Nicholas DiOrio (February 4, 1921 – September 11, 2003) was a member of the U.S. national team at the

1950 FIFA World Cup The 1950 FIFA World Cup was the fourth edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams and held in Brazil from 24 June to 16 July 1950. The planned 1942 and 1946 World Cups were ...

. He is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

Youth

DiOrio grew up in the

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

area and graduated from South Fayette Township High School in 1939. During high school, he was best known as an outstanding

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player, reputedly scoring fifty points in one game. While he played basketball in school, he was an excellent soccer player for his club team, Avella Juniors. In 1939, his club won the U-19 national championship, known as the McGuire Cup.

Club career

While making a living as a factory worker, DiOrio devoted his spare time to his passion, playing soccer. In 1942, he was on the roster of Morgan Strasser when it lost 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. ...

to Fall River. However, the team took the cup in 1943 with a victory over Santa Maria S.C. In 1944, Morgan Strasser went to a third straight Amateur Cup final, but lost to S.C. Eintracht. In 1946, DiOrio left Morgan Strasser, for the Pittsburgh Strasser of the newly established

North American Soccer Football League The North American Soccer Football League, also known as the North American Football League, was a soccer league that operated for two seasons, 1946 and 1947. Fred Weiszmann was the league founder and first president in 1946 while Leslie O'Conno ...

. In 1947 he moved to the

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

. After the collapse of the NAFSL, following the 1947 season, DiOrio signed with the Pittsburgh Indians in September.Morgan to meet Cecil Vets in Night Soccer Contest
/ref> In 1949, the club won the National Challenge Cup. In 1950, he was with Pittsburgh Harmarville when they lost the National Amateur Cup final to

Ponta Delgada S.C. Ponta Delgada Soccer Club, also referred to as Fall River Ponta Delgada, was a United States soccer club, based in Fall River, Massachusetts. The club was formed by members of the city’s Portuguese community and shared its name with Ponta Delg ...

In 1951, DiOrio lost another Amateur Cup final, his fourth. However, Harmarville followed those two losses with a National Challenge Cup championship in 1952. At some point, he left Harmarville and signed with

Pittsburgh Beadling Pittsburgh Beadling is an amateur American soccer team founded in 1898 in the Pittsburgh suburb of Upper St. Clair, Pennsylvania. It won the 1954 National Amateur Cup. It claims to be the oldest continuously operating soccer club in the United S ...

, with whom he finished his career in 1959. During his twenty years of playing soccer, DiOrio won the National Amateur Cup, National Challenge Cup, and five Keystone Senior League championships.

National team

While DiOrio was selected to the U.S. roster for the

, he never entered a game.

Soccer management

After retiring from playing in 1959, DiOrio continued to coach soccer teams. In 1971, he became the president of the West Penn Soccer Association.

Non-soccer career

While soccer remained at the center of his life, including leading him to his wife whom he met through a team sponsored by her father's beer garden, Jack's Supper Club, he earned a living as a factory worker in

Bridgeville, Pennsylvania Bridgeville is a borough in Allegheny County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The population was 4,804 at the 2020 census. Geography Bridgeville is located along Chartiers Creek, about southwest of downtown Pittsburgh at . According to the ...

. He also worked for the county road maintenance department. DiOrio was inducted, along with the rest of the 1950 U.S. World Cup team, into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1976. He is also a member of state and regional halls of fame. He died of colon cancer on September 11, 2003.

References

External links

National Soccer Hall of Fame profile

Local obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Diorio, Nicholas 1921 births 2003 deaths People from South Fayette Township, Pennsylvania Sportspeople from Allegheny County, Pennsylvania American people of Italian descent American men's soccer players Chicago Vikings players Harmarville Hurricanes players Morgan Strasser players National Soccer Hall of Fame members North American Soccer Football League players Pittsburgh Beadling players Pittsburgh Indians players Soccer players from Pennsylvania 1950 FIFA World Cup players Men's association football forwards Deaths from colorectal cancer Deaths from cancer in Pennsylvania