bethlehem Steel and New Bedford tied with forty-one points each. This led to an improvised first half playoff game on February 22, 1928, between Bethlehem Steel and New Bedford to determine second place. The second half of the season began on February 4, 1928, and ended on May 30, 1928.

Playoffs

The structural problems with the proposed playoff system became obvious by the end of the first half of the season. As mentioned above, Bethleham Steel and New Bedford finished tied for second place. This led to a playoff game which, ironically, did not take place until February 22, 1928, nearly two weeks after the second half of the season began. In that game, played in

Tiverton, Rhode Island Tiverton is a New England town, town in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 16,359 at the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census. Geography Tiverton is located on the eastern shore of Narragansett Bay, across the Sa ...

, the Whalers defeated the Steelmen, 2-0. Further complications arose at the end of the second half. When New Bedford and the Fall River Marksmen finished as the top two teams this led to an unbalanced playoff. The league had intended to have a four team playoff, but the playoff now consisted of three teams – Boston, New Bedford and Fall River. Therefore, the league first decided to allow Bethlehem Steel to enter as the fourth team. This led to a protest by the New York Nationals that they deserved to be the fourth team on account of finishing above Bethlehem Steel in the second half. The league executives decided then to include both the Nationals and Bethlehem Steel, making the playoffs a five-team affair. Bethlehem Steel defeated the Nationals in a two-game series, the first on June 4 and the second on June 6th. Three days later, Bethlehem met the

Boston Soccer Club The Boston Soccer Club was a member of the American Soccer League. They were renamed the Boston Bears for the Fall 1929 ASL season. In 1925, the ASL and the St. Louis Soccer League (SLSL) boycotted the National Challenge Cup, now known as the ...

in the first game of their semifinal series. The Bethlehem players were clearly fatigued and their goalkeeper, Dave Edwards went down injured as Bethlehem lost. Rather than travel back to their home stadium in Pennsylvania for the second leg of the series, Bethlehem elected to play at Hawthorne Stadium in Brooklyn. This was home to the

Brooklyn Wanderers The Brooklyn Wanderers was a U.S. soccer team which was a founding member of the National Association Football League in the late nineteenth century. Later versions joined the original American Soccer League and the reorganized American Soccer Le ...

. While there, Bethlehem requested the Wanderers loan their goalkeeper, future Aberdeen great

Steve Smith Stephen, Steve, Stevie, or Steven Smith may refer to: Academics * Steve Smith (political scientist) (born 1952), British international relations theorist and senior university manager * Stephen Smith (journalist) (born 1956), American journalist, ...

, to replace the injured Edwards. However, Bethlehem Steel failed to notify league officials that Smith would be a guest player. After Bethlehem won the game, 4-0, going through on aggregate, Boston lodged a complaint which the league sustained. The second game was declared void and Boston's first leg victory became the deciding game in the semifinal. In the other semifinal, the

New Bedford Whalers New Bedford Whalers was the name of three American soccer teams based in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The first Whalers played in the Southern New England Soccer League between 1914 and 1918. The second Whalers played in the American Soccer League ...

defeated the

Fall River Marksmen Fall River Marksmen was an American soccer club based in Fall River, Massachusetts. They originally played as Fall River United before becoming known as the Marksmen after their owner, Sam Mark. During the 1920s and early 1930s they were one of t ...

. However, two players from each team were sent off in the second game. Then

Sturdy Maxwell Thomas "Sturdy" Maxwell (born circa 1898) was a Scottish football forward who played in Scotland, England and the United States. Career Maxwell began his senior career with Clyde in 1917. In 1921, he took part in a 'Scotland' tour of North Amer ...

, one of the ejected Whalers players got into a post-game fight with Tec White of the Marksmen. The league suspended White and Maxwell, depriving the Whalers of their starting right half.Soccer President Tosses out Game and Suspends Two Players
/ref> In the final between the Boston Soccer Club and New Bedford Whalers, both teams scored in the first half, but the Whalers clinched the championship with three second half goals by Barney Battles Jr.

League standings

First half

Second half

Playoffs

First half playoff

When Bethlehem Steel and New Bedford finished tied for second place during the first half of the season, this playoff game in February was used to determine the second place team for playoff purposes. ----

First round

''Bethlehem Steel advances, 6–1, on aggregate'' ----

Semifinals

Seminfinal 1

The league voided the result of the second leg game after it was discovered Bethlehem Steel used

, the

goalkeeper, in place of the injured Dave Edwards. ''Boston advanced to the final.'' ----

Seminfinal 2

''New Bedford advanced, 3–2, on aggregate'' ----

Final

League Cup

The winners of the League Cup final were awarded the H.E. Lewis Cup

Bracket

----

Semifinals

''Bethlehem advances, 7–1, on aggregate.'' ----
''Boston advances, 8–4, on aggregate.'' ----

Final

''Bethlehem wins Lewis Cup, 5–4, on aggregate.''

Goals leaders

External links

The Year in American Soccer - 1928

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1927-28 American Soccer League American Soccer League (1921–1933) seasons

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...