1916–17 American Cup
Soccer tournament
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The 1917 American Cup was the annual challenge cup held by the American Football Association. At the A.F.A.'s annual meeting on June 24 at the Continental Hotel in Newark, NJ the delegates elected were president Duncan Carswell of Orange, viceâpresident Donald McMillan of East Newark, treasurer Harry Craig of Paterson, recording secretary Robert M. Marshall of Arlington, and corresponding secretary Andrew H. Beveridge of Arlington.[1] Thirty-three teams entered the competition however none of the major Massachusetts teams entered. A new rule that season made by the Southern New England FA forbade their clubs from entering more than one tournament other than the State Cup. This being the case most of the teams opted for the National Cup instead. Bethlehem Steel brought home the trophy for the third time with a convincing 7-0 final win against the West Hudsons.
 | |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Dates | October 1916 â May 1917 |
| Teams | 33 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Bethlehem (3rd title) |
| Runners-up | West Hudson |
Preliminary round
The draw for the preliminary and first rounds was held October 1, 1916 at the Continental Hotel in Newark, NJ.[2] The Preliminary round featured one game between Putnam of Philadelphia and Victor Talking Machine Company of Camden.
Pennsylvania District
| Putnam | 7â0 | Victor |
|---|---|---|
| Ihrig (3) T. Walsh Hemingway Brown Brooks (pk) |
[3] |
First round
The first round games were scheduled to be completed by October 28. Brooklyn disbanded and were replaced with Continental. The PanâAmericans and Rovers of Fall River entered the tournament and were drawn together however no match was played per the SNEFA ruling this season. They were replaced with the Chicopee Rovers and Bridgeport Rangers. Scottish American advanced when Yonkers disbanded. Ford and Dublin won their first round engagements however both teams were disqualified due to fielding ineligible players allowing Continental and Clan MacDonald to advance.
New England District
| PanâAmerican | â | Fall River Rovers |
|---|---|---|
| [4] |
| Bridgeport City | 5â1 | General Electric (MA) |
|---|---|---|
| Hunziker (3) Satterwaite Taylor |
[5] | Kane |
| Chicopee Rovers | 2â2 | Bridgeport Rangers |
|---|---|---|
| 20' Logan (pk) 30' Hardiman |
[6] | 15' Stanley 1H' Stanley |
replay
| Bridgeport Rangers | 0â2 | Chicopee Rovers |
|---|---|---|
| [7] | 75' Logan 80' Daly |
NY/NJ District
| Alley Boys | 3â1 | Splitdorf |
|---|---|---|
| 15' Cunningham 63' Arberthnot 66' Cunningham |
[8] | 62' Charlie Fisher |
| General Electric (NY) | 4â1 | Bunker Hill |
|---|---|---|
| Harry Tolson (2) Good Yuille |
[9] | Vail |
| Scottish American | w/o | Yonkers |
|---|---|---|
| [10] |
| IRT Strollers | 0â0 | Brooklyn Celtic |
|---|---|---|
| [11] |
| Jersey A.C. | 3â1 | Ironside |
|---|---|---|
| Willie Kaelsch 35' Jack Neilson Willie Kaelsch |
[12] | Crompton |
| Babcock & Wilcox | 4â1 | Greenpoint |
|---|---|---|
| 15' Vander Wolf 30' Sweeney 50' Sweeney 70' Vander Wolf |
[13] | 20' Moran |
| Ford | 2â1 | Continental |
|---|---|---|
| 50' Pettigrew 55' Sherlock |
[14] | 65' Brett |
| New York FC | 1â0 | Clan MacDuff |
|---|---|---|
| 55' Puxty | [15] |
| Dublin | 1â1 | Clan MacDonald |
|---|---|---|
| Neil | [16] | Mitchell (pk) |
| West Hudson | 8â1 | Greenville |
|---|---|---|
| 48' Wuest Brierley Allen Wuest Brierley Brown Allen Allen |
[17] | Bishoff |
| Bay Ridge | 2â1 | Irish American |
|---|---|---|
| Porter Hough |
[18] | Dorkin |
replays
| Brooklyn Celtic | 3â2 | IRT Strollers |
|---|---|---|
| [19] |
| Clan MacDonald | 0â1 | Dublin |
|---|---|---|
| [20] | 1' Boardman |
Pennsylvania District
| Feltonville | 2â3 | Falls CFC |
|---|---|---|
| 2' Demko 1H' Foster (pk) |
[21] | 17' H. Beech 67' Smart 77' H. Derbyshire |
| Henry Disston | 8â0 | Hibernian |
|---|---|---|
| Coursey (2) McEwen (2) Barrett (2) Dutcher Rogers |
[22] |
| Bethlehem Steel | 6â1 | Putnam |
|---|---|---|
| 1H' Fleming (pk) 1H' Butler 2H' Fleming (2) 2H' Butler Fletcher |
[23] | 3' Gheeig |
Second round
The draw for the second round was held November 11, 1916 at the Continental hotel in Newark, NJ. Matches were due to be played on or before November 30.[24] The Chicopee Rovers were under suspension allowing Clan MacDonald to advance.
