A Brief History of Philadelphia Professional Soccer Before The Philadelphia Atoms

By Steve Holroyd

 

The Pre-War Years

As quickly as the original American Soccer League had folded, a second won took its place. This ASL, however, featured none of the top New England teams, and was basically a semi-pro operation made up of ethnic social clubs from New York and northern New Jersey.

Philadelphia entered this new league, and was represented by the Philadelphia Germans. In keeping with tradition, the Germans finished 5-6-2 to finish in last place in the new circuit in 1933-34.

Surprisingly, however, the Germans rebounded in 1934-35, and won the league championship. Led by league-leading scorer Robert Deal's 11 goals, Philadelphia ran away with the league, going 18-3-1 en route to finishing 11 points ahead of second place New York.

The Germans did not successfully defend their crown, slipping down to a mediocre 10-5-5 in 1935-36. The following season, a second Philadelphia team was added to the league. Passon Phillies joined the loop, finishing in the middle of the table. Neither the Germans nor Passon would challenge for the league crown, although Bert Patenaude returned to Philadelphia to lead the ASL in scoring with Passon in 1938-39, netting 24 goals.

One bright spot on the soccer landscape was the Philadelphia Germans winning the U.S. Open Cup in 1936, sweeping the legendary Billy Gonsalves and the St. Louis Shamrocks in a two-game series.

Throughout these years, Kearny Scots of New Jersey ran off an unprecedented five straight championships. Before that Newark suburb could lay claim to being "Soccer City U.S.A.," however, Philadelphia would present a serious challenge in the years after World War II.

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