| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Albert Harker | ||
| Date of birth | (1910-04-11)April 11, 1910 | ||
| Place of birth | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,United States | ||
| Date of death | April 3, 2006(2006-04-03) (aged 95) | ||
| Place of death | Camp Hill, Pennsylvania,United States | ||
| Position | Half Back /Full Back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1926–1929 | Girard College | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1929–1930 | Corinthians | ||
| 1930–1931 | Upper Darby | ||
| 1931–1932 | Kensington Blue Bells | ||
| 1932–1941 | Philadelphia German-Americans | ||
| 1941– | →Philadelphia Americans | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Albert Harker (April 11, 1910 – April 3, 2006) was a U.S.soccer player who was a member of the U.S. team at the1934 FIFA World Cup. During hisHall of Fame career, he won threeAmerican Soccer League championships, two league cups, a National Amateur Cup title and the 1935National Challenge Cup.
Harker attendedGirard College where he played on the men's soccer team from 1926 to 1929.
Following his graduation from Girard, he signed with Corinthians of the National Soccer League of Philadelphia. In 1930, he moved to Upper Darby and in 1931 to the Kensington Blue Bells. In 1932, he moved to thePhiladelphia German-Americans. When the secondAmerican Soccer League formed in 1933, the German-Americans moved to the new league. That year, the team won theNational Amateur Cup and theNational Challenge Cup in 1935. The team became known as thePhiladelphia Americans in 1941. Under its new name, Harker and his teammates won the ASL championship in 1942, 1944 and 1947, as well as the league cup in 1941 and 1943.
Harker was called into the for the1934 FIFA World Cup, but did not see time in the lone U.S. game of the cup, a 7–1 loss to eventual championItaly.[1] He was also called into the U.S. Olympic soccer team for the1936 Summer Olympics, but declined because he was unable to take two months off work.
He was inducted into theNational Soccer Hall of Fame in 1979 and the Girard College Athletic Hall of Fame in 2006.[1]
Harker died on April 8, 2006, at a nursing home inCamp Hill, Pennsylvania, eight days before his 96th birthday. He was the last surviving member of the 1934 World Cup squad.[2] Even in his later years Al would sit with his great-granddaughter and recall the days of playing with his teammates. He would recall how they would come over to the house during the summer and pick up a game of volleyball in the backyard. Al always held those fond memories of soccer close to his heart. Seventy-three years later, he still wore his National Amateur Cup ring.
