The Boston Beacons were 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 ...

professional team that competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) in 1968. The team was based in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

and played their home games at

Fenway Park Fenway Park is a baseball stadium located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, near Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home of the Boston Red Sox, the city's American League baseball team, and Boston Braves (baseball), since 1953, i ...

. Originally intended to be a charter member of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) in 1967, the team played its first and only season in the

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * J ...

NASL following the merger of the NPSL and rival

United Soccer Association The United Soccer Association was a professional soccer league featuring teams based in the United States and Canada. The league survived only one season before merging with the National Professional Soccer League to form the North American S ...

History

In 1966, several groups of entrepreneurs were exploring the idea of forming a professional soccer league in United States and Canada. Two of these groups merged to form the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) and franchise rights were awarded to ten ownership groups. Boston was originally chosen as a team location, but withdrew from the 1967 season as the organization was unable to find a suitable stadium. The NPSL announced that Boston would join the league in 1968 with a team owned by retired

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

coach

Red Auerbach Arnold Jacob "Red" Auerbach (September 20, 1917 – October 28, 2006) was an American professional basketball coach and executive. He served as a head coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA), most notably with the Boston Celtics. ...

and

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

executive vice president

Dick O'Connell Richard Henry O'Connell (September 19, 1914 – August 18, 2002) was an American front office executive in Major League Baseball. He was executive vice president of the Boston Red Sox from 1961 through 1977 and served as general manager of th ...

. In April 1967, General Manager Joe McKenney announced that the team name of Beacons had been chosen based on fan suggestions and that the team would start play in 1968 at

. In June 1967, Jack Mansell was hired as head coach, resigning from

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

to take the position. In preparation to join the league, the organization hosted an exhibition match between the

Baltimore Bays The Baltimore Bays were a professional soccer team based in Baltimore, Maryland founded in 1967 as one of the ten charter members of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL). When the NPSL and the rival United Soccer Association (USA) me ...

and the Chicago Spurs in July 1967. Following the merger of the NPSL and the

, it was announced that the city of Boston would be represented by one of the 20 teams in the North American Soccer League (NASL); the Boston Shamrock Rovers of the former USA folded, leaving the New England region to Beacons. The Beacons opened their season on the road against the Oakland Clippers with a 2–1 loss in front of 5,714 fans, losing due to a botched clearance that bounced off a Beacon player and into the net for the Clipper's winning goal. On 8 July 1968, the Beacons lost by a score of 7–1 to Brazilian team

Santos FC Santos Futebol Clube (), commonly known simply as Santos or Santos FC and nicknamed the ''Peixe'' (; "fish"), is a Brazilian sports club based in Vila Belmiro, a ''bairro'' in the city of Santos. It is also the team with the most goals in ...

, who were touring the United States and playing a series of exhibition matches against NASL and international teams. Santos star

Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; born 23 October 1940), known as Pelé (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and labelled "the greatest" by FIFA ...

scored a goal and created an assist in the game played before a crowd of 18,431, the largest to attend a Beacons match at Fenway Park. The team finished the season in last place in the Atlantic Division with a record of 9 wins, 17 losses and 6 draws, and an average attendance of 4,004. During a meeting of NASL officials on 24 October 1968, GM Joe McKenney stated that the team would "100 per cent chance" quit the league. The team officially folded shortly after.

Year-by-year

Notes

References

{{North American Soccer League (1966–85) Defunct soccer clubs in Massachusetts Soccer clubs in Boston North American Soccer League (1968–1984) teams Soccer clubs in Massachusetts 1968 establishments in Massachusetts 1968 disestablishments in Massachusetts

Association football clubs established in 1968 Association football clubs disestablished in 1968

History

Year-by-year

See also

Notes

References