May 26, 1948 – New England All-Stars 0:6 Liverpool FC, North Tiverton, R.I. (Att.: 8,000)
Liverpool FC compiled an 11-0-0 record (63-14 goal differential) on an eight-city tour of the U.S. and Canada from May 16-June 20, 1948.
Goals: Al Stubbins 2, Bill Fagan 2, Jack Balmer, Priday. Note: Joe Feicha (Ludlow Lusitano) goal disallowed (offside).
May 26, 1954 – Eastern Seaboard All-Stars 0:6 Chelsea FC, Fall River, Mass.
Brazilian teams have been visiting the Boston area since Pelé led Santos FC on a visit to Fenway Park nearly 50 years ago. The match marked a milestone in modern soccer promotion for the area, attracting 18,431 on July 9, 1968, indicating soccer could be a viable professional sport in Boston, after decades of the sport having been shunted aside.
Santos’ 7-1 victory over the Boston Beacons also attracted mainstream media attention, which was not easy to do. Prominent bylines included Peter Gammons, Leigh Montville, Marvin Pave, Bob Sales. The stories were complimentary about Santos’ performance, Pelé earning plenty of praise. And nearly every story made the same factual error, stating Santos had twice won the World Cup. Remarkably, at that time, even the best and brightest of mainstream journalism had difficulty distinguishing between club and country competitions.
[Read more…] about Boston’s history with Santos & the Seleção
Liverpool compiled a 10-0-0 record (70-10 goal differential) from May 11-June 12, 1946 on its first U.S. tour. South African Robert Priday (2) and Jack Balmer scored for Liverpool in this match in Fall River, Mass. Joey Chapiga redirected a Quinn free kick past Cyril Sidlow and Ed Souza cut the deficit late. [Read more…] about May 22, 1946 – New England All-Stars 2:3 Liverpool FC at Bigberry Stadium (Att.: 7,000)
Two weeks after losing in the National Challenge Cup (U.S. Open Cup) final, Ponta Delgada won the U.S. Amateur Cup for the fourth time in five years. Ponta Delgada was considered underdogs in the away leg, after having played to a 0-0 home draw with Harmarville on May 14, 1950. [Read more…] about May 21, 1950 – Pittsburgh Harmarville 1:4 (1:4 aggregate) Ponta Delgada at Bridgeville Park, U.S. Amateur Cup final
This was a preparation match for the U.S. national team before the 1990 World Cup in Italy. Peter Vermes scored 15 seconds into the second half and Tony Meola saved an Aleksandar Dordevic free kick as Partizan played without three Yugoslavia national teamers, including starting defender Predrag Spasic. [Read more…] about May 20, 1990 – U.S. 1:0 Partizan Belgrade at Yale Bowl, New Haven, Conn. (Att.: 30,644)
Gregg Berhalter and Brad Friedel in U.S. starting lineup — yes, they would be coaching against each other in the same venue 16 years later — New England Revolution v Columbus Crew.
Dutch coach Dick Advocaat probably had it right when he said: “It is always good to win. Maybe it is good for the Americans that they lost, too.” [Read more…] about May 19, 2002 – U.S. 0:2 Netherlands, CMGI Field (Gillette Stadium) initial international (Att.: 36,778)
George M. Collins “declares” the USFA would “have to accept all professional [leagues] on equal footing,” during the 12th annual meeting of the group at the Astor Hotel in New York. (Associated Press) [Read more…] about May 18, 1925 – American Soccer League accepted as full member of United States FA
Manchester United’s first New England appearance. The New England All-Stars consisted mostly of the Ponta Delgada SC team, including World Cup-bound Ed Souza and John Souza. Tom Bogan opened the scoring in the 14th minute. Ed Souza missed a 79th-minute penalty with a chance to equalize. [Read more…] about May 17, 1950 – NE All-Stars 0:2 Manchester United at Fall River (Att.: 3,704)
Adamson opened the scoring in the third minute of the first National Challenge Cup (U.S. Open Cup) final at Lonsdale Ave. Grounds (Coats Field) in Pawtucket, R.I. Campion PK equalized, then Ford scored off Millar pass, after Millar “made two beautiful back kicks, both being turned aside.” (Spalding’s Soccer Football Guide) [Read more…] about May 16, 1914 – First U.S. Open Cup Final / Brooklyn FC 2:1 Brooklyn Celtic at Lonsdale-av Grounds (Att.: 10,000)
Steve Nicol was a true believer in a 4-4-2 alignment, having experienced exceptional success with the formation while playing for Liverpool FC. Nicol was faithful to the setup into his third Revolution season, but this match convinced him to go to a 3-5-2. The switch did not pay off immediately, but proved to be crucial to the Revolution’s progress. [Read more…] about May 15, 2004 – Columbus Crew 1:0 Revolution (Att.: 16,694)