1931 National Challenge Cup

History

By the spring of 1931, the twin ravages of the Great Depression and the "Soccer Wars" had taken their toll on the American Soccer League. As a result, Sam Mark moved his Fall River F.C. to New York, hoping that a new market there would be more lucrative. Once there he merged the club with New York Soccer Club and renamed them the New York Yankees. Before the merger was finalised, however, Fall River F.C. had entered the National Challenge Cup and Mark was unable to re-register them as the Yankees. As a result, the Spring 1931 season saw them continue to play in the Challenge Cup as the Fall River F.C. while at the same time playing as the New York Yankees in the ASL. While the Yankees only managed to finish third in the ASL, the Marksmen won the cup. Largely on the goalscoring strength of Billy Gonsalves, with 9, and Bert Patenaude, with 13, they reached the final where they eventually beat Chicago Bricklayers in a final played as a three-game series. The last of these three games is officially regarded as the last game the 'Marksmen' ever played. The first leg of the final was played on April 5 at the Polo Grounds, where the 'Marksmen' won 6–2, and seemingly established a clear lead. Patenaude scored five goals in that game while Bill McPherson added the other. A week later at Mills Stadium in Chicago, the Bricklayers kept the series alive by earning a 1–1 draw. This time Gonsalves got on the score sheet. Sparta Stadium in Chicago attracted 4,500 for the deciding game on April 19. The 'Marksmen' could only field 10 players after their captain, Alex McNab, broke his arm in a midweek friendly and the club had neglected to bring along any reserves. Despite this they still managed to win 2–0 with goals from Patenaude and Gordon Burness.

The 'Marksmen' were not the only club to relocate, merge or disappear. This has made it difficult to follow the teams as they progressed through this year's competition. To muddy the waters more, the Providence F.C. had been bought by a group of Fall River businessmen and moved to that city to replace the 'Marksmen'. The 'Gold Bugs' were then renamed Fall River F.C. Furthermore, after the 'Gold Bugs' had moved to Fall River to become Fall River F.C., it merged with the New Bedford Whalers. As these teams had all played initial Challenge Cup games, the results become difficult to follow.

Eastern Division

|January 10 - February 1|Fall River F.C.|1st|Providence F.C.|2nd ||New Bedford Whalers|3rd|Pawtucket Rangers|4th |January 11 - Rochester|Rochester Celtic|2|Fore River|3 |January 11 - New York|New York Galicia|2|Tappen Post|1 |January 11 - February 15|Hakoah All-Stars|1st|New York Giants|2nd ||New York Soccer Club|3rd|Brooklyn Wanderers|4th |January 11 - Newark|Newark Americans|3|Newark Portuguese|0 |January 11 - Dundalk|BS Baltimore|7|Trenton Highlanders|1 ||Fall River F.C.||Won Round Robin| |January 25 - Quincy|Fore River|2|New York Galicia|5 ||Hakoah All-Stars||Won Round Robin| |January 25 - Newark|Newark Americans|6|BS Baltimore|1 |February 23 - New Bedford|Fall River F.C.|6|New York Galicia|2 |February 22/March 15|Hakoah All-Stars|1-0|Newark Americans|2-2 |March 22 - New York|Fall River F.C.|6|Newark Americans|1

Western Division

|January 11 - St. Louis|Ben Millers|5|Tablers|3 |January 31 - St. Louis |Kavanaughs|8|Hellrungs and Grimm|2 |January 25 - Cleveland|Cleveland Slavia|3|Bruell Hungarian|2 |February 16 - Cleveland|Cleveland Shamrock|1|Morgan F.C.|3 |February 8 - Chicago|Chicago Bricklayers|3|Olympia F.C.|0 |February 8 - Chicago|Sparta ABA|4|Maccabee All-Stars|0 |February 8 - Chicago|Swedish Americans|4|Norwegian Americans|0 |February 1 - Detroit|Liberty F.C.|0|Workers A.C.|2 |February 8 - St. Louis|Ben Millers|2|Kavanaughs|1 |February 22 - Cleveland|Cleveland Slavia|2|Morgan F.C.|1 |February 15 - Chicago|Chicago Bricklayers|2|Sparta ABA|1 |February 15, 22 - Chicago|Swedish Americans|4-2|Workers A.C.|4-1 |March 1 - St. Louis|Ben Millers|2|Cleveland Slavia|1 |March 1 - Chicago|Chicago Bricklayers|4|Swedish Americans|1 |March 8, 15|Ben Millers|2-0|Chicago Bricklayers|7-1

Round Robin groups for Quarterfinal qualifying.

Final

First game

McPherson Greenlees

Second game

Second game (replay)

Burness

Sources

• 1931 U.S. Open Cup Results

References

References

1. [https://www.rsssf.org/tablesu/usacuphist.html www.rsssf.com] {{webarchive. link. (2011-05-13)
2. "American Soccer - 1931".
3. "www.sover.net".
4. (May 12, 2006). "Soccer in a football world". WSC Books, Ltd..