American Soccer League

The American Soccer League has been a name used by three different professional soccer leagues in the United States.

ASL I

The original American Soccer League, operating between 1921 and 1933, was the first significant viable professional soccer league in the United States. The league operated primarily in the northeastern United States, particularly in the New York-New Jersey-Philadelphia triangle.

Additionally, the ASL was one of the first American soccer leagues prestigious enough to attract talented players from overseas. The league, in fact, was quite well attended, and was quite competitive with the nascent National Football League in terms of popularity. During the fall of the 1928/29 season, many prominent teams left the league to form the new Eastern Soccer League. During this "Soccer War" the ASL was an outlaw league not recognized by FIFA. During the fall of the 1929/30 season, the ESL and ASL merged to form the Atlantic Coast League which started play in the spring of 1930 now playing a spring-fall schedule. In the fall of 1930 (the second half of the 1930 season), the league was renamed the American Soccer League again.

After the end of the 1933 spring season, the league collapsed.

Complete team list

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*Bethlehem Steel F.C. (1921/22-27/28, 1930, as Philadelphia Field Club in 1921/22)
*Boston Wonder Workers (1924/25-30, as Boston Bears in 1929)
*Boston Bears (1931-32)
*Bridgeport Hungaria (1930, as Newark for last 5 games)
*Brooklyn Wanderers (1922/23-31)
*Brooklyn Hakoah (1929, merged with New York Hakoah of ESL to form Hakoah All-Stars)
*Brooklyn Wanderers (1932-33)
*Fall River Marksmen (1921/22-1930, as Fall River United in 1921/22; merged with New York Soccer Club to form New York Yankees)
*Fall River Football Club (1924/25-1931, as Providence Clamdiggers in 1924/25-27/28; as Providence Gold Bugs in 1928/29-30; as Fall River Football Club in 1931; absorbed New Bedford Whalers during spring 1931 season; absorbed by New York Yankees before fall 1931 season)
*Fall River Football Club (1932)
*Fleisher Yarn (1924/25)
*Hakoah All-Stars (1929/30-1932)
*Harrison Field Club (1921/22-22/23, as Harrison Soccer Club in 1921/22)
*Hartford Americans (1927/28)
*Holyoke Falcos (1921/22)
*Jersey City Celtics (1921/22, folded after 5 games)
*Jersey City (1928/29)