John J. "Rabbit" Hemingsley ''(also spelled Heminsley)'' was a U.S.

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 ...

center forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring Goal (sport)#Association footbal ...

who played the first two U.S. national team games in 1916. He spent seven seasons in 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 ...

and five in the American Soccer League.

Professional career

Hemingsley was a resident of Kearny, New Jersey. fIn 1914, Hemingsley began his professional career with the

Kearny Scots The Kearny Scots are an American soccer club based in Kearny, New Jersey. The club presently plays in the Eastern Premier Soccer League, which is a United States Adult Soccer Association-affiliated league and an amateur affiliate of the profession ...

of the

. Kearny won the

1915 American Cup The 1915 American Cup was the annual open cup held by the American Football Association. The Scottish-Americans, after two previous final appearances, won their first American Cup by overcoming the Brooklyn Celtics 1-0 in the championship game. ...

. He then played with New York F.C. for the 1916–1917 season and the 1917–1918 season with West Hudson A.A. He played the 1918–1919 season with

Philadelphia Merchant Ship Philadelphia Merchant Ship F.C. was a short-lived U.S. soccer team of the early twentieth century. It spent two seasons in the National Association Football League and went to the semifinals of the 1919 American Cup. History Philadelphia Merchant ...

. In 1919, he traveled with Bethlehem Steel F.C. on the team's tour of Scandinavia. Hemingsley is listed with Paterson F.C. in July 1920. He then played at least the 1920–1921 season with Erie A.A. When the NAFBL folded in 1921, Erie moved to the first American Soccer League where it played under the name,

Harrison S.C. Harrison Soccer Club, also referred to as Harrison F.C., was an American soccer club founded as the amateur Erie Athletic Association Football Club that played in the National Association Foot Ball League. As Erie A.A., the club was based in Kearny, ...

In 1923, he moved to Paterson F.C., but after ten games, was transferred to the Newark Skeeters for the end of the season. In 1924, he began the season with J&P Coats, but after only three games, returned to the Skeeters where he remained through the end of the 1925–1926 season.

National team

Hemingsley earned two caps with the national team in 1916. In the first official U.S. national team game, the U.S. defeated

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

on August 20, 1916. On September 3, 1916, Hemingsley and his teammates tied

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

before returning to the U.S.RSSSF

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hemingsley, John Soccer players from Newark, New Jersey American men's soccer players American Soccer League (1921–1933) players Harrison S.C. players Pawtucket Rangers players Kearny Scots players National Association Football League players New York F.C. players Newark Skeeters players Paterson F.C. players Paterson F.C. (NAFBL) players People from Kearny, New Jersey Philadelphia Merchant Ship players Soccer players from Hudson County, New Jersey United States men's international soccer players West Hudson A.A. players Year of death missing Men's association football forwards Year of birth missing