Written by Dave Litterer (spectrum@sover.net)
The NAFBL appeared headed for demise before the start of the season, but was able to re-organize with a new generation of leadership. The league welcomed three new teams - Dublin F. C. of Paterson, New York F. C. and Newark Ironsides. Things didn't start out promisingly for the season, however. Brooklyn FC disbanded after being thrashed in their season opener 11-1 by New York F. C. They were replaced by Splitdorf F. C., but poor support led Splitdorf to fold before playing a single game. The first three months of the season were rough going until the new administration found its bearings, but things proceeded smoothly from there.
Jersey A. C. finished ahead of Kearney Scots and Babcock & Wilcox in a fairly close finish. Babcock & Wilcox, the winner of the New Jersey State Cup, finished 3rd. By the end of the season, the league was beginning to feel the effects of the US entry into World War I as players enlisted in the military ranks. As always, the NAFBL teams acquitted themselves well in the National Challenge Cup and the American Cup, with Jersey A. C., Babcock & Wilcox and West Hudson making decent appearances.
Final League Standings, 1916-1917
Before the season, Dublin, New York, and Newark were added.
GP W L T Pts
Jersey A.C. 12 8 1 3 19
Kearny Scots 12 7 3 2 16
Bayonne Babcock & Wilcox 11 7 4 0 14
New York F.C. 11 4 3 4 12
West Hudson A A 12 1 6 5 7
Dublin F.C. (Paterson) 10 2 7 1 5
Newark Ironsides 9 1 6 2 4
Brooklyn F.C. 1 0 1 0 0
Splitdorf F.C. 0 0 0 0 0
Brooklyn F. C. disbanded after their first game and were replaced
by Splitsdorf F. C. who disbanded before playing their first game.
After the season, Dublin, and Newark withdrew.
The NYSAFL's eleventh season was on par with the previous season - no great improvement, but still satisfactory performance and gate receipts. What had been expected to be a close race turned out to be somewhat less, as Brooklyn Celtic dominated the season, with an undefeated campaign, although they finished with a mere 5 point buffer. Clan MacDonald finished second, while the Overseas Wanderers took the honors in the 2nd division. This was Celtic's fifth consecutive league title, and they added to the honors by taking the Sultana Cup and the Southern New York State Cup to boot.
Final League Standings, 1916-1917
GP W L T Pts
Brooklyn Celtic 16 14 0 2 30
Clan MacDonald 16 12 3 1 25
Greenpoint F. C. 16 8 5 3 19
Clan MacDuff F. C. 16 8 6 2 18
I.R.T.F.C. 16 8 7 1 17
Bay Ridge F. C. 16 7 8 1 15
St. George F. C. 16 5 8 3 13
Continental F. C. 16 2 12 2 6
Cameron F. C. 16 0 15 1 1
La Sultana Cup: I. R. T. F. C. defeated Clan McDuff F. C. 2-1.
Southern New York Association Cup: I. R. T. F. C. defeated New York F. C. 2-0.
The Ben Millers again took the league title, their second in a row. But this time it wasn't an easy task, as they remained locked in a three-way battle with Innisfails and St. Leo's which was not resolved until the final week of the season, with the Millers taking the title just 1 point ahead of Innisfails. St. Leo's was a point back, in third. Interestingly enough, the worst team in the league, Naval Reserves was only three points behind St. Leo's; the parity was at an extreme, with all four teams clustered close to the .500 mark.
Final League Standings, 1916-1917
GP W L T Pts
Ben Miller 20 10 8 2 22
Innisfails 20 9 8 3 21
St. Leo's 20 8 8 4 20
Naval Reserves 20 7 10 3 17
Champion: Ben Millers
Municipal League Champion: Keen Kutter's Club
The 1916-17 season had been scheduled for 14 rounds, but not a single team could finish because of bad weather and the abundance of cup games. New Bedford F. C. won the league title - the Garcelon Cup - based on season play, with Fall River Rovers and J&P Coates close behind. New Bedford and Fall River continued their rivalry into the National Challenge Cup and the Times Cup, with Fall River eliminating New Bedford from both, by identical scores of 3-1 (in the 2nd and 1st rounds respectively). The Rovers would go on to win the Times Cup, defeating J&P Coates 3-0 in the final.
