Our Beautiful Game: An American Soccer TL

Okay, King of the Uzbeks, I love you for doing an American Soccer TL. :D

I can't wait to see more (as someone who's attempted to sketch out an American Soccer TL with a PoD in the 1920s as well).
 
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The Official Poster for the Inaugural World Cup.​

Uruguay, the defending Olympic Champions, were the natural choice to host the first FIFA World Cup, with the added bonus of 1930 being the centennial of Uruguayan independence. Unfortunately while the tournament brought in 9 New World teams only four European teams made the expensive effort to travel all the way to Uruguay. France and Belgium were cajoled into playing by FIFA officials and the monarchs of Romania and Yugoslavia stepped in for their teams, though the latter's team was 100% Serbian.

As such the teams were:

Argentina
Belgium
Bolivia
Brazil
Chile
France
Mexico
Paraguay
Peru
Romania
United States
Uruguay
Yugoslavia

Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil and the United States were declared "seeded" teams so when the draw occurred they were separated. Once all teams had arrived the groups were drawn.

Group 1:
Argentina
Romania
Mexico
Bolivia

Group 2:
United States
France
Belgium

Group 3:
Brazil
Paraguay
Chile

Group 4:
Uruguay
Peru
Yugoslavia

The American team had players from around the ASL as well as other places from around the country. Its coach was from the ailing Newark Skeeters, Robert Millar. However he had been selected for his work with the New York Nationals, soon to be Giants, where they had been quite successful. The team was mostly made up of ASL players, only 5 were not players in the league. The overwhelming favorites, especially in the absence of European teams, were the gold and silver Medalists from Amsterdam, Uruguay and Argentina respectively.

Group 1 was the realm of the Argentines. They opened their tournament by defeating Romania 3 goals to 1, cementing the perceived weakness of the European teams in the tournament. Bolivia would prevail over Mexico in their match with a goal near the end of the first half. Mexico would also fall to Argentina with two goals going to Guillermo Stábile. Romania and Boliva tied 1 all in a rather boring game. Bolivia, with 3 points, could have won the group over Argentina, who currently had 4, had they won the match. They did not, falling 3-0 with two more goals from Stábile. Romania and Mexico tied 1-1 in the consolation game.

Nation
Pts​
GD​

Argentina
6​
+7​

Bolivia
3​
-2​

Romania
2​
-2​

Mexico
1​
-2​


Billy Gonsalves of the Fall River Marksmen would score both of the American goals in a shutout victory over Belgium. The Belgians would then fall to a weakened France 1 to 0, opening the way for a de facto playoff between the USA and France to advance to the Semifinals. France would be relentless during the first half attack, but only one shot for past the National's Jimmy Douglas. The second half saw the Americans begin attacking, with much greater success, scoring two goals early in the half to take the lead and a third towards to end to deal the deal. A fourth goal at the very end undoubtedly reaffirmed America's strength.

Nation
Pts​
GD​

United States
4​
+5​

France
2​
-2​

Belgium
0​
-3​


The hosts, Uruguay, would open their cup with a 4-0 thrashing of Peru. Striker Pedro Cea recorded the first World Cup hat truck ever on the path to victory. Yugoslavia would prove better then expected by soundly defeating the Peruvians 3-0. Everyone favored the Uruguayans to win easily, only to be shocked when Yugoslavia entered halftime tied 1-1. Uruguay would take control of the game in the second half however, though they would only win 2-1.

Nation
Pts​
GD​

Uruguay
4​
+5​

Yugoslavia
2​
+2​

Peru
0​
-7​

Group 4 was the most boring group of the tournament. Despite being seeded Brazil failed to amaze the crowds of Montevideo. They first defeated Paraguay 1-0 in a dull match that saw the only goal scored off of a fluky deflection of the Paraguayan keeper. Brazil's winning goal against Chile would actually be intentional in the 6th Minute, but the rest of the game proved dull. Nobody really cared all that much when Chile defeated Paraguay to get runner up in the group, again by a score of 1-0.

Nation
Pts​
GD​

Brazil
4​
+2​

Chile
2​
0​

Paraguay
0​
-2​

Thus the Semifinals were

Uruguay vs Argentina
United States vs Brazil.

The Uruguay-Argentina semifinal was more widely focused on the the one between the United States and Brazil. "It is a shame," wrote one Montevideo Newspaper "that the winner of the tournament shall not be determined by the final." It would prove an exciting match with Argentine striker Guillermo Stábile opened early with a quick goal in the 9th minute. For the first section of the first half the Argentines would press onwards, but be unable to crack the Uruguayans a second time. A goal from Pedro Cea in the 24th minute came after a reversal of the tide. The hosts would take the lead in the 38th minute off of a corner kick that was tapped in by Héctor Castro. They would continue this momentum into the second half, Castro would score again followed by Pablo Dorado, giving the hosts a 4-1 lead by the 69th Minute. The Argentines would be relentlessly attacking for the rest of the game, and a break away by Stabile was controversially ruled offsides, preventing a shift of momentum. The Montevideo crowd cheered as if they had won the World Cup.

