The First Professional Soccer League in America and the Senators of Washington, Part Two
A Moment of Brilliance: A Soccer History Blog, January 12, 2014
For the first part of this post, click here. After months of meetings between its owners, and in the midst of the National League’s Temple Cup Series, four teams kicked off The American League of Professional Football (ALPF) inaugural season October 6, 1894. Bostonians, wooed to the South End Grounds by a pre-game rugby match, witnessed the Boston eleven defeat the visiting Brooklyn club 3-2, while the original New York Football Giants swept into Philadelphia and drubbed the hosts 5-0. Meanwhile, the people of Washington had to wait nearly another week to see the Senators play the first professional soccer game in the city, as the league postponed the their intial game due to the Orioles participation in the Temple Cup. Oddly, New York, Baltimore’s Temple Cup foe, was able to field an eleven to open the ALPF season a full ten days before Baltimore officially entered the league on October 17. Baltimore’s entrance into league play proved to be unique among the league’s entrants, and a defining storyline in the
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