Ernő Schwarz or Schwarcz (7 March 1902 – 19 June 1977) was a

Hungarian American Hungarian Americans ( Hungarian: ''amerikai magyarok'') are Americans of Hungarian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau has estimated that there are approximately 1.396 million Americans of Hungarian descent as of 2018. The total number of people wit ...

soccer player, coach and promoter who served as head coach 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 h ...

. He played professionally in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Austria and the United States, earning two

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 Ja ...

, scoring two goals, with the Hungarian national team in 1922. Schwarz founded, owned, managed and played for the

New York Americans The New York Americans, colloquially known as the Amerks, were a professional ice hockey team based in New York City from 1925 to 1942. They were the third expansion team in the history of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the second to play ...

in the

first First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and second American Soccer Leagues. He was also the ASL and

International Soccer League The International Soccer League was a U.S.-based soccer league which was formed in 1960 and collapsed in 1965. The League, affiliated with the American Soccer League, featured guest teams primarily from Europe and some from Asia, South America, C ...

vice president. His daughter was married to United States national team player Ben Zinn.

Player

Schwarz began his professional career as a forward for

Ferencvárosi TC Ferencvárosi Torna Club, known as Ferencváros (), Fradi, or simply FTC, is a professional football club based in Ferencváros, Budapest, Hungary, that competes in the Nemzeti Bajnokság I, the top flight of Hungarian football. Ferencváros ...

when he was seventeen. In 1922, Ferencvárosi won the Hungarian Cup. That fall, Schwarz moved to Czechoslovakian club Makkabi Brno. In November 1923, Makkabi played an exhibition game against

SK Rapid Wien Sportklub Rapid Wien (), commonly known as Rapid Vienna, is an Austrian football club playing in the country's capital city of Vienna. Rapid has won the most Austrian championship titles (32), including the first title in the season 1911–12, ...

, crushing them 4-1 off two Schwarz goals. This brought him to the attention of

Hakoah Vienna SC Hakoah Vienna (german: Sport Club Hakoah Wien; ' means "the strength" in Hebrew) is a Jews, Jewish sports club in Vienna, Austria. Prior to World War II, it produced several Olympic athletes and was notable for fielding an entirely Jewish ass ...

which signed him in December 1923. He went on to play twelve games, scoring nine goals, through the remainder of the 1923–1924 season. In the spring of 1926,

toured the United States. Impressed by the high pay and relatively minor anti-Semitism compared to Europe, Schwarz and several of his teammates decided to move to the U.S. following the conclusion of the tour. Before he did so, he returned to Austria where Hakoah won the league championship. Then in the summer of 1926, he left Europe for good to move to the United States. When he arrived, he signed with the New York Giants of the American Soccer League (ASL). In 1928, the ASL and

United States Football Federation The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official governing body of the sport of soccer in the United States. Headquartered in Chicago, the federation is ...

engaged in a struggle for dominance in the U.S. Known as the “Soccer War”, this struggle led to USFA and FIFA declaring the ASL an “outlaw league”. When that happened, Schwarz signed for

Rangers F.C. Rangers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the Govan district of Glasgow which plays in the Scottish Premiership. Although not its official name, it is often referred to as Glasgow Rangers outside Scotland. The fou ...

, but was unable to join the club due to labor restrictions in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

. After the Rangers deal fell through, Schwarz helped form

New York Hakoah New York Hakoah is an American soccer club based in New York City, which takes its name from two earlier, defunct clubs. ''Hakoah'' (roughly translated as "strength" from Hebrew) is a frequent name for sport and social Jewish clubs around the wor ...

in the

Eastern Professional Soccer League Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air Li ...

. Hakoah took third in the league, but ran away with the 1929 National Challenge Cup. Hakoah won both legs of the final over St. Louis Madison Kennel, with Schwarz scoring a goal in Hakoah's 3-0 second game victory. Following the end of the “Soccer War” in 1929, the ASL and ESL merged with New York Hakoah of the ESL merging with

Brooklyn Hakoah Brooklyn Hakoah is a former United States soccer team club based in Brooklyn, New York, that played in the American Soccer League. Brooklyn Hakoah I Originally formed by former players of SC Hakoah Wien, they played in the American Soccer Lea ...

of the ASL to form the

Hakoah All-Stars Hakoah All-Stars is a former United States soccer club, based in New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distribut ...