America and Brazil's game was seen as a battle for second place and was a solid victory for the Americans. SLSL star Raphael Tracey scored early in the first half and the United States controlled the first half of the game, with Bert Patenaude of Fall River scoring in the 23rd minute, giving them a 2-0 lead. The opening of the second half saw a series of Brazilian attacks that were a threat to the American defense but that never materialized into any goals for the Brazilians, with Goalkeeper Jimmy Douglas helping to hold off the onslaught. By the 55th minute the attacks slowed to a halt and play went back and forth. In the 66th minute Jim Brown scored, sealing the deal for the Americans who would coast onwards to the win.

Despite there never being a playoff, most pundits, then and now, recognize Argentina as being better then Brazil and deserving of recognition for being the third best team at the tournament.

It is hard to overstate just how large a favorite the Uruguayan team was going into a final. Almost every publication declared the tournament more or less over. With a home field advantage and a team hot off winning the Gold Medal the Uruguayans had been the pre-tournament favorites and vanquishing their nearest rivals in the Semifinals had only increased their stock. Preparations were in place for a massive celebration of victory. For the first half of the march it seemed to be coming true, the Uruguayans dominated the attack, keeping the American team hard pressed to find any advantages. It surely must have been a little disappointing to see Jimmy Douglass's save count rise and Frank Vaughn chase down a breakaway early, but a Castro goal in the 35th minute seemingly made it all worth it. The score at halftime was 1-0 Uruguay. The early second half saw similar dominance by the hosts, but they proved unable to score another goal. Eventually Vaughn would manage to get a good, long clearance that was chased down by the Scottish born Bart McGhee who initiated a counter attack that pressed hard onto the Uruguayan defense, it would be team captain Tom Florie who would manage to dodge two defenders and sneak the ball into the goal, tying the game 1-1 in the 71st minute. The crowd was stunned into silence. The following minutes would see a renewed Uruguayan offensive, however it was now punctuated by American counter attacks that looked increasingly dangerous as the Americans gained confidence. In the 87th minute another one of these assaults was managed, with Raphael Tracey making a long run towards the penalty box from midfield. He ended up forced towards the sideline, where he made a high, arcing pass to just in front of the goal. Both Jim Brown and the Uruguayan keeper, Enrique Ballestrero, leapt up for it. There was a collision and both players hit the ground as the ball sailed out of play. Uruguayans will claim that Brown leapt into Ballestrero, making the Americans in the foul. But Americans, and crucially referee John Langenus, saw Ballestrero push up off of Brown hard and illegally. The Americans were, to the horror of the crowd, awarded a penalty kick which would be buried in the net by Bert Patenaude. The final minutes of the match were marked by frantic attempts to score by the Uruguayans and frantic attempts to keep the crowd off the pitch. When the final whistle blew Langenus made a hasty exit via boat while Jules Remit gave the cup to the surprised but enthusiastic Americans.

The reports of "WORLD CHAMPIONS OF SOCCER" and the "MIRACLE OF MONTEVIDEO" made good newspaper headlines in a darkening economy in the United States and fans flocked to see the heroes of the tournament, and the touring World Cup trophy. "Soccer Fever" would boost attendance in the SLSL and ASL for a brief period from 1930-31, giving the leagues the crucial time to adapt as best the could to the new realities of the depression, and kept more then one team afloat.

But it would not end the struggles of American soccer.

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But it would not end the struggles of American soccer.
College is what would save Soccer at long term, creating a long term fanbase for players and giving them chance to get Added Value before going pro, plus that helped a lot, heck even europeans might get invited to got college as easier to sell that college might give your childerns career alongside honning the skills for the pro, plus college would use the same field as Gridiron Football and create a long term fanbase.
 
Well, looks interesting. You've got some basic single letter spelling errors in your copy, but otherwise, it's a very good timeline.

And yes, college soccer is what will save it, especially if it can overtake gridiron in the Ivy League.
 
Wow, this is interesting. An actual American Soccer TL that is not the MLS and not formed in Modern Times because Premier League. Good work.

I suspect after the World Cup victory, Association Football will have a boost enough to survive the Great Depression and bring the World Game to America's backyards, parks, school sports fields and plains.
 
