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Post by webster on Dec 31, 2013 1:37:21 GMT
Taking a page from Strat's sports thread and remembering the question I asked over in the AH Discussion area, I'd thought I'd go ahead and start a sports-related thread.... Thus, we have this thread.. A little background to start the ball rolling....during an interview early in the 2013-2014 ASL campaign, American Soccer League President Don Garber was asked by NBC Sports Network's Rebecca Lowe to describe the sport's 100th campaign; Garber said, quoting in part: ...and thus we get the ball rolling.... ...and the story begins...
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Post by stratonascar on Dec 31, 2013 2:44:50 GMT
Great Idea, However my thread focuses on American Football but we will still see more teams to this TL so we will probably consider this as the All Cried Out for Association Football, So I Can't wait to see how would the San Jose Earthquakes shake up in this TL when we get there!
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Post by webster on Dec 31, 2013 6:26:41 GMT
1913-1914 American Soccer Pyramid--32 teams divided into 3 leagues: ....with a system of relegation & promotion as follows... Promotion & Relegation--American Soccer League: Bottom 2 teams relegated to ASL Division 1 --ASL Division 1 1st & 2nd-placed side automatically promoted to ASL Bottom 2 sides relegated to ASL Division 2 --ASL Division 2 1st & 2nd-placed side automatically promoted to ASL Div.1 Bottom 2 sides relegated to Regional Leagues w/Regional League winners promoted to ASL Div.2 For the inaugural season, teams in the American Soccer League competed in a 22-game schedule; however, with only 10 teams in ASL Divisions 1 and 2, a solution had to be found to equalize the number of games per division. At the end of Week 18 in the schedule, both ASL Divisions 1 and 2 will divide into 2 five-team blocks (1st-5th & 6th-10th in each block). Each block will contest 4 matches each; at the end of those matches, the rules for promotion & relegation then apply in each division.
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Post by webster on Jan 2, 2014 2:35:11 GMT
1913-1914 American Soccer League 1913-1914 ASL Division 1 1913-1914 ASL Division 2
In the ASL's inaugural year, the campaign could be defined as that of "follow the leader"...and in the ASL's inaugural campaign, this meant trying to catch both Western NY-based Rochester F.C. (ASL) and Westchester NY-based Yonkers F.C. (ASL Div. 2); through the year, both football clubs were at or near the top of each flight; as the year progressed and both clubs continued their dominance of the pitch, it soon became apparent that both would eventually face off in the top-flight of American soccer, sooner or later... 1913-1914 U.S. Open Cup
During the runup to the inaugural ASL campaign, little thought had been given to determining which sides would participate in the inaugural U.S. Open Cup, a concern that began eating at the minds of ASL officials, most notably Thomas Cahill, the ASL's inaugural president. Eventually, the decision was made early in the year's campaign to simply draw the "First Seven", the seven clubs that would participate in the inaugural Open Cup, during the same draw that determined the top-three flights of the ASL itself that year. Those "first seven" teams were.... (ASL)Rochester F.C. (ASL)Hollywood Inn F.C. (ASL)NY Celtic (ASL-1)Roses FC (ASL-1)Columbia Oval FC (ASL-2)Yonkers FC (ASL-2)Babcock & Wilcox The format for the inaugural Open Cup was also decided at the same time as the selection of teams for the inaugural cup... --2 teams would face-off in a 2-leg home-and-away series of matches; the team scoring the most goals in aggregate would advance to the next round, known as the Group Stage or colloquially as "the Hex". --Each of the six sides within 'the Hex' would play the other sides once, for a total of five matches per team --At the end of this round, the top-two teams would square off in a 2-leg Championship, with the team scoring the most goals in aggregate winning the U.S. Open Cup. Going into the Group Round, all eyes were on both Rochester F.C. and Yonkers F.C. as both had dominated their respective flights(ASL & ASL Div.1) and most assumptions were that, following Match Day 5, they would square off against one another in the Championship Round....were they ever wrong. Going into the final day of group matches, Yonkers FC had already clinched a spot in the Championship; the question was who would join them...would it be NY Celtic, the upstarts from the borough of Queens...would it be Mannhattan's own, Columbia Oval F.C....or would Western NY's Rochester F.C. pull out a last-day victory and sneak into the Championship? With all three matches set for noon kickoffs', it would be an interesting day to say the least. Match Day 5 (all matches at 12pm; all fixtures listed are home vs. away) --Roses F.C. vs. Hollywood Inn F.C. (Roses F.C. 2-0) --Yonkers F.C. vs. NY Celtic (0-0 Draw) --Rochester FC vs. Columbia Oval F.C. (Rochester F.C. 2-1) Though Rochester F.C. won its' match over Columbia Oval F.C. 2-1, eliminating the Oval and putting Rochester in the 2nd-place spot with 8 pts. and a +2 goal differential, their dream of completing the Double (winning their flight and winning the Open Cup in the same campaign) turned to ashes minutes later when a stoppage-time penalty shot by Yonkers F.C. Donald Lawrie was blocked by N.Y. Celtic goalkeeper Gordon McLeod, preserving a 0-0 draw...the result: Yonkers F.C. advanced on 10 pts. in the Group Round, while NY Celtic would advance on 9 pts; meanwhile, Rochester would finish in third on 8 pts, out of the Championship Round. 1913-1914 U.S. Open Cup Championship Round ~~Yonkers F.C. vs. NY Celtic -1st Leg (at NY Celtic): NY Celtic 2-1 -2nd Leg (at Yonkers FC): Yonkers FC 3-2 (Yonkers F.C. wins 5-4 on aggregate; 4-4 following 2nd leg and 3-1 on penalty kicks)...after 180+ minutes, the Championship Round came down to a penalty-shootout and wouldn't you know it, but once again Celtic's keeper, Gordon McLeod, would face off once more with Yonkers' mid-fielder Donald Lawrie, this time with the Cup in hand. Unlike last time, though, Lawrie's shot sailed past an outstretched McLeod, landing in the back of the net and giving Yonkers' the inaugural Open Cup with a 5-4 aggregate score. 1913-1914 ASL Champions.... --American Soccer League: Rochester F.C. --ASL Division 1: N. Chicago --ASL Division 2: Yonkers F.C. --U.S. Open Cup: Yonkers F.C.
