May 25, 1924 – First U.S. win in Olympic soccer

Andy Straden scored on a 15^th-minute penalty kick as the U.S. defeated Estonia for its first victory in the Olympics. The U.S. was then eliminated with a 3-0 loss to eventual champion Uruguay, the clash providing a connection between the countries, leading to the Uruguayans making a 1927 tour that included a stop in Boston.

New England was represented on the Olympic team by Brockton’s George Burford (coach), Boston’s George Collins (manager), plus players Teddy O’Connor (Lynn GE), Fleisher Yarn’s Straden (formerly of Fore River) and Herbert “Birdie” Wells (Brockton).

The U.S. continued playing in Europe after the Olympics. The U.S. defeated Poland (3-2), Wells scoring a third-minute openign goal, in Warsaw June 10 and lost to Ireland (3-1) in Dublin June 16. The post-Olympic tour made sense, since a Trans-Atlantic voyage required several weeks. Collins’ report on the Poland-U.S. game was published in the Boston Globe’s July 3, 1924 editions, the story arriving by mail more than three weeks after the match.

U.S. 1:0 Estonia at Pershing Stadium, Bois de Vincennes, Paris (Att. 8,110)

TODAY IN NEW ENGLAND SOCCER HISTORY