| New York FC | 3â1 | Bridgeport City |
|---|---|---|
| 10' Cooper 1H' Hayes 55' Carver |
[25] | 1H' Hunziker |
| West Hudson | 1â0 | Bay Ridge |
|---|---|---|
| 25' Dave Brown (pk) | [26] |
| Clan MacDonald | w/o | Chicopee Rovers |
|---|---|---|
| [27] |
| Alley Boys | 2â2 | Jersey A.C. |
|---|---|---|
| 10' Bannon 51' O'Donnell |
[28] | 50' Hogan 80' Jim Ingram |
| Brooklyn Celtic | 6â0 | Falls CFC |
|---|---|---|
| Parker (2) Ellis (2) Stark (2) |
[29] |
| Continental | 2â1 | General Electric (NY) |
|---|---|---|
| Zehnbauer Clow |
[30] | Carstairs |
| Bethlehem Steel | 2â0 | Henry Disston |
|---|---|---|
| Neil Clarke Pepper |
[31] |
| Scottish American | 1â2 | Babcock & Wilcox |
|---|---|---|
| 2H' Walsh | [32] | 15' Dave Muir 1H' Dave Muir |
replay
| Jersey A.C. | 2â1 | Alley Boys |
|---|---|---|
| James Ford 89' Hogan |
[33] | O'Donnell |
Third round
The draw for the third round was held December 16, 1916 at the Continental hotel in Newark, NJ. Games were to be played by January 28.[34]
| Jersey A.C. | 0â9 | Brooklyn Celtic |
|---|---|---|
| [35] | O'Halloran (5) McGreevey (2) McKenna Parker |
| Clan MacDonald | 4â1 | Continental |
|---|---|---|
| 25', 60', 65' Finn 85' Craig |
[36] | 35' Brett |
| New York FC | 1â2 | Bethlehem Steel |
|---|---|---|
| 1H' Hayes | [37] | 65' Chadwick 80' McKelvey |
| Babcock & Wilcox | 1â1 | West Hudson |
|---|---|---|
| 83' Dave Muir | [38] | 52' Davie Brown |
replay
| West Hudson | 4â0 | Babcock & Wilcox |
|---|---|---|
| 13', 2H' Dave Brown Wuest Del Brierley |
[39] |
Semifinals
Final
The American Cup final took place in Wiedenmayer's Park in Newark, NJ. The West Hudsons, fifth in the National Association Football League, had been the champions of the American Cup on three previous occasions. Bethlehem Steel came into the final having played 36 games winning 32 with two ties and a two losses. They had scored 135 goals with 25 against. Both teams had met in February in the third round of the National Challenge Cup with Bethlehem advancing. On May 5 the 'Steelmen' finished runnerâup in the National Challenge Cup to Fall River.
| West Hudson A.A. | 0â7 | Bethlehem Steel |
|---|---|---|
| [44][45] | 17' George McKelvey 19' Jimmy Easton Fred Pepper Fred Pepper(McKelvey) Jimmy Easton(Fleming) Paddy Butler 80' Tommy Fleming |