Walter Dick (September 20, 1905, in
Kirkintilloch
Kirkintilloch (; sco, Kirkintulloch; gd, Cair Cheann Tulaich) is a town and former barony burgh in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It lies on the Forth and Clyde Canal and on the south side of Strathkelvin, about northeast of central Glasgow. ...
, Scotland – July 24, 1989, in
Lafayette, California) was a U.S.
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 ...
who was a member of the
U.S. national team at the
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 is a member of 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 ...
.
Professional career
Dick began his professional career with
Armadale F.C.
Armadale Football Club were a football club based in Armadale, West Lothian in Scotland. The club was a member of the Scottish Football League from 1921 to 1932 and played at Volunteer Park.
History
The club was formed in 1910 and played ...
in the
Scottish Football League
The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km south ...
. In 1923, at the age of seventeen, he moved to the United States, settling in
Niagara Falls, New York
Niagara Falls is a City (New York), city in Niagara County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the city had a total population of 48,671. It is adjacent to the Niagara River, across from the city of Niagara ...
. When he arrived, he immediately began playing with the
Niagara Falls Rangers. The manager of
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 ...
of the
American Soccer League spotted Dick playing for Rangers and offered him a contract. Dick went on to play six seasons with Providence between 1924 and 1930. However, in 1928, the team changed its name to the
Providence Gold Bugs
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 ...
. By 1930, the ravages of the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
and the "Soccer Wars" had begun to take their toll on the ASL and teams began to fold, move and merge. In 1930, a group of businessmen led by
Harold Brittan
Harold Pemberton Brittan (11 November 1894 – 9 April 1964) was a U.S.-English soccer center forward. He began his career in England with Chelsea before moving to the United States. In the U.S., he was a prolific goalscorer with the powerhous ...
bought the team, and moved the team to
Fall River, Massachusetts, where it spent most of the 1930-1931 ASL season as
Fall River F.C. When Fall River merged with the
New Bedford Whalers during the spring of 1931, Dick 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 (following a 1952 merger this firm became part of the Coats Group).
The club ...
. The Rangers left the ASL in the fall of 1932 as the league began to collapse, but joined the newly formed second American Soccer League in the fall of 1933. In 1934 and 1935, the Rangers went to the
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 ...
, only to fall to
Stix, Baer and Fuller F.C. in 1934 and the same team, only renamed
St. Louis Central Breweries F.C. in 1935.
/sup> In 1937, he joined the Kearny Scots-Americans and remained with the team through the 1941 season. During that span, Kearny won five league championships.
National team
In 1934, Dick earned one cap with the U.S. national team at the 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 ...
. In that game, the U.S. lost 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 first round of the cup.
/sup>
Dick was inducted into the New England Soccer Hall of Fame in 1985
/sup> and the 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 1989.
See also
*
External links
National Soccer Hall of Fame profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dick, Walter
1905 births
1989 deaths
American men's soccer players
Armadale F.C. players
United States men's international soccer players
1934 FIFA World Cup players
American Soccer League (1921–1933) players
Providence F.C. players
Providence Gold Bug players
Fall River F.C. (1932) players
Pawtucket Rangers players
British emigrants to the United States
American Soccer League (1933–1983) players
Kearny Scots players
National Soccer Hall of Fame members
Sportspeople from Kirkintilloch
Footballers from East Dunbartonshire
Niagara Falls Rangers players
Men's association football forwards
Scottish men's footballers