{"id":38588,"date":"2015-09-30T09:11:25","date_gmt":"2015-09-30T13:11:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=38588"},"modified":"2015-09-30T09:52:18","modified_gmt":"2015-09-30T13:52:18","slug":"forgotten-champions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=38588","title":{"rendered":"Forgotten Champions"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Goalkeeper<\/a>

L-R Goalkeeper Tommy Murdoch, center halfback William Thomson and left halfback Fred Watkins all helped Shawsheen become an unlikely Open Cup champion in 1925. (Photo credit: Fall River Daily Globe)<\/p><\/div>\n

On Wednesday, the right to raise the Dewar Cup\u00a0will be at stake when the Philadelphia Union and Sporting Kansas City meet at PPL Park in the U.S Open Cup Final. But 90 years ago, an ambitious\u00a0side from Andover, Mass. claimed its own piece of tournament history.<\/p>\n

The 1924-25 Shawsheen FC side – known locally as “the Indians” – were not what many would classify as a Cup contender going into the tournament’s 12th edition. Hardly, by any measure.\u00a0They were an amateur side comprised entirely of twenty-something Scottish immigrants that played in the semi-professional National League, a collection of New England-based clubs that\u00a0were essentially worthy of division II status.<\/p>\n

Although the Shawsheeners were overshadowed by local\u00a0ASL powerhouses like the Fall River Marksmen, J&P Coats, and the Boston Wonder Workers, they were backed by an owner who had visions of grandeur, George M. Wallace. Oh, and a powerful corporate sponsor in American Woolen Company, whom Wallace worked for when he wasn’t attending to the business of building his soccer team’s stature.<\/p>\n

The Indians were formed in 1921, and shortly after Wallace assumed ownership of the side in 1922, he had a sparkling home grounds\u00a0built just for them – Balmoral Park. The stadium featured large rows of stands, locker rooms and hot showers, the latter a luxury that many ASL teams would envy.<\/p>\n

After dominating the competition in the Industrial Soccer League in 1923, the squad entered the National League in 1924. They sustained their strong form during the autumn, and by Christmas, they were the top team in the league.<\/p>\n

\"L-R<\/a>

L-R Alex Carrie, center forward and Robert Blyth, outside right forward (Photo credit: Fall River Daily Globe)<\/p><\/div>\n

Not long after, Wallace made a bold announcement:\u00a0his team would enter the 1925\u00a0U.S. Open Cup tournament. Despite the fact that top-tier ASL teams virtually owned the competition in recent years, Wallace believed that his\u00a0selection\u00a0could make\u00a0it big. And in terms of trophies, there was none bigger in American soccer than the Dewar Trophy.<\/p>\n

Their first foe, Arlington Mills, withdrew prior to round one, and the Indians went on to face the Whittal FC in round two. The Indians cruised to 4-1 win before meeting Bayonne FC in the semifinals. The Shawsheen side staked a 2-0 win, then beat cross-town rival Abbot Worsted 2-1 in the Eastern Division Final. Wallace’s Indians were 90 minutes away from reaching the apex of American soccer. The only team that stood in their way: Western Division winner Chicago Canadian Club FC.<\/p>\n

A sure sign that fate was on Shawsheen’s side, Mark’s Stadium in North Tiverton, R.I. was the designated venue of the 1925 Grand Final. It was a location only 83 miles south of\u00a0Andover. The clash\u00a0took place on a damp and dreary Sunday afternoon on Apr. 19, but that could hardly stifle either team’s enthusiasm. Many of the local papers proclaimed both squads’ proficiency in playing a strong brand of soccer, but it became evident shortly after referee William Norse blew his whistle\u00a0that one was undoubtedly mightier than the other.<\/p>\n

The Indians bossed the match from the start, and they wasted little time getting the jump on the Windy City selection. Eddie Smith blasted a shot from 25 yards that, according to reports, Canadians’\u00a0keeper Vic Neate was slow to react to, and allowed Shawsheen to stake an early lead.<\/p>\n

