Ethnic and Industrial Soccer

In 1921, a team called the Falcos joined the American Soccer League (ASL) for its inaugural season. The ASL represented the first attempt to create a major professional soccer competition after 1894. Holyoke, Massachusetts, seemed an unlikely home for a professional club. The town had neither the population of some ASL cities nor a long history of success in top-level competitions like others. The chapter uses the Falcos as a case study to reveal three major trends in the history of soccer in the early twentieth century. The area had a long history of playing soccer. The professional debut of the Falcos happened because of the steady development of the sport, especially in the 1910s. Industrial firms, including the sponsor of the Falcos, played important roles in supporting local soccer communities. Although soccer was extremely popular with certain ethnic groups, it proved unable to expand outside of these enclaves.