Fall River United was a name used by two

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

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 teams played in the American Soccer League, one during the 1921–22 season and other during the 1933–34 season.

History

Fall River United I

In 1921 the

Southern New England Soccer League The Southern New England Soccer League was a semi-professional soccer league based in New England which was established in 1914 and collapsed in 1921. During its short existence, it featured some of the top teams in the northeast United States. ...

and the

National Association Football League The National Association Football League (also spelled ''National Association Foot Ball League'') (NAFBL) was a semi-professional U.S. soccer league which operated between 1895 and 1898. The league was reconstituted in 1906 and continued to oper ...

effectively merged to form the American Soccer League. As a result of this merger

Fall River Rovers Fall River Rovers were a United States soccer club, based in Fall River, Massachusetts. They won the 1888 and 1889 American Cups as well as the 1917 National Challenge Cup. In 1921 Rovers were disbanded and a new team, Fall River United were forme ...

of the SNESL were disbanded and a new team ''Fall River United'' were formed to enter the ASL. In a pre-season game on July 21, 1921 a team that included Chick Albion, Tommy McFarlane and

Harry Ratican Harry Jay Ratican (January 20, 1894 in St. Louis, Missouri – August 22, 1964 in St. Louis, Missouri) was a U.S. soccer forward, coach and team owner. He began and ended his career in the St. Louis Soccer League with several years in both the ...

, held

Third Lanark Third Lanark Athletic Club was a Scottish football club based in Glasgow. Founded in 1872 as an offshoot of the 3rd Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers, the club was a founder member of the Scottish Football Association (SFA) in 1872 and the Scottish ...

to a 2–2 draw. Ratican scored United’s opening goal. Third Lanark featured many guest players from other Scottish teams and was virtually a

Scottish League XI The Scottish League XI was a representative side of the Scottish Football League. The team regularly played against the (English) Football League and other national league select teams between 1892 and 1980. For a long period the annual fixture be ...

. They played 25 games during their North American tour, winning them all until they played United in the final game. However, during the subsequent 1921–22 season United struggled, finishing sixth out of eight during the inaugural ASL season. They were on the verge of folding when they were taken over by

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 team ...

who then relaunched them as

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 ...

Fall River United II

The name was revived during the 1933–34 season by a team that played in the ''New England Division'' of the American Soccer League. Other teams in the division included another

Year-by-year

{, class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" !Year !Division !League !Reg. Season !National Challenge Cup , - , 1921–22 , rowspan=2, 1 , rowspan=2, ASL , 6th , Third Round , - , 1933–34 , ? , First Round

References

Fall River Marksmen

United United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...

Defunct soccer clubs in Massachusetts American Soccer League (1921–1933) teams American Soccer League (1933–1983) teams