Shawsheen doubled their lead not long after the opener. Forward Alex Carrie was brought down inside the box, and even though some reports suggested he was offside prior to the foul, that didn’t stop Peter Purden from burying the subsequent penalty. The Indians went into halftime brimming with confidence.<\/p>\n

The domination extended itself into the second half, as the Canadians’\u00a0backline had, by now, been clearly exposed. At the hour mark, Fred Watkins launched a long effort that crashed off the crossbar and fell right to Carrie inside the area. The Indians forward put the match on ice by slamming it through.<\/p>\n

\"(L-R)<\/a>

(L-R) A. Bushnell, right halfback, Peter Purdell, inside right forward, and Captain William Ross, right fullback (Photo credit: Fall River Daily Globe)<\/p><\/div>\n

After widening the margin to the three, Shawsheen\u00a0eased off the gas, content to play keep away with their foe for the remaining half hour. The raw conditions worsened, as rain started to fall in heavier amounts as the second half progressed. Much of the\u00a0small crowd (968) made their way to exits early with the Indians comfortably ahead, and the Canadians showing themselves incapable of mounting a comeback.<\/p>\n

Despite the sparse audience\u00a0and the wet weather, the Indians were jubilant following the final whistle. Perhaps the most elated of the bunch was none other than Wallace, who in two short years, had watched his so-called “crackerjack” side reach the highest peak in American soccer. They were Open Cup champions, and set to compete in the top-flight ASL a few short months later. It was the dawn of a new era.<\/p>\n

But sunset came much quicker than anyone could’ve expected.\u00a0The Indians played precisely 28 games during the 1925-26 ASL season before they folded. The fortunes of their chief financier, American Woolen, had taken a turn for the worse. President William Madison Wood committed suicide, and with the company in disarray, Wallace closed down operations. Not long after, Balmoral Park\u00a0was sold as American Woolen underwent a massive overhaul of its holdings. The Indians were officially finished.<\/p>\n

It’s easy to call Shawsheen\u00a0a flash in the pan. Like many outfits that birthed during the 1920s, their days were short, and their accolades were soon forgotten. But the legacy of the Indians does live on in the present day, albeit in a way that’s often overlooked even by local die-hard soccer fans.<\/p>\n

The property Balmoral Park encompassed was eventually sold to the town of Andover, which preserved much of the land for recreational purposes. One of the first sights a visitor is greeted with upon arrival? A matching pair of goalposts on opposite each other on\u00a0a field that is still used today by high school soccer teams.<\/p>\n

Lineups for the 1925 U.S. Open Cup Final<\/p>\n

SHAWSHEEN….CANADIANS FC<\/p>\n

Murdock, g….g, Neate
\nRoss, rb…..rb, Hannah
\nMills, lb….lb, Houghton
\nNixon, rhb….rhb, Anderson
\nThomson, chb….chb, Corbett
\nWatkins, lhb….lhb, Reid
\nBlyth, rof….rof, Davidson
\nPurden, rif….rif, Paxton
\nCarrie, cf….cf, Phillips
\nSmith, lif….lif, Carroll
\nEdwards, lof….lof, Ambler<\/p>\n

Score – Shawsheen 3, Canadian\u00a0F.C. 0. Goals – Smith, Carrie, Purden (penalty). Referee – Norse of New Bedford. Linesmen – F. Odeil, Valley Falls; J. Wood, Chicago.<\/p>\n

(Editor’s note: For more on the Shawsheen Indians, “Boston’s Ballparks & Arenas”<\/a> has a chapter devoted to the history of Balmoral Park, and its very first tenant. Reports from <\/em>The Fall River Evening Herald and <\/em>The Fall River Globe were also used as sources for\u00a0this story.)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ninety years ago, the Shawsheen Indians orchestrated one of the most magical runs to an Open Cup title.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":38615,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[25],"tags":[1345,891,648,1344,892,1283],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nesoccertoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Indians-1.png?fit=600%2C415&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38588"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=38588"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38588\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38636,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38588\/revisions\/38636"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/38615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=38588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=38588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=38588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}