Max Grünwald (born in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

) was an early twentieth century Austrian

football (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 ...

inside forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

who played professionally in Austria and the United States.

Club career

Grünwald joined

Hakoah Vienna SC Hakoah Vienna (german: Sport Club Hakoah Wien; ' means "the strength" in Hebrew) is a Jews, Jewish sports club in Vienna, Austria. Prior to World War II, it produced several Olympic athletes and was notable for fielding an entirely Jewish ass ...

in 1920. In 1926, Hakoah toured the United States. Grünwald and several of his team mates decided to remain in the country to join local clubs. Grünwald signed with the New York Giants of the American Soccer League. He played with the Giants for three seasons, taking second in the league’s scoring table behind Andy Stevens in 1929. With the onset of the “Soccer Wars” between the ASL and the

United States Soccer Federation The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official governing body of the sport of soccer in the United States. Headquartered in Chicago, the federation is ...

, Grünwald jumped to the

Eastern Professional Soccer League Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air Li ...

, the ASL having been declared an “outlaw league” by the USFA and FIFA. When he made the move, he signed with

New York Hakoah New York Hakoah is an American soccer club based in New York City, which takes its name from two earlier, defunct clubs. ''Hakoah'' (roughly translated as "strength" from Hebrew) is a frequent name for sport and social Jewish clubs around the wor ...

which won the

1929 National Challenge Cup Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

. Grünwald scored in the second game as Hakoah easily disposed of St. Louis Madison Kennel. The end of the “Soccer Wars” brought the merger of the ASL and ESL. When that occurred, New York Hakoah merged with

Brooklyn Hakoah Brooklyn Hakoah is a former United States soccer team club based in Brooklyn, New York, that played in the American Soccer League. Brooklyn Hakoah I Originally formed by former players of SC Hakoah Wien, they played in the American Soccer Lea ...

of the ASL to form the

Hakoah All-Stars Hakoah All-Stars is a former United States soccer club, based in New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distribut ...

. Grünwald then played two seasons with the All-Stars. By 1931, the ASL was collapsing from the twin impacts of the “Soccer Wars” and the onset of the Great Depression. Consequently, Grünwald returned to Austria where he played at least one more season with

International career

His only international appearance came on 21 May 1924, when he scored twice against

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

International goals

References

External links

1924/25 Hakoah Vienna team photo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grunwald, Max Year of birth missing Year of death missing Austrian footballers Austria international footballers Jewish footballers Austrian Jews SC Hakoah Wien footballers American Soccer League (1921–1933) players New York Giants (soccer) players Hakoah All-Stars players Eastern Professional Soccer League (1928–29) players New York Hakoah players Association football inside forwards Austrian expatriate footballers Expatriate soccer players in the United States Austrian expatriate sportspeople in the United States