Fall River F.C.

Full name	Fall River Football Club
Nicknames	Marksmen, Mark's men
Founded	1922
Dissolved	1931; 94 years ago (1931)
Stadium	Mark's Stadium North Tiverton, Rhode Island
Capacity	15,000
Chairman	Sam Mark
League	American Soccer League
1931	3rd

Fall River F.C. was an Americansoccer club based inFall River, Massachusetts. During the 1920s and early 1930s they were one of the most successful soccer clubs in the United States, winning theAmerican Soccer League on six occasions. They also won theNational Challenge Cup four times. In 1924 they won the first ASL / Challenge Cupdouble and were subsequently theAmerican soccer champions three times in succession. Between 1928 and 1930 they won a further three titles in a row. In 1930 they completed atreble, winning the ASL title, the Challenge Cup and theLewis Cup. The same year they also touredCentral Europe.

The 'Marksmen' played their home games atMark's Stadium, one of the earliest examples of asoccer-specific stadium in the United States.^[1] In 1931 the franchise relocated and merged twice. They first moved toNew York, where they merged withNew York Soccer Club and became theNew York Yankees. They actually won their fourth National Challenge Cup after they became the Yankees, but due to complications following the merger it was credited to the 'Marksmen'. The Yankees later moved toNew Bedford, Massachusetts, where they merged withFall River F.C. to become theNew Bedford Whalers.

In 1921 theSouthern New England Soccer League and theNational Association Football League effectively merged to form theAmerican Soccer League. A new teamFall River United were formed to enter the ASL.^[2] During the inaugural season United struggled, finishing sixth out of eight, and were on the verge of folding. After thefirst ASL season United could not agree to terms on a lease for their playing grounds for the following season. Subsequently, a joint bid with United and the Fall River Rovers to continue in the ASL was denied whileSam Mark's bid was accepted by the league. He built a new stadium at Tiverton, RI to host his new team Fall River F.C.^[3]

Mark was willing to invest in the club and one of his first moves was to build the team its own stadium.Mark's Stadium was located inNorth Tiverton, Rhode Island, just over theMassachusetts border from Fall River. As a result, the club was now able circumvent theMassachusetts' Blue Laws and play on a Sunday. Crucially, Mark also managed to recruitHarold Brittan fromBethlehem Steel. During the1922–23 season Brittan scored 19 goals in 23 games and subsequently went on to serve the 'Marksmen' for nearly a decade as a player, coach and manager. Other notable signings included wingerJames White and full-back Tommy Martin, both fromMotherwell, full-backCharlie McGill fromThird Lanark and wing-halfBill McPherson fromBeith. Together with goalkeeperFindlay Kerr, who joined the following season, White, McGill and McPherson would become the backbone of the 'Marksmen' team throughout its short history.^[1][4][5][6]

The 1920s and early 1930s are sometimes described as theGolden Era of U.S. soccer and it was Fall River F.C. that emerged as the era's dominant team. During the1923–24 season the 'Marksmen' completely dominated the league. They eventually won their first league title, finishing 6 points clear ofBethlehem Steel.Harold Brittan again spearheaded the offense, scoring 15 goals. However the strength of the team lay in a strong defense which includedNed Tate andFindlay Kerr, who kept an incredible 14 clean sheets during the league season. The season also saw the 'Marksmen' go on to complete the first ASL /National Challenge Cupdouble. In the semi-final of the Challenge Cup, the 'Marksmen' defeated the 'Steelmen' 2–0 atDexter Park in front of 20,000 fans. On March 30, 1924, the final attracted 14,000 fans to the High School Field inSt. Louis, Missouri, where they witnessed the 'Marksmen' defeatSt. Louis Vesper Buick 4–2.^[7] The only disappointment for the Marksmen during the season came when they lost 1–0 to the 'Steelmen' in the final of theAmerican Cup.^[8]

The 'Marksmen' went on to win further ASL titles in1924–25 and1925–26, completing a three in a row sequence. They won it again in1928–29 and then completed a four in a row when they won further titles in theFall 1929,Spring 1930 andFall 1930 seasons.^{[9][10][11][12][13]} On May 1, 1927, the Marksmen also won their secondNational Challenge Cup, defeatingHolley Carburetor F.C. 7–0 before a crowd of 10,000 at theUniversity of Detroit Stadium.^[14]

