Bethlehem Steel F.C.
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Bethlehem Steel F.C. was one of the most successful early American soccer clubs. The club was named in recognition of the Bethlehem Steel corporation. The played their home games first at East End field in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley.
Bethlehem Steel became a professional club soon thereafter, however, importing many of their best players from Scotland and England.
The club was a member of the Allied American Foot Ball Association, and the American League of Association Football Clubs (both amateur leagues in Philadelphia), the National Association Foot Ball League, the Eastern Soccer League and the American Soccer League. Although one of the strongest teams of the time, the owners decided to disband the club before the inaugural ASL season, and form a new team, the Philadelphia Field Club. Management then re-signed the top players from Bethlehem and elsewhere. Although Philadelphia won the first ASL championship, the team was in financial trouble and lacked fan support. The team moved back to Bethlehem the next year taking back their old name.
Bethlehem Steel won the American Cup in 1914, 1916, 1917, 1918, 1919 and 1924. Additionally, they won the National Cup, currently the U.S. Open Cup, in 1915, 1916, 1918, 1919, and 1926, the Allied Amateur Cup in 1914 and the Lewis Cup in 1928.
Bethlehem folded after the 1930 Spring season, the first half of the ACL/ASL 1930 season.
[edit] Year-by-year
| Year | Division | League | Reg. Season | Playoffs | U.S. Open Cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1911/12 | N/A | AAFBA | N/A | Final | N/A |
| 1912/13 | N/A | AAFBA | 1st | Champion (no playoff) | N/A |
| 1913/14 | N/A | AAFBA | 1st | Champion (no playoff) | N/A |
| 1914/15 | N/A | ALAFC | 1st | Champion (no playoff) | Champion |
| 1915/16 | N/A | ? | ? | ? | Champion |
| 1916/17 | N/A | ? | ? | ? | Final |
| 1917/18 | N/A | NAFBL | 2nd | No playoff | Champion |
| 1918/19 | N/A | NAFBL | 1st | Champion (no playoff) | Champion |
| 1919/20 | N/A | NAFBL | 1st | Champion (no playoff) | ? |
| 1920/21 | N/A | NAFBL | 1st | Champion (no playoff) | ? |
| 1921/22 | see Philadelphia Field Club | ||||
| 1922/23 | 1 | ASL | 2nd | No playoff | ? |
| 1923/24 | 1 | ASL | 2nd | No playoff | Semifinals |
| 1924/25 | 1 | ASL | 2nd | No playoff | Did not enter |
| 1925/26 | 1 | ASL | 4th | No playoff | Champion |
| 1926/27 | 1 | ASL | 1st | Champion (no playoff) | Semifinals |
| 1927/28 | 1 | ASL | 2nd (1st half); 4th (2nd half) | Semifinals | ? |
| 1928/29 | 1 | ASL | withdrew after 6 games | N/A | N/A |
| 1928/29 | N/A | ESL | 1st | Champion (no playoff) | ? |
| Fall 1929 | N/A | ESL | 1st | Champion (no playoff) | N/A |
| 1930 | 1 | ACL (ASL) | 7th (Spring) | No playoff | Semifinals |
[edit] External links
- History of Bethlehem Steel by Dan Morrison.