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Post by webster on Jan 3, 2014 4:19:13 GMT
1914-1915 American Soccer Pyramid--32 teams divided into three leagues: x-Promoted from ASL Division 1 a-Relegated from American Soccer League b-Promoted from ASL Division 2 a-Relegated from ASL Division 1 b-Promoted from New England Soccer League (in exchange for New Bedford F.C.) c-Promoted from NY-NJ Soccer Association (in exchange for Brooklyn F.C.)
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Post by webster on Jan 11, 2014 0:36:55 GMT
1914-1915 American Soccer League 1914-1915 ASL Division 1 1914-1915 ASL Division 2
Oh, the difference one year can make; in this case, this axiom seemed to affect two teams in particular: Rochester F.C. and NY Celtic. In the previous year, it seemed as though Western NY's team could do no wrong while the Queens' side couldn't stop tripping over themselves..well, this year, it was the reverse. Throughout the 1914-1915 ASL campaign, Rochester F.C. suffered at every turn - bad calls, missed shots-on-goal, the occasional foolish red card; anything that could go wrong did. On the other hand, NY Celtic seemed to have everything go for it and it showed; for most of the 22-week season, they were either 1st or 2nd, with two of the three ASL Philly sides (W. Philadelphia and NE Philadelphia) managing to keep apace with Celtic. In the end, though, a late stumble would see the Supporters' Shield fall from Celtic's grasp and into the hands of Philly's West-side club as, in a surprising turn of events, both clubs would hoist the Shield at season's end. 1914-1915 ASL Champions... ASL: W. Philadelphia & NY Celtic ASL Div.1: Niagara Falls F.C. ASL Div.2: Peabody F.C. 1914-1915 U.S. Open Cup
For the first time, qualitative decision-making was used to determine the draw for the year's Open Cup and it showed as three new sides made the Cup field.... (ASL)Rochester F.C. (ASL)Hollywood Inn F.C. (ASL)Watsessing F.C. (ASL-1)N. Chicago (ASL-1)Bridgeport Pres. F.C. (ASL-2)Yonkers F.C. (ASL-2)Babcock & Wilcox Following a spirited First Round between Watsessing F.C. and Bridgeport Pres. F.C., which Bridgeport won on aggregate 2-1, the six remaining sides locked horns in a 5-match Hex which proved two things: (1)that the lower-tier sides were still the dominant powers in the Open Cup tournament and (2)that Rochester F.C., for all of its' impressive victories in the previous year's ASL campaign, were unable to translate that success into this year's Open Cup. In the end, though, no one in the Hex could stop ASL-2 side Babcock & Wilcox; under the tutelage of Andrew Brown, the Bayonne side ran through the Hex with an impressive 3-2-0 record, not losing a single match until the 1st leg of the 2-leg Championship round against Hollywood Inn F.C. In the end, though, the company team won out on 2-leg aggregate, hoisting the Open Cup following a 2-0 win on home soil... 1914-1915 U.S. Open Cup: Babcock & Wilcox (ASL Division 2)
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Post by webster on Jan 22, 2014 9:35:51 GMT
Great Idea, However my thread focuses on American Football but we will still see more teams to this TL so we will probably consider this as the All Cried Out for Association Football, So I Can't wait to see how would the San Jose Earthquakes shake up in this TL when we get there! Even though I'm just wrapping up season #3 (1915-1916) atm, I can say this, Strat: going over the long, long history of American soccer OTL, odds are there should be at least 2 or 3 Cali-based teams in the ASL; whether one of them is the OTL San Jose side I'm not certain of but there should be at least one in the Bay Area.
