The National Soccer League (Chicago), formed by the merger of the Chicago Soccer League and International Soccer Football League of Chicago in 1928, is a semi-professional 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 ...

league which is the oldest continuously operating soccer league in the United States.

History

In 1904, the Association Football League of Chicago (AFLC) was established as an ethnic British league in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. While the AFL, and others like it, catered to the British and Irish expatriate communities, there were few opportunities available to the rest of Chicago's many immigrant groups to play organized, competitive soccer. In 1913, the Chicago Soccer League came into existence. In 1915, it merged with the AFLC to form the Chicago and District Association Football League (CDAFL). However, this new league was better known as the Chicago Soccer League. In 1919, several non-British teams left the CDAFL to form the International Soccer League. This league lasted only one year, but led to the founding of the International Soccer Football League in 1920. That year the ISFL, with Frank Foldi as its president, was created to address the lack of league opportunities for non-British teams. With teams from nearly every significant ethnic group in Chicago, the ISFL quickly established itself as a major player in Chicago soccer. The league grew in strength as most of the city's other amateur and semi-professional league collapsed. In 1924, Carl Johnson of the ISFL's Swedish-Americans, became the first U.S. player from outside the north-east

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...

by the national team. In 1930, the ISFL created a junior division to give young players an opportunity to develop their talents at a high level en route to a spot on a first division roster. This served to enhance the league's stability as it grew its own talent pool. In 1938, only the Chicago Soccer League and the International Soccer Football League remained as the top two city leagues. That year, they merged to form the National Soccer League of Chicago.

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

hit the NSL hard as most of the top players were inducted in the armed forces. However, the end of the war brought a renaissance when those men returned from the military, to be quickly followed by western and central European immigrants fleeing the devastation caused by the war. A few years later, another wave of immigrants, this time Eastern Europeans fleeing communism, brought another fresh group of talented players into the NSL. These waves of immigration led to an expansion of the league into multiple divisions including junior and youth teams. While centered on Chicago, the league expanded to include teams from towns surrounding the city. In 1950, the National Soccer League created the first indoor soccer league in the United States. Chicago leagues had played indoor tournaments for decades but this was the first time an annual competitive indoor season was founded. The league featured twelve teams with games broadcast live on radio. This indoor adjunct of the NSL was continued until 1968. That year, the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

was created as a division one league. While the NASL struggled at times and ultimately folded in 1984, it created a national league which drew the best U.S. players away from the traditional regional and city leagues which had dominated U.S. soccer. This brought the slow eclipse of the National Soccer League of Chicago as a major player in U.S. soccer. The collapse of the NASL in 1984 brought a brief resurgence to the NSL, but the founding of

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

in 1996, along with the merger of the

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

and

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 ...

in 1997 to form the

USL First Division The USL First Division (usually referred to as USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States and Canada from 2005 to 2010. During its existence, it formed the second tier of soccer in the United States soccer league system b ...

led to the decline of the NSL. The league continues as a local recreational league, but its teams are no longer the competitive force on the national level they once were. The NSL, in response to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

in March 2020, cancelled the last two rounds of matches in indoor play as well as the playoffs. Later, the outdoor season would be cancelled as well. This marked the first time in the NSL's century-long history since

a season would not be played.

Champions

International Soccer Football League

* 1922 Sparta Union * 1923 Olympia * 1928

Chicago Sparta The Sparta Athletic and Benevolent Association Football Club, better known as Chicago Sparta, is one of the longest continually established soccer clubs in the United States. Founded in 1917, it was one of the dominant teams from Chicago, Illinois, ...

* 1930

* 1931

* 1932

* 1933

* 1934

* 1935

* 1936

National Soccer League

* 1938

* 1944 Hakoah Center * 1948 Vikings * 1949

A.A.C. Eagles A.A.C. Eagles is an American soccer team based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1940, the team plays in Region II of the United States Adult Soccer Association, a network of amateur leagues at the fifth tier of the American Soccer ...

* 1950

* 1951

Chicago Slovak The Chicago Slovaks were a Chicago soccer team that was based in Berwyn, Illinois. They were the 1941 winners of the Kelley Cup. In 1942 and 1951, the Chicago Slovaks won the Peter J. Peel Challenge Cup. They tied with the Vikings for the Peel cup ...

* 1952

* 1953

Ukrainian Lions The Ukrainian Lions was a soccer club that was operated by the Ukrainian American Sports Club. The club was based in Chicago, Illinois. It was founded in 1949 by Ukrainians that had settled in the Chicago area after the Second World War. They comp ...

* 1954 (tie)

and

* 1955 Schwaben * 1956 (tie)

and Schwaben * 1957 Schwaben * 1958 Schwaben * 1959 Schwaben * 1960 Schwaben * 1961 Maroons * 1962 Maroons * 1963 Schwaben * 1964 Kickers * 1965 Hansa * 1966 Kickers * 1967 Schwaben * 1968 Kickers * 1969 Olympic * 1970 Olympic * 1971 Croatans/

a.k.a.

Chicago Lions SC Chicago Lions SC was an American Soccer Club based in Chicago Illinois. The club was operated by the (Ukrainian American Sports Association). The club competed professionally in the National Challenge Cup, Lamar Hunt US Open Cup (National Challeng ...

(division winners) * 1972 Maroons/

a.k.a.

(division winners) * 1973 Croatian * 1974

a.k.a.

* 1982 Schwaben * 1990 Schwaben * 1992 The Liths * 2004 Winged Bull * 2005 Jahbat F.C. * 2006 RWB Adria * 2007 RWB Adria * 2008 Deportivo Meridienne * 2009 Inferno SC * 2010 RWB Adria * 2011 RWB Adria * 2012 RWB Adria * 2013 Gazelle SC * 2014 RWB Adria * 2015 RWB Adria * 2016 RWB Adria * 2017 Vikings * 2018 RWB Adria & Gazelle SC co-champions * 2019 RWB Adria * 2020 season not played due to the

* 2021 RWB Adria * 2022

AFC ROSCOE AFC may stand for: Organizations * Action for Children, a UK children's charity * AFC Enterprises, the franchisor of Popeye's Chicken and Biscuits * Africa Finance Corporation, a pan-African multilateral development finance institution * A ...

References

External links

League homepage

{{DEFAULTSORT:National Soccer League Of Chicago 1938 establishments in Illinois United States Adult Soccer Association leagues Sports leagues established in 1938 Regional Soccer leagues in the United States