William McPherson (September 22, 1897 – July 1976) was a

Scottish-American Scottish Americans or Scots Americans (Scottish Gaelic: ''Ameireaganaich Albannach''; sco, Scots-American) are Americans whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in Scotland. Scottish Americans are closely related to Scotch-Irish Americans, d ...

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 ...

wing half 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 ...

. He began his career in Scotland before moving to the American Soccer League. He also spent time in the

St. Louis Soccer League The St. Louis Soccer League was based in St. Louis, Missouri and existed from 1915 to 1938. At its founding, it was the only fully professional soccer league in the United States. The league was founded from two teams from the St. Louis Soccer F ...

, winning a total of five league titles and seven

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 ...

s during his career. His record of 370 matches in the U.S. top-flight league stood until being broken by

Steve Ralston Steve Ralston (born June 14, 1974) is an American retired soccer player and manager who played as a midfielder. He spent most of his playing career in Major League Soccer with the Tampa Bay Mutiny and the New England Revolution, retiring in 2010 ...

in 2007.

Playing career

Scotland

Born in

Greenock Greenock (; sco, Greenock; gd, Grianaig, ) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council areas of Scotland, council area in Scotland, United Kingdom and a former burgh of barony, burgh within the Counties of Scotland, historic ...

, McPherson signed with

Morton Morton may refer to: People * Morton (surname) * Morton (given name) Fictional * Morton Koopa, Jr., a character and boss in ''Super Mario Bros. 3'' * A character in the ''Charlie and Lola'' franchise * A character in the 2008 film '' Horton H ...

of the

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km south ...

in 1919. In 1922, he began the season with Beith F.C. before leaving Scotland for the United States.

American Soccer League

When he arrived, he signed with 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 ...

of the American Soccer League seeing time in only four games at the end of the 1922-1923 season. He spent most of ten seasons with the Marksmen, winning six league titles and three

s (1924, 1927, 1930). In 1931, the Marksmen merged with the

New York Soccer Club New York Soccer Club ( Youth Soccer Team ) was the name of a New York soccer team that, in 1930, played briefly in the American Soccer League. In 1923, New York fur merchant Maurice Vandeweghe - the father and grandfather of later basketball stars ...

to form the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

. He remained with the renamed team for the spring 1931 season. That summer, McPherson won his fourth Challenge Cup with the Yankees. In the summer of 1931, the Yankees merged with the

Fall River F.C. Fall River Football Club, also referred to as Fall River Field Club, was the name used by two United States soccer clubs, based in Fall River, Massachusetts. Both played in the American Soccer League during the early 1930s. The name is often used ...

to form 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 ...

. Once again McPherson remained with the renamed club, winning the 1932

over

Stix, Baer and Fuller F.C. Stix, Baer and Fuller F.C. was a U.S. soccer club which played in the St. Louis Soccer League from 1931 to 1934. The team was known as Hellrungs from 1929 to 1931, St. Louis Central Breweries F.C. from 1934 to 1935 and St. Louis Shamrocks from 19 ...

of the

(SLSL).

St. Louis Soccer League

By this time the ASL was on its last legs and

Alex McNab Alexander McNab (27 December 1894 – 3 April 1960) was a Scottish-American soccer player and coach. He began his career in Scotland before moving to the United States. In the US, he won six consecutive National Challenge Cups with teams from b ...

left the team to sign with Stix, Baer and Fuller. When he arrived in St. Louis, he induced several of his ex-teammates, including McPherson, to join him. They did so and immediately took SBF to two league and two National Cup championships.

American Soccer League II

In 1934, McPherson moved back east to sign with the

Pawtucket Rangers J. & P. Coats was an American soccer club founded in 1900 as the team of the Pawtucket, Rhode Island branch of the J. & P. Coats threadmaking company of Paisley, Scotland Paisley ( ; sco, Paisley, gd, Pàislig ) is a large town situated in ...

who were now competing in the second American Soccer League, the first having collapsed in 1933. In 1935, McPherson went to yet another National Cup final, but this time his team failed to take home the title. The Rangers were defeated in three games (7-6 aggregate) by the

St. Louis Central Breweries F.C. Stix, Baer and Fuller F.C. was a U.S. soccer club which played in the St. Louis Soccer League from 1931 to 1934. The team was known as Hellrungs from 1929 to 1931, St. Louis Central Breweries F.C. from 1934 to 1935 and St. Louis Shamrocks from 19 ...

who featured several of his former teammates from Stix, Baer and Fuller F.C.U.S. Open Cup at RSSSF

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mcpherson, Bill 1897 births Scottish footballers Beith F.C. players Greenock Morton F.C. players Scottish Football League players American soccer players American Soccer League (1921–1933) players Fall River Marksmen players New York Yankees (soccer) players New Bedford Whalers players St. Louis Soccer League players Stix, Baer and Fuller F.C. players American Soccer League (1933–1983) players Pawtucket Rangers players Footballers from Greenock Scottish emigrants to the United States 1976 deaths Association football wing halves