Nicholas DiOrio (February 4, 1921 – September 11, 2003) was a member of theU.S. national team at the1950 FIFA World Cup. He is a member of theNational Soccer Hall of Fame.

DiOrio grew up in thePittsburgh, Pennsylvania area and graduated from South Fayette Township High School in 1939. During high school, he was best known as an outstandingbasketball player, reputedly scoring fifty points in one game.^[1] While he played basketball in school, he was an excellent soccer player for his club team, Avella Juniors. In 1939, his club won the U-19 national championship, known as the McGuire Cup.^[2]

While making a living as a factory worker, DiOrio devoted his spare time to his passion, playing soccer. In 1942, he was on the roster ofMorgan Strasser when it lost theNational Amateur Cup to Fall River. However, the team took the cup in 1943 with a victory over Santa Maria S.C. In 1944, Morgan Strasser went to a third straight Amateur Cup final, but lost toS.C. Eintracht.^[3] In 1946, DiOrio left Morgan Strasser, for thePittsburgh Strasser of the newly establishedNorth American Soccer Football League. In 1947 he moved to theChicago Vikings. After the collapse of the NAFSL, following the 1947 season, DiOrio signed with thePittsburgh Indians in September.^[4] In 1949, the club won theNational Challenge Cup. In 1950, he was with Pittsburgh Harmarville when they lost the National Amateur Cup final toPonta Delgada S.C. In 1951, DiOrio lost another Amateur Cup final, his fourth. However, Harmarville followed those two losses with a National Challenge Cup championship in 1952. At some point, he left Harmarville and signed withPittsburgh Beadling, with whom he finished his career in 1959. During his twenty years of playing soccer, DiOrio won the National Amateur Cup, National Challenge Cup, and five Keystone Senior League championships.

While DiOrio was selected to the U.S. roster for the1950 FIFA World Cup, he never entered a game.

After retiring from playing in 1959, DiOrio continued to coach soccer teams. In 1971, he became the president of the West Penn Soccer Association.

While soccer remained at the center of his life, including leading him to his wife whom he met through a team sponsored by her father's beer garden, Jack's Supper Club, he earned a living as a factory worker inBridgeville, Pennsylvania. He also worked for the county road maintenance department.

DiOrio was inducted, along with the rest of the 1950 U.S. World Cup team, into theNational Soccer Hall of Fame in 1976.^[5] He is also a member of state and regional halls of fame.

He died of colorectal cancer on 11 September 2003, at the age of 82.

• National Soccer Hall of Fame profile
• Local obituary

• 1921 births
• 2003 deaths
• People from South Fayette Township, Pennsylvania
• Sportspeople from Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
• American people of Italian descent
• American men's soccer players
• Chicago Vikings players
• Harmarville Hurricanes players
• Morgan Strasser players
• National Soccer Hall of Fame members
• North American Soccer Football League players
• Pittsburgh Beadling players
• Pittsburgh Indians players
• Soccer players from Pennsylvania
• 1950 FIFA World Cup players
• Men's association football forwards
• Deaths from colorectal cancer in Pennsylvania
• 20th-century American sportsmen

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