1931 National Challenge Cup

August 2023 National Challenge Cup 1931 Dewar trophy 1914.jpg Dewar Challenge Cup United States Fall River F.C. 4 Chicago Bricklayers Ben Millers Newark Americans 1930 1932 The 1931 National Challenge Cup was the annual open cup held by the United States Football Association now known as the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. History By the spring of 1931, the twin ravages of the Great Depression and the "Soccer Wars" had taken their toll on the American Soccer League. As a result, Sam Mark moved his Fall River F.C. to New York, hoping that a new market there would be more lucrative. Once there he merged the club with New York Soccer Club and renamed them the New York Yankees. Before the merger was finalised, however, Fall River F.C. had entered the National Challenge Cup and Mark was unable to re-register them as the Yankees. As a result, the Spring 1931 season saw them continue to play in the Challenge Cup as the Fall River F.C. while at the same time playing as the New York Yankees in the ASL. While the Yankees only managed to finish third in the ASL, the Marksmen won the cup. Largely on the goalscoring strength of Billy Gonsalves, with 9, and Bert Patenaude, with 13, they reached the final where they eventually beat Chicago Bricklayers in a final played as a three-game series. The last of these three games is officially regarded as the last game the 'Marksmen' ever played. The first leg of the final was played on April 5 at the Polo Grounds, where the 'Marksmen' won 6–2, and seemingly established a clear lead. Patenaude scored five goals in that game while Bill McPherson added the other. A week later at Mills Stadium in Chicago, the Bricklayers kept the series alive by earning a 1–1 draw. This time Gonsalves got on the score sheet. Sparta Stadium in Chicago attracted 4,500 for the deciding game on April 19. The 'Marksmen' could only field 10 players after their captain, Alex McNab, broke his arm in a midweek friendly and the club had neglected to bring along any reserves. Despite this they still managed to win 2–0 with goals from Patenaude and Gordon Burness. www.rsssf.com https://web.archive.org/web/20110513234203/http://www.rsssf.com/tablesu/usacuphist.html 2011-05-13 http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/year/1931.html American Soccer - 1931 2008-04-30 https://web.archive.org/web/20080616193214/http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/year/1931.html 2008-06-16 dead http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/asl.html www.sover.net 2008-04-30 https://web.archive.org/web/20090820070100/http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/asl.html 2009-08-20 dead Wangerin David Soccer in a football world May 12, 2006 WSC Books, Ltd. London, England 0954013476 The 'Marksmen' were not the only club to relocate, merge or disappear. This has made it difficult to follow the teams as they progressed through this year's competition. To muddy the waters more, the Providence F.C. had been bought by a group of Fall River businessmen and moved to that city to replace the 'Marksmen'. The 'Gold Bugs' were then renamed Fall River F.C. Furthermore, after the 'Gold Bugs' had moved to Fall River to become Fall River F.C., it merged with the New Bedford Whalers. As these teams had all played initial Challenge Cup games, the results become difficult to follow. Eastern Division January 10 - February 1 Fall River F.C. 1st Providence F.C. 2nd New Bedford Whalers 3rd Pawtucket Rangers 4th January 11 - Rochester Rochester Celtic 2 Fore River 3 January 11 - New York New York Galicia 2 Tappen Post 1 January 11 - February 15 Hakoah All-Stars 1st New York Giants 2nd New York Soccer Club 3rd Brooklyn Wanderers 4th January 11 - Newark Newark Americans 3 Newark Portuguese 0 January 11 - Dundalk BS Baltimore 7 Trenton Highlanders 1 Fall River F.C. Won Round Robin January 25 - Quincy Fore River 2 New York Galicia 5 Hakoah All-Stars Won Round Robin January 25 - Newark Newark Americans 6 BS Baltimore 1 February 23 - New Bedford Fall River F.C. 6 New York Galicia 2 February 22/March 15 Hakoah All-Stars 1-0 Newark Americans 2-2 March 22 - New York Fall River F.C. 6 Newark Americans 1 First round Second round no Western Division January 11 - St. Louis Ben Millers 5 Tablers 3 January 31 - St. Louis Kavanaughs 8 Hellrungs and Grimm 2 January 25 - Cleveland Cleveland Slavia 3 Bruell Hungarian 2 February 16 - Cleveland Cleveland Shamrock 1 Morgan F.C. 3 February 8 - Chicago Chicago Bricklayers 3 Olympia F.C. 0 February 8 - Chicago Sparta ABA 4 Maccabee All-Stars 0 February 8 - Chicago Swedish Americans 4 Norwegian Americans 0 February 1 - Detroit Liberty F.C. 0 Workers A.C. 2 February 8 - St. Louis Ben Millers 2 Kavanaughs 1 February 22 - Cleveland Cleveland Slavia 2 Morgan F.C. 1 February 15 - Chicago Chicago Bricklayers 2 Sparta ABA 1 February 15, 22 - Chicago Swedish Americans 4-2 Workers A.C. 4-1 March 1 - St. Louis Ben Millers 2 Cleveland Slavia 1 March 1 - Chicago Chicago Bricklayers 4 Swedish Americans 1 March 8, 15 Ben Millers 2-0 Chicago Bricklayers 7-1 First round Second round no Round Robin groups for Quarterfinal qualifying. New YorkPtsPldWLTGFGAGDHakoah All-Stars8642079-2New York Giants763211713+4New York Soccer Club562311312+1Brooklyn Wanderers462401116-5 New EnglandPtsPldWLTGFGAGDFall River F.C.106402197+12Providence F.C.66222119+2New Bedford Whalers662221113-2Pawtucket Rangers26042921-12 Final First game April 5, 1931 Fall River F.C. (MA) Patenaude , , , , McPherson Cuthbert Greenlees 6–2 https://www.newspapers.com/image/413926423/?terms=Bricklayers Chicago Bricklayers (IL) Polo Grounds New York, New York 12,000 Charles Creighton, New York (USA) Second game April 12, 1931 Chicago Bricklayers (IL) Gregg 57 pen. Gonsalves 40 1–1 Fall River F.C. (MA) Mills Stadium Chicago, Illinois 8,000 Jack Johnstone (USA) Second game (replay) April 19, 1931 Chicago Bricklayers (IL) Patenaude Burness pen. 0–2 Fall River F.C. (MA) Sparta Field Chicago, Illinois 4,500 Harry Pithie, Detroit, (USA) Sources Jose Colin American Soccer League, 1921-1931 Hardback The Scarecrow Press 1998 (0-8108-3429-4) 1931 U.S. Open Cup Results References Category:U.S. Open Cup seasons Nat Category:Fall River F.C. (1922–1931)