Philadelphia Soccer History

Featured / Philadelphia Soccer History

Bethlehem Steel FC in Scandinavia, 1919

A look at Bethlehem Steel FC’s 1919 Scandinavian tour, the first overseas tour by a US club.

Philadelphia Soccer History / US Soccer History

Philly and the first USA international tour

The US played its first full international in Sweden during the the First World War. Philadelphia-area players were an important part of that team.

Featured / Philadelphia Soccer History

Christmas soccer 1916: Bethlehem Steel in St. Louis

While Philadelphia soccer fans watched a soccer double header at the Phillies Ball Park on Christmas Day in 1916, Bethlehem Steel FC, holders of the National Challenge Cup and the American Cup, had traveled to St. Louis for two games to decide the unofficial title of champion of the United States.

Featured / Philadelphia Soccer History

Evolution of a kit: Bethlehem Steel FC

A look at the evolution of the uniform worn by Bethlehem Steel FC. Photos suggest the team wore as many as nine different jersey designs between 1912 and 1930.

Featured / Philadelphia Soccer History

America’s first footballers

In honor of Thanksgiving, we take a look at the football played by Native Americans when English colonists first began to arrive with a focus on the game played by the original inhabitants of the Delaware Valley, the Lenni Lenape.

The 1973 Philadelphia Atoms
Featured / Philadelphia Soccer History

Flashback: Philly in the 1973 NASL playoffs

As the second-year Philadelphia Union prepare for their first MLS playoff appearance, we take a look back at how the Philadelphia Atoms fared in the 1973 NASL playoffs in their inaugural year.

Featured / Philadelphia Soccer History

Philly and the international friendly, part 2

Our two-part series on Philly and the international friendly concludes with friendlies after the Second World War.

The Pilgrims, 1909
Featured / Philadelphia Soccer History

Philly and the international friendly, part 1

Ahead of the Union’s friendlies with Everton and Real Madrid, the first of a two part series looking at international friendlies in Philadelphia. Part one looks at friendlies up to the Second World War.

Featured / History / Philadelphia Soccer History

Bethlehem Steel FC

Bethlehem Steel FC were the most successful American soccer team of the first half of the Twentieth Century, rising quickly from an informal local side to professional national powerhouse in less than twenty years.

Featured / History / Philadelphia Soccer History

Philadelphia Hibernian in 1911 American Cup Final

Four Philadelphia teams—Collingwood FC, Philadelphia Thistle, Tacony FC and Philadelphia Hibernian—made it to the second round of the 1911 American Cup. By April 1911, only Hibernian had survived to face Rhode Island’s Howard & Bullough in the final.