Thomas Florie (September 6, 1897 – April 26, 1966) was an American

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 ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. He played in both the first and second American Soccer Leagues, winning two

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 ...

titles. Florie was also a member of the

United States men's national soccer team The United States men's national soccer team (USMNT) represents the United States in men's international soccer competitions. The team is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation and is a member of FIFA and CONCACAF. The U.S. team ha ...

at the

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be ...

and

1934 FIFA World Cup The 1934 FIFA World Cup was the second edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams. It took place in Italy from 27 May to 10 June 1934. The 1934 World Cup was the first in w ...

. He was inducted into the U.S.

National Soccer Hall of Fame The National Soccer Hall of Fame is a private, non-profit institution established in 1979 and currently located in Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. The Hall of Fame honors soccer achievements in the United States. Induction ...

in 1986.

Early career

Born in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

to Italian immigrant parents, Florie played soccer as a youth, but service in the Navy during

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 ...

delayed the start of his career. In 1922, Florie signed with Harrison S.C. of the American Soccer League. However, he only played three games before leaving Harrison to play for American A.A. in the West Hudson Amateur League.

American Soccer League

In 1924, Florie returned to the ASL when he signed with

Providence F.C. The Providence Clamdiggers was a member of the American Soccer League. They were renamed the Providence Gold Bugs before the spring half of the 1928–1929 season. The club won the American Soccer Association Cup in 1929. After the fall 1930 s ...

He quickly established himself as one of the top wing forwards in the league. In 1928, he began the season with Providence, now known as the Gold Bugs, before moving to New Bedford Whalers II. He later joined

Fall River F.C. Fall River Football Club, also referred to as Fall River Field Club, was the name used by two United States soccer clubs, based in Fall River, Massachusetts. Both played in the American Soccer League during the early 1930s. The name is often used ...

but, the team only lasted the spring season before merging with the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

to become New Bedford Whalers III. In 1932, the Whalers defeated

Stix, Baer and Fuller F.C. Stix, Baer and Fuller F.C. was a U.S. soccer club which played in the St. Louis Soccer League from 1931 to 1934. The team was known as Hellrungs from 1929 to 1931, St. Louis Central Breweries F.C. from 1934 to 1935 and St. Louis Shamrocks from 19 ...

, 8–5 on aggregate in the

final. Florie scored one goal in each of the two games.U.S. Open Cup at RSSSF
/ref> Despite this victory, the Whalers collapsed that fall, followed soon after by the entire league. Florie then moved to the

Pawtucket Rangers 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 Paisley ( ; sco, Paisley, gd, Pàislig ) is a large town situated in ...

which had jumped to the second American Soccer League. In 1934, Florie was on the losing side in the National Challenge Cup when the Rangers fell to Stix, Baer and Fuller in three games. By that time, the Rangers had left the ASL. In 1941, Florie won his second National Cup when Pawtucket F.C. defeated Detroit Chrysler, 8–5 on aggregate, with Florie scoring one goal.

National team

Florie earned eight

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

, scoring two goals, with the U.S. national team from 1925 to 1934. His first cap came in a 1–0 loss to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

on June 27, 1925. His second came a year later, this time a 6–2 win over Canada in which Florie scored. Florie was not called into the national team for the 1928 Olympics, but was called up for the

1930 FIFA World Cup The 1930 FIFA World Cup was the inaugural FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national football teams. It took place in Uruguay from 13 to 30 July 1930. FIFA, football's international governing body, selected Uruguay as host nation ...

. He was named as the team captain as the U.S. went to the semifinals before falling to

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. His last national team game came in the first round loss to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

in the

.RSSSF
/ref> He was the last player born in the 19th century who played at a world cup. Florie was inducted into the

in 1986.

International goals

United States' goal tally first

References

External links

Profile at the National Soccer Hall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:Florie, Tom 1897 births 1930 FIFA World Cup players 1966 deaths American soccer players People from Harrison, New Jersey Soccer players from New Jersey Sportspeople from Hudson County, New Jersey United States men's international soccer players National Soccer Hall of Fame members 1934 FIFA World Cup players United States Navy personnel of World War I American Soccer League (1921–1933) players Harrison S.C. players Providence Clamdiggers players Providence Gold Bug players New Bedford Whalers players Fall River F.C. players Pawtucket Rangers players American Soccer League (1933–1983) players American people of Italian descent Association football forwards