Pito Villanon was a Cuban football player who spent eleven seasons with

Brookhattan Brookhattan was an American soccer club based in New York City that was a member of the professional American Soccer League (ASL). Formed in 1933, they joined the American Soccer League and won the first half of the league's 1933 season. Foll ...

in the American Soccer League. At the time, he was one of a handful of black professional athletes, playing in an integrated American sports league. He is reputedly the first black player in the American Soccer League. During his eleven seasons in the ASL, Villanon led the league in scoring twice ( 1948-49, 1952-53). He was also the 1952-53 ASL MVP. In 1948, Villanon and his teammates finished runner-up in the

1948 National Challenge Cup The 1948 National Challenge Cup was the 35th edition of the United States open soccer championship. The tournament had many delays due to weather in the eastern division and by the time Brookhattan had won the eastern final it had to put off pla ...

. They also finished runner-up in league play in 1954.

References

Year of birth missing Cuban men's footballers Brookhattan players American Soccer League (1933–1983) players Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Cuban expatriate men's footballers Cuban expatriate sportspeople in the United States Men's association football forwards {{Cuba-footy-bio-stub