New Bedford Whalers was the name of three American soccer teams based in New Bedford, Massachusetts . The first Whalers played in the Southern New England Soccer League between 1914 and 1918. The second Whalers played in the American Soccer League between 1924 and 1931 before merging into Fall River F.C. The third Whalers were then formed when Fall River merged with New York Yankees . They played in the ASL between 1931 and 1932.
21-662: Founded in September 1913, the first Whalers originally played as New Bedford F.C. and played in the Southern New England Soccer League between 1914 and 1918. Immediately after their founding, they entered the 1913–14 National Challenge Cup . They went to the semifinals, falling to eventual champions, Brooklyn Field Club . They first played used the Whalers name in 1915. This team finished as league champions in both 1915 and 1917. Other teams in
42-747: A power struggle, sometimes referred to as the Soccer Wars . This resulted in the emergence of a rival Eastern Soccer League , organized by the USFA. The Whalers began the year in the ASL but subsequently joined the ESL. However, after just 8 games they rejoined the ASL. On their return they finished as ASL runners-up in both the Spring 1930 and Fall 1930 seasons. However the Great Depression severely effected
63-521: A unified first division league. The ASL's first secretary was Thomas Cahill , who had founded the United States Football Association and who had been the first head coach of the U.S. national team. By 1924, the combination of excellent pay and a high level of play drew talented overseas players, especially from Scotland and England, with 50 European internationals good enough to play for their national teams playing in
84-567: The Fall 1932 season New Bedford Whalers I New Bedford Whalers II New Bedford Whalers III Southern New England Soccer League The Southern New England Soccer League was a semi-professional soccer league based in New England which was established in 1914 and collapsed in 1921. During its short existence, it featured some of the top teams in the northeast United States . Dissatisfaction with league mismanagement led to
105-596: The National Challenge Cup created an unnecessary financial burden. At the time the Challenge Cup ran during the ASL season forcing the ASL teams to travel long distances by train or bus to play cup games, then return to the Northeast to play league games. Therefore, the ASL boycotted the 1924 National Challenge Cup . They reentered the competition the next year after the USFA reduced its take of
126-767: The New York Giants , and became the New York Yankees . However the relocation to New York was not a financial success and for the Fall 1931 season, Mark relocated his team again. This time they merged with Fall River F.C. and revived the New Bedford Whalers name. The third Whalers were the American Soccer League champions for the Fall 1931 and Spring 1932 seasons and won the 1932 National Challenge Cup but then folded during
147-819: The Northeastern United States , mainly in the New York metropolitan area , Massachusetts , Rhode Island , and Pennsylvania . The ASL was created by the merger of several teams from the National Association Football League (NAFBL) and Southern New England Soccer League in 1921. The move came from a growing disenchantment with the mismanagement of the NAFBL as well as the desire by the United States Football Association (USFA) to create
168-595: The "soccer war". The ASL team owners defied USFA and FIFA, relying on the league's reputation to continue to draw players. At first it seemed as if the ASL might win; however, USFA then helped bankroll the creation of a new league, the Eastern Professional Soccer League (ESL), to rival the ASL. The three ex-ASL teams joined with several teams from the Southern New York Soccer Association (SNYSA) to form
189-567: The ASL's popularity rivaled the popularity of the National Football League . Disputes with the United States Football Association and FIFA , as well as the onset of the Great Depression , led to the league's collapse in spring 1933. The original American Soccer League, operating between 1921 and 1933, was the first significant, viable, professional soccer league in the United States. The league operated primarily in
210-576: The ASL. This led to a significant amount of resentment in Europe and threats of sanctions from FIFA , including the possible expulsion of the USFA. At the Sixteenth Annual Congress of FIFA on June 4, 1927, the USFA and the other national associations came to an agreement regarding player transfers which defused the situation. The ASL then ran afoul of the USFA when team owners complained that USFA's requirement that ASL teams play in
231-610: The Atlantic Coast League which began a 1930 spring-fall season. After the summer break, the league was renamed the American Soccer League and the league finished the fall half of the 1930 season with a different name than it began the spring half. However, the Soccer Wars had permanently crippled the ASL and it collapsed at the end of the 1933 spring season. Ironically, while USFA and FIFA "won"
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#1732775820459252-537: The ESL. This led to the SNYSA, under the leadership of Nat Agar , owner of the ASL Brooklyn Wanderers , to leave USFA and ally with the ASL. Despite the alliance between the ASL and SNYSA, the creation of a competing league caused severe financial strains on the ASL. The league finally broke and came into compliance with USFA and FIFA. In the fall of the 1929/30 season, the ESL and ASL merged to form
273-400: The cancellation of others. Those circumstances resulted in the cancellation of the season at a now unknown point at which Fore River was topping the standings. While the 1916–17 season went better than the previous one, it still left a lot to be desired. Two teams played eleven games ( J&P Coats and Crompton) and the rest varied from five to eight games completed. The 1917–18 season
294-568: The end of the SNESL in 1921 as several teams moved to the newly created American Soccer League . The Southern New England Soccer League's first season, 1914–15 , went well with the New Bedford Whalers taking the league title based on a single table points system. However, the 1915–16 season introduced many of the problems that would plague the league until its demise. Several teams refused to travel to away games and weather caused
315-429: The fall of 1921 at which point the NAFBL and SNESL both disbanded. American Soccer League (1921-1933) The American Soccer League , established in 1921, was the first of four different professional soccer sports leagues in the United States to use the ASL name. It was formed by the merger of teams from the National Association Football League and the Southern New England Soccer League . For several years
336-419: The gate receipts from 33.3% to 15%. However, resentment continued to simmer between the league and governing body. Matters came to a head in 1928, when the ASL decided to again boycott the Challenge Cup. When three ASL clubs, most prominently Bethlehem Steel , defied the league and entered the cup anyway, the ASL suspended them. In response, the USFA and FIFA declared the ASL an "outlaw league". This sparked
357-622: The league and quickly developed a rivalry with Fall River F.C. In 1926 the second Whalers won their only major trophy when they defeated New York Giants 5–4 in a two-game series to win the Lewis Cup. 1926 also saw the Whalers play in the one-off 1926 International Soccer League season which featured teams from both the United States and Canada . In 1929 the ASL and the US Football Association became involved in
378-460: The league held what was its most successful season. Only one team played less than ten games, and it disbanded during the season. Most of the teams played at least thirteen with a high of sixteen by the champions Fore River . However, frustration at the constant mismanagement led several of the teams to join with teams from the professional National Association Football League to create the American Soccer League . The ASL began its first season in
399-561: The league included Fall River Rovers . Of the five men who founded the club, John Fernley later became the president of the USFA and is in the National Soccer Hall of Fame . New Bedford was noted as having three full kits, a home, away and third kit. In 1924 a second New Bedford Whalers, formed by former members of Fall River Rovers , joined the American Soccer League . In both 1926 and 1928 they finished as runners-up in
420-442: The teams support and they failed to complete the Spring 1931 season. On April 19, 1931 they merged into Fall River F.C. The third Whalers were actually a successor club of Fall River F.C. Like the second Whalers, the 'Marksmen' had also suffered because of the Great Depression and for the Spring 1931 season their owner, Sam Mark , relocated them to New York where they merged with New York Soccer Club , previously known as
441-457: Was again cancelled for many of the same reasons as the 1915–16 season, but this time the league awarded the championship to J&P Coats . The next year, 1918–19, the season was cancelled entirely due to the loss of players to military service in World War I . While the league resumed play in 1919–20 , records have not allowed a complete reconstruction of the season. In the 1920–21 season ,
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