| Season | 1928–29 |
|---|---|
| Teams | 12 |
| Champions | Fall River F.C.(4th title) |
| Lewis Cup | New York Nationals |
| Top goalscorer | Werner Nilsen (30) &János Nehadoma |
Statistics ofAmerican Soccer League in season 1928–29.
The first half of the 1928-29 season began on September 1, 1928. This season saw the onset of the Soccer War., a struggle between the American Soccer League and theUnited States Football Association for control of the sport. It began when the league boycotted theNational Challenge Cup in September 1928.[1] Within a week, three ASL teams, Bethlehem Steel, Newark Skeeters and New York Giants, defied the boycott and entered the cup.[2] On September 24, 1928, Bill Cunningham, president of the American Soccer League, suspended the three teams and fined them each $1000.00.[3] In response, the USFA helped create a competing league, theEastern Professional Soccer League which included the three teams suspended by the ASL, as well as teams from the Southern New York Soccer Association and the newly createdNew York Hakoah. In a bizarre twist, the first half of the season ended for some teams as early as December 25, 1928, and for others as late as January 13, 1929. The second half of the season then began on December 29, 1928, for some team and for other, not until January 5 or January 13, 1929. This created a situation in which some teams were still playing first half games while other teams were playing their second half games.
In December 1928, the league admittedJersey City as the league's ninth team for the second season. Jersey City made it seven games into the second half before withdrawing from the league and disbanding. Then on March 23, 1929, J&P Coats also withdrew from the league following its victory over Brooklyn that day. The team came under new ownership which renamed it the Pawtucket Rangers and re-entered the league, taking J&P Coats' record and position in the standings. The team played its first game, a 2-1 loss to Fall River on March 30, 1929. The league had one last team withdrew when the New Bedford Whalers left the league and jumped to theEastern Professional Soccer League after its 4-0 victory over Boston on March 17, 1929. The Fall River Football Club topped the standings in both the first and second half of the season and were declared league champion.
| Place | Team | GP | W | L | D | GF | GA | Pts | Pct |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fall River F.C. | 31 | 17 | 9 | 5 | 64 | 36 | 43 | .694 |
| 2 | Brooklyn Wanderers | 31 | 18 | 6 | 7 | 79 | 61 | 42 | .677 |
| 3 | New York Nationals | 29 | 13 | 8 | 8 | 70 | 53 | 34 | .586 |
| 4 | Providence | 24 | 13 | 5 | 11 | 53 | 44 | 31 | .534 |
| 5 | New Bedford Whalers | 29 | 11 | 6 | 12 | 51 | 47 | 28 | .483 |
| 6 | Boston | 28 | 8 | 8 | 12 | 49 | 60 | 24 | .429 |
| 7 | Philadelphia | 18 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 27 | 40 | 12 | .333 |
| 8 | J&P Coats | 28 | 4 | 7 | 17 | 28 | 69 | 15 | .268 |
| 9 | New York Giants | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 15 | 17 | 8 | .500 |
| 10 | Bethlehem Steel | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 8 | 6 | .500 |
| 11 | Newark Skeeters | 7 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 30 | 0 | .000 |
| Place | Team | GP | W | L | D | GF | GA | Pts | Pct |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fall River F.C. | 22 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 38 | 24 | 28 | .636 |
| 2 | Providence | 22 | 12 | 3 | 7 | 46 | 37 | 27 | .614 |
| 3 | J&P Coats / Pawtucket Rangers[Note 1] | 25 | 13 | 2 | 10 | 42 | 39 | 28 | .560 |
| 4 | New York Nationals | 21 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 68 | 55 | 23 | .548 |
| 5 | Brooklyn Wanderers | 20 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 42 | 50 | 18 | .536 |
| 6 | Philadelphia | 18 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 36 | 54 | 15 | .450 |
| 7 | Boston | 25 | 7 | 4 | 14 | 45 | 55 | 18 | .417 |
| 8 | New Bedford Whalers[Note 2] | 14 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 37 | 28 | 15 | .360 |
| 9 | Jersey City[Note 3] | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 11 | 23 | 4 | .286 |
The winners of the League Cup final were awarded theH.E. Lewis Cup. The finalist were tied on aggregate goals (4 each) after their two match series, and so were required to play a third winner take all match at a neutral site, Hawthorne Field in Brooklyn.[4]
| January 5–20 2-legged aggregate | January 26 - February 3 2-legged aggregate & *match replay | ||||||||||||
| MA | New Bedford Whalers | 1 | 3 | 4 | |||||||||
| MA | Fall River F.C. | 1 | 2 | 2 | |||||||||
| MA | New Bedford Whalers | 3 | 1(2) | 6 | |||||||||
| NY | New York Nationals | 2 | 2(4) | 8 | |||||||||
| NY | New York Nationals | 5 | 3 | 8 | |||||||||
| NY | Brooklyn Wanderers | 5 | 2 | 7 | |||||||||
| New Bedford Whalers | 1–1 | Fall River F.C. |
|---|---|---|
Mike McLeavy 9' | 79'Alex McNab |
| Fall River F.C. | 2–3 | New Bedford Whalers |
|---|---|---|
| Tec White Bert Patenaude Denis Doyle 79' (o.g.) | Sam Kennedy 80'Sam Chedgzoy |
New Bedford advances, 4–3, on aggregate.
| New York Nationals | 5–5 | Brooklyn Wanderers |
|---|---|---|
| Hookey Leonard Bart McGhee Jimmy Gallagher John Nelson , | Bobby Curtis,,,János Nehadoma |
| Brooklyn Wanderers | 2–3 | New York Nationals |
|---|---|---|
| Frank Toner 48',53' | 27',33',43'John Nelson |
New York advances, 8–7, on aggregate.
| New Bedford Whalers | 3–2 | New York Nationals |
|---|---|---|
| Sam Chedgzoy 10' Mike McLeavy 30'Jimmy Howieson 82' | Report | 43',John Nelson |
| New York Nationals | 2–1 | New Bedford Whalers |
|---|---|---|
| Hookey Leonard 55',89' | Report 1 Report 2 Report 3 | 5'Sam Kennedy |
| New York Nationals | 4–2 | New Bedford Whalers |
|---|---|---|
| Jimmy Gallagher 56',73',79' John Nelson 61' | Report | 46'Sam Chedgzoy 75'Sam Kennedy |
New York wins Lewis Cup, 8–6, on aggregate.