Fall 1928

	P	W	D	L	Pts
Bethlehem Steel (C)	20	19	0	1	38
New York Giants	18	11	2	5	24
Hakoah All-Stars	18	10	4	4	24
Newark Skeeters	14	3	5	6	11
IRT Rangers	15	5	1	9	11
Philadelphia Centennials	14	3	5	7	10
New York Hispano	14	2	2	10	6
New York Celtics	8	0	2	6	2

Note: Incomplete Table: Table as at 28 December 1928 plus Five Wins for Bethehem Steel to finish out the season. 20 game season.

Spring 1928

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
New York Hakoah	18	12	4	2	68	23	28
Bethleham Steel (C)	15	9	4	2	41	21	22
IRT Rangers	13	7	1	5	30	30	15
New York Hungaria	16	6	2	8	31	44	14
New York Giants	15	6	1	8	52	24	13
New Bedford Whalers	8	6	1	1	26	14	13
New York Hispano	16	4	1	11	36	49	9
Philadelphia Centennials	12	3	0	9	24	50	6
Newark Skeeters	9	0	2	7	9	30	2
New York Celtics	?	?	?	?	?	?	?

Note: Bethlehem Steel were Champions, New York Celtics disbanded after two months, and New Bedford Whalers, Newark Skeeters and Philadelphia Centennials disbanded after season (or possibly during the season).

Fall 1929

	P	W	D	L	Pts
Bethlehem Steel (C)	13	11	0	2	22
Hakoah All-Stars	12	9	1	2	19
New York Giants	12	8	2	2	18
Newark Portuguese	11	4	3	4	11
New York Hispano	10	3	2	5	8
Victoria Hungaria	12	3	2	7	8
Newark Skeeters	8	0	1	7	1
IRT Rangers	10	0	1	9	1

Note: Before the season New York Hungaria became Victoria Hungaria. Complete Standings apart from one game: Betthlehem Steel v Newark Portuguese.

League Report

The second American Soccer League to take the name “Eastern Professional Soccer League”, the league arose out of a dispute between three clubs (New York Giants, Bethlehem Steel and Newark) and the American Soccer League I. The three clubs defied the ASL and entered the US Open Cup, and the ASL then banned them. The USFA (which ran the US Open Cup at the time) then responded by creating the EPSL, which added teams from the Southern New York State Association (SNYSA). The EPSL II played three seasons (Fall 1928, and Spring & Fall 1929) before merging with the ASL I after a peace deal to form the Atlantic Coast League.

At the time Soccer was the big Professional Sport in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New England, with Professional American Football (the NFL) most popular in Ohio, Upstate New York, New York City and the Mid-West (Wisconsin, Chicago, Illinois, Michigan).

Irish Players

Bethlehem Steel included the Irish players Pitt, who joined from Newry Town, as well as McMeekim and Gibson.All three players joined Glentoran in Northern Ireland for the 1931-32 Irish Football League season. [Reference: 2]

References

[1] RSSSF / David A. Litterer (2017) Eastern Professional Soccer League II [Internet] Available from: http://www.rsssf.com/usadave/epslii.html [Accessed 3 April 2017]

[2] “Recorder” (1931) The Goals at the Oval. Belfast Newsletter. Monday, October 12, 1931. pg. 3. [Available on the Internet at the Irish Newspaper Archive: https://www.irishnewsarchive.com/ [Accessed 11 September 2020]

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Richard Mulcahy, Fiona Connolly-Mulcahy, Conor Connolly-Mulcahy, Dara Connolly-Mulcahy, Orla Connolly-Mulcahy & Aodhan Connolly-Mulcahy

About this document

Researched, compiled and written by Enda Mulcahy for the

Eirball | Irish North American and World Sports Archive

Last Updated: 1 September 2020

(c) Copyright Enda Mulcahy and Eirball 2019-20

You may quote this document in part provided that proper acknowledgement is given to the authors. All Rights Reserved.