Alexandre "Alex" Ely ( uk, Олександр (Олесь) Ілай, February 9, 1938 - September 28, 2021) was a Brazilian-American soccer

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, teacher and author. Ely played extensively in the U.S., Canada and Brazil winning multiple league and cup titles. He also earned four

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with the U.S. national team between 1960 and 1965. In addition to his extensive professional resume, Ely coached at the high school, collegiate and professional levels. He was inducted into the United States National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1997.

Club career

In 1958, Ely spent a single season in the Philadelphia United Soccer League, an amateur city league. In 1959, he signed with the

Ukrainian Nationals The first Philadelphia Ukrainians team, also known as the "Philadelphia Tridents", Tryzub FC (Ukrainian Sports Association Philadelphia Tridents, in uk, УСО (Український Спортовий Осередок) «Тризуб» (Філ� ...

of the American Soccer League (ASL). Over his six seasons with the Nationals, the team won four league championships and three

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. Op ...

titles. In both 1961 and 1963, Ely and his teammates took the "double" of league and cup championships. The Nationals spent one season in the Eastern Professional Soccer League in 1964–1965. However, the league folded at the end of the season. Ely took every opportunity to play. In addition to the Nationals, he played with several teams in other leagues during the ASL off season. In 1960, he was with the

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of the International Soccer League. Then in 1961 and 1962, he played with

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of the Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League with whom he won a league championship. He returned to the Eastern Canada League in 1964 and 1965 with

Toronto City Toronto City was a Canadian soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario. Between 1961 and 1967, teams using this name competed in both the Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League and the United Soccer Association. History ECPSL In 1961, along with ...

. Ely's devotion to the game reached its height in 1965. In addition to playing for the Nationals and Toronto City, he also played in the

German American Soccer League The Cosmopolitan Soccer League is a regional soccer league consisting of semi-pro and amateur teams based in and around New York City. Established in 1923, it is one of the oldest soccer leagues in the United States and has contributed greatl ...

. While playing in multiple leagues in two countries, Ely also attended the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the Flagship un ...

. He graduated with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in foreign language education in 1964. In 1965, Ely returned to Brazil where he became an English teacher and played professionally with Santos. In 1972, he returned to the U.S., settling in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

where he attended

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. While working on his

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

, Ely both played for and coached the Philadelphia Spartans for the 1972 ASL season. The Spartans folded at the end of the season and Ely moved to the Delaware Wings of the ASL. The Wings folded at the end of the 1974 season. He continued to play in the International United German Hungarian Old Timers tournaments from 1976 to 1985.

National and Olympic teams

In 1959, Ely joined the U.S. national team at the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is hel ...

. The U.S. took third place at the games, which are not considered a full international tournament. Following the games, the U.S. entered qualification for the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad ( it, Giochi della XVII Olimpiade) and commonly known as Rome 1960 ( it, Roma 1960), were an international multi-sport event held ...

but a loss to Mexico on October 8 and a tie with Mexico on November 22 kept the U.S. out of the Olympic tournament. Ely earned his first official

with the U.S. national team on November 13, 1960, in a loss to

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in a World Cup qualifier. That loss put the U.S. out of contention for a spot in the cup. He did not play for the U.S. again until 1965. That year, he played three of the four World Cup qualification games, all in March. The U.S. tied Mexico 2–2 on March 7, Ely and his teammates lost the away game five days later in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley of ...

. He missed the U.S. win over Honduras, but played in the 1–1 tie on March 21 which put the U.S. out of cup contention.

Coaching

Ely began coaching in 1960, while attending the

. In addition to playing professionally and attending classes, he served as an assistant coach at the university until he graduated in 1964. In 1972, he spent a single season coaching the Philadelphia Spartans of the American Soccer League. After the Spartans folded, he was hired by

Monsignor Bonner High School Monsignor Bonner High School was an all-male Augustinian Catholic High School in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia. It was located in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania. Bonner was created in 1953 as Archbishop Prendergast High School for Bo ...

where he coached the boys team from 1972 to 1976. In 1981, he became the boys soccer coach at Archbishop Carroll High School. In 1996, he was hired as the women's coach at

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a private liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the earliest coeducational colleges in the United States. It was established as ...

. In his two seasons with the team, he compiled an 11-26-3 record. In addition to coaching at the high school and collegiate levels, Ely also founded the America Kolping Soccer Club in 1975. He served as head coach for the club for twenty years. He later continued to coach with the Jersey Shore Boca soccer club."Kicking Off: Jersey Shore Boca opens 2007 season Sunday"
/ref>

Educator

When Ely returned to Brazil in 1965, he taught English for seven years. He authored two English textbooks, ''A New Approach to English'' and ''Intermediate Course''. After returning to the U.S., he earned a

from

in English Education before becoming a teacher in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at Cardinal Dougherty High School and later Archbishop Prendergast High School. Ely authored the novel
Destiny At Dawn
' as well as his memoir,
From Hell To The National Hall Of Fame
'.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ely, Alex 1938 births Living people American Soccer League (1933–1983) coaches American Soccer League (1933–1983) players American expatriate soccer players American soccer coaches American soccer players Association football midfielders Brazilian emigrants to the United States Delaware Wings players Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League players Eastern Professional Soccer League (1928–29) players Expatriate soccer players in Canada Footballers at the 1959 Pan American Games German-American Soccer League players International Soccer League players National Soccer Hall of Fame members Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in football People from Mogi das Cruzes Philadelphia Spartans (ASL) players Philadelphia Spartans coaches Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals players Santos FC players Toronto City players Toronto Roma players United States men's international soccer players Medalists at the 1959 Pan American Games