Bethlehem Steel

Bethlehem Steel was the steelmaker's company team and the dominant American club of the 1910s and 1920s, with five National Challenge Cup wins between 1915 and 1926 and a 1919 tour of Scandinavia. The company shut the team down in 1930 when the Depression cut into steel orders.

founded 1911 Bethlehem, PA dissolved 1930

games
528
wins
225
draws
50
losses
73
honors
18

first recorded game Nov. 22, 1912 · latest recorded game April 27, 1930

Totals and dates are as recorded here.

Honors

Honors won by Bethlehem Steel
seasoncompetitionhonor
1928-1929 Second Half ESL Champion
1928-1929 First Half ESL Champion
1928 LC Champion
1926-1927 ASL1 Champion
1926-1927 USOC Champion
1923-1924 AFAC Champion
1920-1921 NAFBL Champion
1919-1920 USOC Champion
1919-1920 NAFBL Champion
1918-1919 AFAC Champion
1918-1919 NAFBL Champion
1918-1919 USOC Champion
1917-1918 AFAC Champion
1916-1917 AFAC Champion
1916-1917 USOC Champion
1915-1916 USOC Champion
1915-1916 AFAC Champion
1913-1914 AFAC Champion

All-time, by competition

competition GP W T L pts gf ga ppg gf/ga
348 225 50 73 500 853 403 1.44 2.12
ASL1 269 158 44 67 360 662 379 1.34 1.75
ESL 43 34 4 5 72 41 — 1.67 —
AAFA 13 13 0 0 26 68 8 2.00 8.50
NAFBL 12 11 1 0 23 48 13 1.92 3.69
AL 11 9 1 1 19 34 3 1.73 11.33

Division, year by year

1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1st division8 seasons American Soccer League (1921-1933), 1922-1923American Soccer League (1921-1933), 1923-1924American Soccer League (1921-1933), 1924-1925American Soccer League (1921-1933), 1925-1926American Soccer League (1921-1933), 1926-1927American Soccer League (1921-1933), 1927-1928American Soccer League (1921-1933), 1928-1929American Soccer League (1921-1933), 1929-1930 2nd division3 seasons National Association Foot Ball League, 1919-1920Eastern Soccer League (1928-1929), 1928-1929 First HalfEastern Soccer League (1928-1929), 1929 Fall
Where Bethlehem Steel sat in the pyramid, 1919 to 1929. A block marks a league season, placed on the year the season began and the division its league is recorded at; select one for that season. An empty column is a year with no league season on record. Cups are left out: a cup has no division.

Points per game, season by season

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 1919-1920: 1.92 points per game in 12 NAFBL games 1919-1920 1922-1923: 1.50 points per game in 28 ASL1 games 1923-1924: 1.41 points per game in 27 ASL1 games 1924-1925: 1.43 points per game in 44 ASL1 games 1924-1925 1925-1926: 1.27 points per game in 41 ASL1 games 1926-1927: 1.50 points per game in 44 ASL1 games 1927-1928: 1.13 points per game in 23 ASL1 games 1927-1928 1927-1928: 1.41 points per game in 29 ASL1 games 1928-1929 Second Half: 1.47 points per game in 15 ESL games 1928-1929 First Half: 1.87 points per game in 15 ESL games 1928-1929 First Half 1928-1929: 1.00 points per game in 6 ASL1 games 1929 Fall: 1.69 points per game in 13 ESL games 1929-1930: 0.96 points per game in 27 ASL1 games 1929-1930 all-time 1.40
Points per game by season. A league season only, oldest first. Points per game rather than points, because the schedule has run anywhere from 20 games to 34. Points are as the league awarded them, which has not always been three for a win. Select a column for that season; the table below carries every figure.

Season by season

competition season GP W T L pts gf ga ppg gf/ga
ASL1 1929-1930 27 11 4 12 26 66 54 0.96 1.22
ESL 1929 Fall 13 11 0 2 22 — — 1.69 —
ESL 1928-1929 Second Half 15 9 4 2 22 41 — 1.47 —
ESL 1928-1929 First Half 15 14 0 1 28 — — 1.87 —
ASL1 1928-1929 6 3 0 3 6 12 8 1.00 1.50
ASL1 1927-1928 23 10 6 7 26 43 31 1.13 1.39
ASL1 1927-1928 29 18 5 6 41 70 49 1.41 1.43
ASL1 1926-1927 44 29 8 7 66 114 52 1.50 2.19
ASL1 1925-1926 41 23 6 12 52 115 58 1.27 1.98
ASL1 1924-1925 44 29 5 10 63 127 53 1.43 2.40
ASL1 1923-1924 27 17 4 6 38 59 32 1.41 1.84
ASL1 1922-1923 28 18 6 4 42 56 42 1.50 1.33
NAFBL 1919-1920 12 11 1 0 23 48 13 1.92 3.69

Career leaders

complete stats

Goals

  1. Archie Stark 199
  2. Tom Gillespie 68
  3. Stark 63
  4. Malcolm Goldie 53
  5. Johnny Jaap 51
  6. Tommy Fleming 50
  7. Johnny Grainger 34
  8. Daniel McNiven 28
  9. Walter Jackson 26
  10. George Forrest 25

Assists

  1. Fred Pepper 2
  2. George McKelvey 2
  3. Murphy 2
  4. Tommy Fleming 2
  5. A. Jackson 1
  6. Bob Millar 1
  7. Butler 1
  8. Jock Ferguson 1
  9. Lance 1
  10. McKelvey 1

Appearances

  1. Bill Carnihan 245
  2. Malcolm Goldie 204
  3. Bob McGregor 194
  4. Archie Stark 189
  5. Johnny Jaap 132
  6. Johnny Rollo 130
  7. Johnny Grainger 126
  8. Whitey McDonald 121
  9. Tom Gillespie 105
  10. Dave Ferguson 104

Most recent games — all 528 →

date competition season round team score team venue referee attendance sources
April 27, 1930 ASL1 1929-1930 Bethlehem Steel 2 - 3 Hakoah All-Stars Commercial Field 3500 2
April 26, 1930 ASL1 1929-1930 Bethlehem Steel 0 - 2 New Bedford Whalers New Bedford, MA — 2
April 20, 1930 ASL1 1929-1930 Bethlehem Steel 5 - 2 Brooklyn Wanderers Hawthorne Field — 2
April 13, 1930 ASL1 1929-1930 Bethlehem Steel 2 - 3 New York Giants (1923-1930) New York, NY — 1
April 5, 1930 ASL1 1929-1930 Bethlehem Steel 2 - 3 Brooklyn Wanderers Bethlehem, PA — 2
March 29, 1930 ASL1 1929-1930 Bethlehem Steel 2 - 2 Hakoah All-Stars Bethlehem, PA — 1
March 23, 1930 USOC 1929-1930 sf Bethlehem Steel 2 - 3 New York Soccer Club Battery Park Creighton 11056 3
March 16, 1930 USOC 1929-1930 sf Bethlehem Steel 1 - 1 New York Soccer Club Polo Grounds Charles Creighton 17000 3
March 9, 1930 ASL1 1929-1930 Bethlehem Steel 0 - 2 New York Nationals Polo Grounds 2000 2
March 8, 1930 ASL1 1929-1930 Bethlehem Steel 5 - 4 New York Giants (1923-1930) Bethlehem, PA — 2