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Post by webster on Jan 23, 2014 3:54:06 GMT
1915-1916 American Soccer Pyramid--32 teams divided into three leagues: x-promoted from ASL Division 1 a-relegated from American Soccer League b-promoted from ASL Division 2 a-relegated from ASL Division 1 b-promoted from Midwest Soccer League in place of Packard F.C. c-promoted from New England Soccer League note: Braddock A.F.C. folded after 1914-1915 season note 2: promotion & relegation rules apply as in previous seasons
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Post by webster on Jan 23, 2014 3:57:57 GMT
1915-1916 American Soccer League1915-1916 ASL Division 11915-1916 ASL Division 2
While the previous season had its' share of excitement, the 1915-1916 campaign (at least within the top-flight of ASL) could be described as "follow-the-leader" with last year's co-Supporters' Shield champions NY Celtic playing the role of leader, a role they gained early on in the campaign and never relinquished, even though they had to sweat out Round 22's matches due to the fact that they hadn't clinched beforehand. But sweat it out they did and at the end of the day on April 22, 1916, NY Celtic could finally breathe a sigh of relief; for the second year in a row, they could hoist the Supporters' Shield as ASL Champions... unlike the year before, though, they got the shield all to themselves. 1915-1916 U.S. Open CupGoing into the year's Open Cup competition, NY Celtic was seen as the clear favorite to end ASL-2 streak of back-to- back victories; in the words of NY Celtic manager Bob Millar, "it's one thing to hoist the Shield but our fans want the Double and by George, that's just what we're going to do." Guess what? That's exactly what they did: going through the Hex Round, NY Celtic dominated, cruising to a 4-0-1 record, notching 13 pts. and a trip to the Championship Round, where they would face a familiar top-flight foe in West Philadelphia, one of the few teams to beat the Queens NY side during the year. But that was in ASL competition, this was the Open Cup...and after a 3-1 win in W. Philly, the two sides went honors-even at Celtic Field, thus giving NY Celtic their first-ever Double (league win & Open Cup title). It was also the first-time that the top-flight titlist had claimed the Open Cup, thus vanquishing the growing fears that top-flight clubs had a tendency to fold outside of league matches. 1915-1916 ASL Champions... --ASL: NY Celtic --ASL 1: N. Chicago --ASL 2: W. Massachusetts --U.S. Open Cup: NY Celtic
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Post by webster on Jan 31, 2014 4:16:41 GMT
1916-1917 American Soccer Pyramid1916-1917 American Soccer League1916-1917 ASL Division 11916-1917 ASL Division 2With the growing clouds of World War continuing to drift across the Atlantic towards the U.S., everyone was focused on the Supporters' Shield in the ASL's top-flight; for two years running, Queens-based N.Y. Celtic had hoisted the ASL championship at season's end, backing it up at the end of the 15'-16' campaign with an Open Cup championship. This year, things didn't quite go to plan, courtesy of the reigning ASL-1 champions, N. Chicago. Managed by Frank Foldi, N. Chicago took their aggressive style of play to the ASL's top-flight and soon found themselves fighting tooth-and-nail with the Big Apple's resident champs; as the season went on, all eyes began to focus on them, culminating in a season-finale at Thompson Field on Chicago's North Side. After a spirited 97 minutes of play (45+3 and 45+4), most would've figured NY Celtic hoisting the Supporters' Shield up a third-straight year....they would've been wrong; as a dejected NY Celtic left the pitch, Foldi's Boys - as the Chicago press referred to them - stood in the stands, hoisting the Supporters' Shield high and proud, marking the first time that a side not from the East Coast had won; in addition, they became the first club to win back-to-back division titles, having won Division 1 honors the previous year.... 1916-1917 U.S. Open CupAlthough the bulk of the '16-'17 Open Cup began following America's entry into World War I, the tournament continued on, having already begun in early Dec. 1916 with the First Round (Fulton FC-Peabody FC). Just as in the ASL's top-flight, most expected NY Celtic to dominate...and just as before, they were wrong; this time, though, it was second-tier W. Massachusetts who stole the show, going 4-1-0 in the Hex Round, which began with a 4-0 thrashing...of NY Celtic, led by a brace by W. Mass F Robert Potee, who made Celtic's players look rather amateurish. Eventually, W. Mass. would go on to face ASL champions N. Chicago in a 2-leg championship; though N. Chicago would hold the Bay Staters' to a 2-2 draw in the first leg, another Potee brace of goals propelled W. Mass. to a 3-2 victory in the return leg, meaning that W. Mass. would hoist the Dewar Cup at tournament's end, marking the first time that a non-Mid Atlantic squad had won the title... Unfortunately, their celebrations would be short-lived when ASL President Thomas Cahill, citing the U.S. government's decision to enter World War I, announced that by a unanimous vote of both the ASL and U.S. Soccer Federation boards, there would be no 1917-1918 season...little did anyone know that the next ASL campaign wouldn't be until at least 2 years afterward; by the time soccer resumed in the U.S., it would be late summer of 1919, not 1918 as many had hoped.... 1916-1917 American Soccer League ChampionsASL: N. Chicago ASL-1: W. Massachusetts ASL-2: Columbia Oval F.C. U.S. Open Cup: W. Massachusetts
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Post by Steve on Mar 7, 2014 23:34:44 GMT
*Bump*!
Looking good so far, Webster. =)
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