The Southern New England Soccer League was a semi-professional soccer league based in

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...

which was established in 1914 and collapsed in 1921. During its short existence, it featured some of the top teams in the

northeast United States The Northeastern United States, also referred to as the Northeast, the East Coast, or the American Northeast, is a geographic region of the United States. It is located on the Atlantic coast of North America, with Canada to its north, the South ...

. Dissatisfaction with league mismanagement led to the end of the SNESL in 1921 as several teams moved to the newly created American Soccer League.

History

The Southern New England Soccer League's first season, 1914–15, went well with the

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 ...

taking the league title based on a single table points system. However, the 1915–16 season introduced many of the problems that would plague the league until its demise. Several teams refused to travel to away games and weather caused the cancellation of others. Those circumstances resulted in the cancellation of the season at a now unknown point at which Fore River was topping the standings. While the 1916–17 season went better than the previous one, it still left a lot to be desired. Two teams played eleven games (

J&P Coats J. & P. Coats was an American soccer club founded in 1900 as the team of the Pawtucket, Rhode Island branch of the J. & P. Coats threadmaking company of Paisley, Scotland (following a 1952 merger this firm became part of the Coats Group). The club ...

and Crompton) and the rest varied from five to eight games completed. The 1917–18 season was again cancelled for many of the same reasons as the 1915–16 season, but this time the league awarded the championship to

. The next year, 1918–19, the season was cancelled entirely due to the loss of players to military service in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. While the league resumed play in 1919–20, records have not allowed a complete reconstruction of the season. In the 1920–21 season, the league held what was its most successful season. Only one team played less than ten games, and it disbanded during the season. Most of the teams played at least thirteen with a high of sixteen by the champions Fore River. However, frustration at the constant mismanagement led several of the teams to join with teams from the professional

National Association Football League The National Association Football League (also spelled ''National Association Foot Ball League'') (NAFBL) was a semi-professional U.S. soccer league which operated between 1895 and 1898. The league was reconstituted in 1906 and continued to oper ...

to create the American Soccer League. The ASL began its first season in the fall of 1921 at which point the NAFBL and SNESL both disbanded.

Seasons

Teams

(1914–1921) * YMCTAS (New Bedford Temps) (1914–1915) *

(1914–1921) * Pawtucket (1914–1915) * Taunton City (1914–1915) * Fall River Pan Americans (1915–1918) * New Bedford Celtics (1915–1918) *

Howard & Bullough Howard & Bullough was a firm of textile machine manufacturers in Accrington, Lancashire. The company was the world's major manufacturer of power looms in the 1860s. History The firm of Howard and Bleakley was founded in 1851 with four workers ...

(1915–1917) *

Fall River Rovers Fall River Rovers were a United States soccer club, based in Fall River, Massachusetts. They won the 1888 and 1889 American Cups as well as the 1917 National Challenge Cup. In 1921 Rovers were disbanded and a new team, Fall River United were for ...

(1915–) * Fore River (Fore River Shipbuilding Company Stars) (1915–1921) * Crompton F.C. (1916–1921) * Greystone F.C. (1917–1918) * Lonsdale F.C. (1917–1918) * General Electrics (1919–1920) * Sayles Finishing Plant F.C. (1920–1921) * St. Michael’s (1920, disbanded after seven games) * Sharp Manufacturing Company (1920–1921)

External links

Annual league standings
{{Southern New England Soccer League seasons Defunct soccer leagues in the United States Regional Soccer leagues in the United States