Fall River Football Club, also referred to as Fall River Field Club, was the name used by two United States

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 ...

clubs, based in

Fall River, Massachusetts Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The City of Fall River's population was 94,000 at the 2020 United States Census, making it the tenth-largest city in the state. Located along the eastern shore of Mount H ...

. Both played in the American Soccer League during the early 1930s. The name is often used incorrectly to refer to

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 ...

, another soccer team. Although both these teams shared some common history with the Marksmen, they were separate clubs.

Fall River F.C. I

Between 1924 and 1930 the first Fall River F.C. played in the American Soccer League as Providence Clamdiggers and then as

Providence Gold Bugs The Providence Clamdiggers was a member of the American Soccer League. They were renamed the Providence Gold Bugs before the spring half of the 1928–1929 season. The club won the American Soccer Association Cup in 1929. After the fall 1930 s ...

. In 1931, after

Sam Mark Sam Mark (born Markelevitch in Fall River, Massachusetts) is a former United States soccer club owner. During the 1920s and early 1930s he was the owner of Fall River Marksmen, one of the era's most successful teams. Mark's continued to own the tea ...

, owner of the

, relocated his team to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and renamed them 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 made their former home ground,

Mark's Stadium Mark's Stadium is a former soccer stadium located in North Tiverton, Rhode Island. During the 1920s and early 1930s it was the home of Fall River Marksmen, one of the era’s most successful soccer teams. It is one of the earliest examples of a ...

, available to anybody willing to place a team there. A group of Fall River businessmen, led by an ex-Marksmen player

Harold Brittan Harold Pemberton Brittan (11 November 1894 – 9 April 1964) was a U.S.-English soccer center forward. He began his career in England with Chelsea before moving to the United States. In the U.S., he was a prolific goalscorer with the powerhous ...

, then bought

, moved them into Mark's Stadium and renamed then Fall River F.C. The new club played for just one season, Spring 1931, eventually finishing fifth. However, during their short existence they did win two notable prestige friendlies. On February 22, 1931, they beat Vélez Sársfield 5–2. Then on May 31 with a team that included

Joe Kennaway James T. Kennaway (25 January 1907 – 7 March 1969), commonly known as Joe Kennaway, was a dual international (Canada and Scotland) association football, football goalkeeper (football), goalkeeper. He began his career in Canada, spent four years ...

, Bill Paterson and

Tom Florie Thomas Florie (September 6, 1897 – April 26, 1966) was an American soccer forward. He played in both the first and second American Soccer Leagues, winning two National Challenge Cup titles. Florie was also a member of the United States men ...

they beat

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

1–0. Kennaway subsequently signed for Celtic after impressing them with his performance in goal. By early 1931 the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

had severely effected the stability of the ASL and several teams relocated, merged and even disappeared. On April 19, 1931, Fall River absorbed

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 ...

before they themselves were absorbed by

during the summer. This new team then revived the

name for the Fall 1931 season.

Fall River F.C. II

A second Fall River F.C. played during the

Fall 1932 American Soccer League Statistics of American Soccer League in the 1932 season. Overview The history of the American Soccer League begins to become difficult to determine at this point. It appears the league began a 1932 season in the spring of 1932. Whether this s ...

season. The exact origins of this team are unclear.

, the successor team of both the earlier Fall River F.C. and

, also began the Fall 1932 season but they only survived for six games before folding. However one of their former players, Billy Gonsalves finished the season at the new Fall River club, scoring 7 goals in 12 games, as he helped them win the league title.

Notable players

Year-by-year

Honors

Fall River F.C. II * American Soccer League **''Winners'' Fall 1932: 1

References

{{Reflist Soccer clubs in Fall River, Massachusetts Fall River Marksmen Defunct soccer clubs in Massachusetts American Soccer League (1921–1933) teams