From the beginning the 'Marksmen' regularly recruitedScottish Football League journeymen, sometimes directly from Scottish clubs but also from other ASL teams, most notablyBethlehem Steel. However two of their most notable players,Billy Gonsalves andBert Patenaude, actually grew up in Fall River itself. Both players first established themselves at other ASL clubs – Gonsalves atBoston Soccer Club and Patenaude atPhiladelphia Field Club – before forming a formidable partnership at the 'Marksmen'. In 1930, the duo played a major role in helping the 'Marksmen' win atreble. During theSpring 1930 season, when the ASL played as theAtlantic Coast League, they scored 44 league goals in 26 games as the Marksmen won another league title. In the1930 National Challenge Cup the Marksmen defeatedCleveland Bruell Insurance in a two-leg final. They just about finished off the Cleveland team when they won the opening leg, 7–2, on March 30 at thePolo Grounds.Jimmy McAuley andWerner Nilsen each scored ahat-trick whileAlex McNab scored the other Fall River goal. On April 6 atLuna Park in Cleveland, Fall River took the second leg, 2–1, with further goals from McNab andBob McAuley, no relation to Jimmy. They completed the treble when they won theLewis Cup defeatingHakoah All-Stars 2–1 and 3–0 in another two-legged final.^[1][15]

Throughout their short history the Marksmen regularly provided opposition for touring European teams and, more often than not, they held their own. On September 19, 1926, the Marksmen beatSparta Prague 3–2.^[16] On June 3, 1928, atMark's Stadium, a capacity crowd of 15,000 saw goalkeeperJimmy Douglas keep a clean sheet as the Marksmen heldRangers to a 0–0 tie.^[17] Then on August 26, 1928, at the same venue they beat anItalian League XI, playing asPalestra Italia, 4–2.^[18] In 1930 they playedRangers twice. On May 30 they lost 3–2 withBilly Gonsalves andWerner Nilsen scoring the Fall River goals. The goalkeeper that day wasJohnny Reder who later playedbaseball withBoston Red Sox. However a few weeks later on June 22 they lost 6–1 at thePolo Grounds. Guest playerArchie Stark scored the only goal for Fall River. In between these games they beatKilmarnock 3–0 atMark's Stadium on June 15. Stark scored the opening goal withAlex McNab and Bob McAuley adding the other two.^[19]

While teams from Europe regularly toured North America, it was rare for an ASL team to play overseas. However, in August 1930 the Marksmen touredCentral Europe, playing six games inCzechoslovakia,Austria, andHungary. The squad included, among others,Bill Harper,Alex McNab,Jerry Best andWerner Nilsen as well as veteransJames White, Charlie McGill andBill McPherson and guest playerArchie Stark. BothBilly Gonsalves andBert Patenaude were playing with theUnited States at the1930 FIFA World Cup and did not travel. They opened the tour on August 20 with a 2–2 tie againstSlavia Prague in front of a crowd of 18,000. This was the first of two games against Slavia. They lost the other 4–0 on August 28. They also playedFK Austria Wien twice, losing the first game 6–0 on August 23 before winning the second 3–1 the following day. On August 30 they won their second game when they put three goals pastŠK Slovan Bratislava. The tour came to an end on August 31 when they lost 6–2 toFerencvárosi TC. The tour ended early, and in dispute, with Fall River unhappy about their share of the gate receipts.^[1][20]

The 'Marksmen' returned from their European tour, and started theFall 1930 season late, but that didn't stop them from winning their seventh league title, despite playing only 27 out of 30 games. However, by this stage the effects of theGreat Depression had seen attendance fall atMark's Stadium. As a result,Sam Mark moved the club toNew York, hoping that a new market there would be more lucrative. Once there he merged the club withNew York Soccer Club and renamed them theNew York Yankees. Before the merger was finalized, however, Fall River F.C. had entered the1931 National Challenge Cup and Mark was unable to re-register them as the Yankees. As a result, theSpring 1931 season saw them continue to play in the Challenge Cup as theFall River F.C. while at the same time playing as theNew York Yankees in the ASL. While theYankees only managed to finish third in the ASL, theMarksmen won the cup. Largely on the goalscoring strength ofBilly Gonsalves, with 9, andBert Patenaude, with 13, they reached the final where they eventually beatChicago 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 thePolo Grounds, where the 'Marksmen' won 6–2, and seemingly established a clear lead. Patenaude scored five goals in that game whileBill McPherson added the other. A week later at Mills Stadium in Chicago, the Bricklayers kept the series alive by earning a 1–1 tie. 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 andGordon Burness.^{[1][21][22][23]}

• American Soccer League
  • Winners1923–24,1924–25,1925–26,1928–29,1929,1930:6
• National Challenge Cup
  • Winners1924,1927,1930,1931:4
• Lewis Cup
  • Winners 1930:1
  • Runners Up 1925:1
• American Cup
  • Runners Up1924:1

• Harold Brittan: 1922–1926
• Fred Morley

• Fall River F.C. (1922–1931)
• 1922 establishments in Massachusetts
• 1931 disestablishments in Massachusetts
• American Soccer League (1921–1933) teams
• Defunct soccer clubs in Massachusetts
• Soccer clubs in Fall River, Massachusetts
• Association football clubs established in 1922
• Association football clubs disestablished in 1931
• Tiverton, Rhode Island
• U.S. Open Cup winners

• Webarchive template wayback links
• Use mdy dates from May 2013
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Football team templates which use American parameter