The Chicago Mustangs were an American professional

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 ...

team based out of

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

, and were a charter member of the United Soccer Association (USA) in 1967. When the USA and rival National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) merged in 1968 to form the North American Soccer League (NASL), the team moved to the new league. The Mustangs played its home matches at Comiskey Park. The team folded at the conclusion of the 1968 NASL season.

History

In 1966 several groups of entrepreneurs were exploring the idea of forming a professional soccer league in United States. One of these groups, United Soccer Association (USA) led by

Jack Kent Cooke Jack Kent Cooke (October 25, 1912 – April 6, 1997) was a Canadian-American businessman in broadcasting and professional sports. Starting in sales, Cooke was very successful, eventually becoming a partner in a network of radio stations and news ...

, selected 12 cities for team locations and

Arthur Allyn Jr. Arthur Allyn Jr. (December 24, 1913 – March 22, 1985) was the co-owner of the Chicago White Sox of the American League with his brother John Allyn from through . A few years after purchasing the franchise from Bill Veeck, Allyn tried to se ...

, co-owner with his brother of the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

, was awarded the Chicago franchise. Stu Holcomb,

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and ...

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

, was hired to act as the teams general manager. The USA originally planned to start play in the spring of 1968; however the rival National Professional Soccer League, which secured a TV contract from CBS, announced it was ready to launch in 1967. Not wanting to let the rival league gain an advantage, the USA decided to launch early. Not having secured any player contracts, the league imported teams from Europe, Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay to represent the franchise cities. Italian team

Cagliari Calcio Cagliari Calcio, commonly referred to as Cagliari (), is an Italian football club based in Cagliari, Sardinia. In the 2022-23 season, they compete in Serie B. As of 2021–22, the team is temporarily playing their home games at the 16,416-seat ...

was brought over to play as the Mustangs. The Mustangs opened the season on May 27, 1967, in Chicago at Comiskey Park with a 1-0 lost to the Dallas Tornado with 5,872 fan in attendance. The Mustangs finished the 1967 season in third place of the Western Division with a record of 3 wins 7 ties and 2 loses and an average attendance of 4,207. With the merger of the

United Soccer Association The United Soccer Association was a professional soccer league featuring teams based in the United States and Canada. The league survived only one season before merging with the National Professional Soccer League to form the North American S ...

and the National Professional Soccer League it was announced that Chicago would be one of the 20-teams in play in the North American Soccer League (NASL). The Mustangs finished the 1968 NASL season in second place of the Lakes Division with a record of 13 wins 9 ties and 10 loses and an average attendance of 2,463. By January 1969, ten of the NASL's 17 franchises had folded and the Mustangs dropped down to the semi-professional National Soccer League and eventually folded.

Year-by-year

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chicago Mustangs (1967-68) Defunct soccer clubs in Illinois North American Soccer League (1968–1984) teams Cagliari Calcio United Soccer Association franchises

Mustangs The mustang is a free-roaming horse of the Western United States, descended from horses brought to the Americas by the Spanish. Mustangs are often referred to as wild horses, but because they are descended from once-domesticated animals, they ...

1967 establishments in Illinois 1969 disestablishments in Illinois Soccer clubs in Illinois Association football clubs established in 1967 Association football clubs disestablished in 1968