New York Nationals were a New York City

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 which played in the American Soccer League between 1927 and 1930. A New York Nationals team also played in the

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

in 1984.

History

In 1927,

Charles Stoneham Charles Abraham Stoneham (July 5, 1876 – January 6, 1936) was the owner of the New York Giants baseball team, New York Nationals soccer team, the center of numerous corruption scandals and the instigator of the "Soccer Wars" which destroyed ...

, owner of the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

baseball team took over the ASL

Indiana Flooring Indiana Flooring were a New York City soccer team that played in the American Soccer League between 1924 and 1927. They replaced New York Field Club. Before joining the ASL, the team had played in various state leagues. Ernest Viberg, a former ...

franchise. He wanted to rename the team the Giants. However, as there was already a

in the ASL, Stoneham had to settle for renaming his soccer team the ''New York Nationals''. Nationals won the 1928 National Challenge Cup, beating Chicago's

Bricklayers and Masons F.C. Bricklayers and Masons F.C., also known as Chicago Bricklayers, was a U.S. soccer team based in Chicago, Illinois which joined that city's Association Football League in 1914. Over the next twenty years, Bricklayers won two Peel Cups and was the ...

4–1 on aggregate in the final. Then in 1929 they won the Lewis Cup, the ASL league cup, defeating

New Bedford Whalers New Bedford Whalers was the name of three American soccer teams based in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The first Whalers played in the Southern New England Soccer League between 1914 and 1918. The second Whalers played in the American Soccer League ...

over three games. On May 25, 1930 at the

Polo Grounds The Polo Grounds was the name of three stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used mainly for professional baseball and American football from 1880 through 1963. The original Polo Grounds, opened in 1876 and demolished in 1889, was built fo ...

, the Nationals played a friendly against Rangers, the reigning Scottish champions. They lost this game 5–4. The Nationals most prominent players included Jimmy Douglas,

Jimmy Gallagher James J. Gallagher (June 7, 1901 – October 7, 1971) was a Scottish American soccer right wing midfielder who spent eleven seasons in the American Soccer League. He was a member of the U.S. soccer teams at the 1930 FIFA World Cup and 1934 F ...

Bart McGhee Bartholomew "Bertie" or "Bart" McGhee (April 30, 1899 – January 26, 1979) was an American soccer forward who typically played left wing forward. He played for the United States men's national soccer team at the 1930 FIFA World Cup, and scored ...

and

Robert Millar Philippa York (born Robert Millar on 13 September 1958) is a Scottish journalist and former professional road racing cyclist. York, who competed when known as Robert Millar, is one of Britain's most successful cyclists. York won the "King of ...

. The former three all played for the

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 ...

at the 1930 World Cup while Millar was the team coach. In 1930 the

of the ASL decided to rename themselves the

New York Soccer Club New York Soccer Club ( Youth Soccer Team ) was the name of a New York soccer team that, in 1930, played briefly in the American Soccer League. In 1923, New York fur merchant Maurice Vandeweghe - the father and grandfather of later basketball stars ...

. Seizing upon the opportunity, Stoneham relaunched the Nationals as the ''New York Giants''. One player

Davey Brown David "Davey" Brown (November 18, 1898 in East Newark, New Jersey – September 17, 1970 in Kearny, New Jersey ...

actually transferred from the original Giants to the Nationals, in effect moving from the Giants to the Giants!

Year-by-year

Honors

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 ...

**''Winners''

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhanov, J ...

: 1 *

Lewis Cup The Lewis Cup was an American soccer trophy established in 1914 as the championship trophy for the amateur Blue Mountain League, which was composed of clubs from the Lehigh Valley The Lehigh Valley (), known colloquially as The Valley, is a geogr ...

**''Winners'' 1929: 1 * American Soccer Association Cup **''Runners up'' 1929: 1

Notable coaches

1927–1928 * Henry Farrell 1928

Notable players

References

Nationals Defunct soccer clubs in New York City American Soccer League (1921–1933) teams 1927 establishments in New York (state) Association football clubs established in 1927 1930 disestablishments in New York (state) Association football clubs disestablished in 1930 U.S. Open Cup winners {{NYC-sport-stub