. In 1931, Schwarz founded his own team, the

with whom he became both a player and coach. In 1933, Schwarz and his teammates lost to

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 ...

in the final of the

1933 National Challenge Cup The 1933 National Challenge Cup was the annual open cup held by the United States Football Association now known as the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. As in 1931, the ASL teams played a round robin format instead of direct knockout games. The five New ...

. While the Americans defeated the St. Louis Shamrocks in the

1937 National Challenge Cup The 1937 National Challenge Cup was the annual open cup held by the United States Football Association now known as the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup co ...

, Schwarz did not play in the final game as he had broken his leg in February 1937. After that, he played sporadically, but continued to play occasional games with the Americans until at least 1951.

National team

Schwarz earned two caps, scoring two goals, with the Hungarian national team. Both games came in July 1922, the first against

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and the second a few days later against

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. In that game, Schwarz scored two goals in a 5–1 victory. He never played for the national team again. On 19 May 1935, Schwarz played an unofficial international match for the

in a 5–1 loss to

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

Coach

Professional

When Schwarz founded the New York Americans in 1931, he installed himself as team coach, managing the team for more than two decades. At some point, he left coaching, but in 1956 returned as coach of the Americans

National team

In 1953, Schwarz was selected to coach the

from 1953 until 1955. During that time, he compiled a 2–4 record as the U.S. failed to qualify for the 1958 FIFA World Cup.

Owner

In 1931, Schwarz founded the

, for which he was both the owner and

player-manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the s ...

. He guided the team through the last years of the ASL's existence, going to the final of the

. That spring, the ASL collapsed and Schwarz was instrumental in the creation of a second American Soccer League which began playing in the fall of 1933. He continued to own the Americans for an unknown time after that.

Executive

Following the collapse of the first American Soccer League in the spring of 1933, Schwarz became instrumental in the founding of the second league with that name. In the fall of 1933, the new league came into existence with Schwarz entering the Americans in the Metropolitan Division. Schwarz was indefatigable, selling tickets, promoting the team and even selling concessions at halftimes. Over the years, Schwarz was one of the more important executives in the American Soccer League, In 1947, he became the league's vice president and in 1957, he served as the ASL Business Manager. In 1960, he became the vice president and general manager of the

Promoter

Schwarz also worked during World War II to convince American GIs living in Britain to play soccer, in hopes of growing the sport in America. He later organized tours by top European clubs in order to increase the popularity of the sport. He was also not set on the outdoor game, but in 1960, he also organized one of the first major indoor soccer tournaments at Madison Square Garden. Schwarz was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1951. He died on 19 June 1977 in

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

References

External links

National Soccer Hall of Fame biography
* *Cirino, Tony – "U.S. Soccer vs the World", Damon Press, N.J. 1983 {{DEFAULTSORT:Schwarz, Erno 1902 births 1974 deaths Association football wingers Hungarian football managers Hungarian footballers Jewish Hungarian sportspeople Hungary international footballers Footballers from Budapest Ferencvárosi TC footballers SC Hakoah Wien footballers National Soccer Hall of Fame members Jewish footballers Expatriate footballers in Czechoslovakia Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Czechoslovakia Expatriate soccer players in the United States Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Hungarian emigrants to the United States American soccer players American Soccer League (1921–1933) players New York Giants (soccer) players Hakoah All-Stars players New York Americans (soccer) (1930–1933) players Eastern Professional Soccer League (1928–29) players New York Hakoah players American Soccer League (1933–1983) players New York Americans (soccer) (1933–1956) players American soccer coaches American Soccer League (1921–1933) coaches American Soccer League (1933–1983) coaches American soccer chairmen and investors United States men's national soccer team managers 20th-century American businesspeople