Final League Standings, 1916-1917
GP W L T GF GA PTS
New Bedford F.C. 8 6 1 1 18 10 13
Fall River Rovers 8 4 2 2 15 12 10
J&P Coats (Pawtucket) 11 4 5 2 20 18 10
Howard & Bullough (Pawtckt) 7 4 3 0 12 10 8
New Bedford Celtics 8 3 3 2 15 14 8
Crompton 11 2 6 3 13 20 7
Pan Americans 6 3 3 0 9 10 6
Fore River (Quincy, MA) 5 1 4 0 8 16 0
[Fore River lost 2 points by penalty]
The U. S. National team was inactive this year.
The Fall River Rovers won their first National Challenge Cup competition on May 5, 1917 in a grueling match at Pawtucket, RI. This Cup final was a matchup of two of the premier clubs of the time. Bethlehem Steel had won four Challenge Cup and American Cup titles in the past three years. The Rovers were a frequent contender for the Southern New England Soccer League title. Although the fans didn't know it immediately, the game had been settled in the first minute of play courtesy of John Sullivan's goal for the Rovers. From then on, it was a matchup of Bethlehem's superior offense against Fall River's superior defense, with neither team able to break the stalemate. But that was enough to give Fall River the game and the Cup, with a 1-0 win over Bethlehem Steel.
Fall River had opened their series by defeating General Electric FC 4-0, followed by a 3-1 win over New Bedford F. C., a 3-1 victory over Lynn Hibernians and a 6-1 thrashing of Howard and Bullough, sending them to the eastern section semi-final where they defeated Disston A. A. F. C. of Tacony, Philadelphia 4-3. Disston had made the semi-finals off of a 2-0 win over New York F. C. in the 4th round. In the western section, Bethlehem Steel opened with a 5-0 victory over Veteran A.A.F.C. of Philadelphia 5-0. They then dispatched Brooklyn Celtic 3-1, West Hudson FC 2-0 and Homestead FC 2-1. In the semi-finals, they defeated Joliet Steel Works of Joliet IL 6-0. Joliet had made the semi-final round courtesy of a 4-0 shutout of Detroit's Caledonian F. C.
The AFA Cup competition was somewhat marred when an agreement between the AFA and the Southern New England Association and the Northern Mass/NH Association, designed to prevent scheduling conflicts between their respective cup ties, was abandoned by the New England associations. The S.N.E.F.A. claimed that the terms of the contract were not fully reported at their meeting despite the fact their president had signed the complete contract. The end result was S.N.E.F.A. passing a rule forbidding its clubs from entering more than one out of state competition. Having bene forced to choose between the National Challenge Cup and the American Cup, the clubs chose the National Challenge Cup, depriv8ing the AFA event of several prominent teams, among the Fall River Rovers, New Bedford F. C., Pan-Americans and J&P Coates.
Nevertheless, there was good competition from the New York/New Jersey/Pennsylvania contingent. Brooklyn Celtic had been unstoppable in league and state cup competition, and surged into the third round where they trounced Jersey A. C. 9-0. Bethlehem Steel, still smarting from their National Challenge Cup competition, made a similarly easy cruise into the third round, defeating New York F. C. 2-1. Rounding out the final four were Clan MacDonald, who defeated Continental 4-1 and West Hudson, who defeated Babcock & Wilcox 1-1 and 4-0.
In the semi-finals, Brooklyn Celtic's juggernaut finally came to an end as they were upended by West Hudson 1-0, while Bethlehem Steel had no trouble with Clan MacDonald, beating them 5-0. The title match was played at Wiedenmayer's Park, Newark, New Jersey on May 13, 1917. Here Bethlehem Steel finally collected the silverware, shutting out West Hudson 7-0 in the most lopsided American Cup final in tournament history.
There were no international tours to or from the United States this year.
Intercollegiate Association Football League champion: Haverford
Penn Intercollegiate Association Football League Champion:Penn JV
College All Americans: G - Osler, Haverford RF - Iler, Cornell LB - Shipley, Haverford RH - Dibble, Cornell CH - C. Thorpe, Haverford LH - Barrie, Haverford OR - E. H. Thorpe, Haverford IR - Spencer, Pennsylvania CF - Nassau, Pennsylvania IL - Corson, Haverford OL - Tinsman, Pennsylvania
Last update: February 20, 2005
The USA Soccer History Archives are maintained by Dave Litterer
spectrum@sover.net