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The 1931 Season saw Soccer Fever fade off and the economic realities come down onto ASL teams. Fall River, the New York Giants and New Bedford would fight for the top, with Fall River coming out on top of the chart for the first half of the season as New Bedford began to fade. The middle of the table was a mess, with various game cancelations resulting in it being impossible to tell who was better then who. Providence however rapidly proved to be falling apart financially. During the break they moved to New Jersey and rebranded themselves the Newark Goldbugs. The second half of the season again saw victory for the dominant Marksmen, who cruised ahead to Victory. The Goldbugs folded after Newark proved no more appealing then Providence

The League cup would see a victory by the Giants, disrupting hopes by Fall River for a Triple Crown on their way to beating New Bedford in the final.

As was becoming tradition the winner of the eastern bracket of the Challenge Cup. In this case Fall River would defeat Bethlehem Steel and New Bedford before taking a victory lap around Vesper Buick.

The offseason saw the Pawtucket Rangers pack up and move to Hartford, Connecticut, though they would keep the name "rangers".

1932's first half would see Fall River surge ahead, steamrolling the competition, even as the economy floundered. New Bedford proved a distant second to the Marksmen, just barely ahead of the Giants. The Hokoah All-Stars, Bethlehem Steel and the Hartford Rangers all finished in the middle, while New York FC Boston were at the bottom. The second half of the season saw Fall River fade as economic realities forced then to drop some of their star player. Still they came close to winning, but ended out being edged out by New Bedford. The playoff would see the Whalers defeat fervent attacks by the Marksmen along to win on the backs of goals by Bill Patterson and Jerry Best.

Fall River would however get revenge in the League Cup, managing to defeat New Bedford in the final.

The New York Giants would prove the victors of the challenge cup, brushing aside the Whalers and Bethlehem on their way to defeating Fall River in the eastern conference final. The would defeat Ben Millers in the final.

Fans of American Soccer would be disappointed when the 1932 Olympics did not hold a soccer tournament. Fans of American Football were disappointed by the 3-0 score of the exhibition game at the Olympics.

1933 saw the inauguration of a New President and the inauguration of a New power in American soccer, the New York Giants who romped past traditional powers Fall River and Bethlehem Steel to take the victory in the first half of the season. The second half would fare little better for opponents of the Giants who, backed by the more stable money of their baseball counterparts, once again breezed through the league. The strain of being the worst team out of a ridiculous four in New York City took its toll on the Brooklyn Wanderers, who collapsed before the league cup began. The All-Stars took the opportunity and rebranded themselves the Brooklyn Hokoah, sliding into the old position of Brooklyn's team.

The League Cup would also be won by the Giants, who faced more competition in the final from Fall River then they had in the regular season.

The Challenge Cup saw the Giants tear through their enemies in the eastern bracket only to be shockingly upset for the cup by the upstart Chicago Sparta, who had defeated the Saint Louis Clubs on the way to their surprise win. The SLSL had not capitalized off of Soccer Fever like the ASL had managed to, but were still relatively strong in the West. Their defeat by Chicago hastened their relative decline. Sparta had been relatively successful previously and was considered the best team outside of the ASL and SLSL. The upset again kept the Treble out of any team's grasp.

1934 would see the Giants dominate the first half of the season breezing by opposition to their victory, Fall River and a slightly resurgent Bethlehem would be distant competitors. Poor results over the past few years doomed Boston's team to collapse, bringing the ASL to its lowest point in years. The second half saw Bethlehem Steel return to form after poaching several of Fall River's best players, they put up a fight but still fell short of defeating the Giants. Fall River fell rapidly, finishing second to last just above Brooklyn. The Giants managed to stem the rise of Bethlehem in the playoff and won the league.

The League Cup was a predictable affair, with Bethlehem and the Giants marching to the finals. Bethlehem would win in a tight 2-1 game, off of a strong defense.

The Challenge Cup did not see another upset as Bethlehem Steel trounced Sparta this time around, having blown through their bracket, again defeating the New York Giants.

American Soccer fans awaited a follow up to 1930 as the World Cup went to Fascist Italy.

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Unlike American Football Soccer developed as a college game after professionalism had developed on a relatively large scale. Unsurprisingly the powers of the sport would emerge where the ASL was strongest, the northeast, though the late arrival hurt the sport and it would not surpass college football for a very long time. Teams were often chaotic and unwieldy affairs and the scheduling of games was inconsistent, but the quality of play improved over time. Though the ASL had plenty of foreign players for teams that could afford them some teams couldn't and even those that could wanted some "homespun" players. Colleges of the northeast, for all their chaos, were one major source of players, the other being urban ethnic leagues.

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