Gremio Lusitano is an amateur

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 from

Ludlow, Massachusetts Ludlow is a New England town in Hampden County, Massachusetts, Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 21,002 as of the 2020 2020 United States Census, census, and it is considered part of the Springfield Springfield me ...

. Founded in 1922 in a garage on Franklin Street, the team had competed for several seasons during the 1930s in the New England Division of the American Soccer League, but for most of its existence it has been an amateur or semi-professional club. John Palhete was the team's first coach and they play their home games in

Lusitano Stadium Lusitano Stadium, located in Ludlow, Massachusetts, is a 3,000-seat stadium built in 1918 currently used for soccer. Currently its tenants are the Western Mass Pioneers of the USL League Two, the New England Mutiny of United Women's Soccer and t ...

, which is owned by the club.

Teams founded

Ludlow Lusitano

Besides the name Gremio Lusitano, during its history, the club also used different names. In the 1937–38 American Soccer League, the club played as Lusitano S.C.. During the 1938–39 American Soccer League, the club started to use the name Ludlow Lusitano to play the ASL's New England Division, making it to the final of the

National Amateur Cup The National Amateur Cup, also known as the USASA Amateur Cup, is an American soccer competition open to all amateur teams affiliated with the United States Soccer Federation through United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA). In 1923, U.S ...

in 1952. For the 1956/57 season, the team returned to be known as Ludlow S.C.. After the division folded in 1953, the club took part in different regional leagues before finally joining the ASL. The club played with this name the

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 ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

and

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

. In total, the Gremio Lusitano played the

four times.

Western Mass Pioneers

The club also founded the

Western Mass Pioneers Western Mass Pioneers is an American soccer team based in Ludlow, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1998, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The team plays its home games at Lusitano Stadium, ...

of the

USL League Two USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syste ...

, after not being able to use the name Gremio Lusitano due to the fact that

USISL United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues currently organized are the ...

had set a condition for new teams which prohibited ethnic team names

Western Mass Lady Pioneers

Between 2004 and 2009, the club owned the

Western Mass Lady Pioneers Western Mass Lady Pioneers were an American women's soccer team, founded in 2004. The team was a member of the United Soccer Leagues W-League, the second tier of women's soccer in the United States and Canada. The team played in the Northeast Div ...

of the W-League.

Year-by-year

References

External links

Club website
Association football clubs established in 1922 Soccer clubs in Massachusetts Ludlow, Massachusetts 1922 establishments in Massachusetts Portuguese-American culture in Massachusetts Diaspora soccer clubs in the United States {{Massachusetts-footyclub-stub