American Soccer Nation:
The Remarkable 150-Year History of Yanks on a Roll, from Mob Football to the Modern Game
Though the title references the 150-Year history of the game of soccer in America, Mark Franek’s deep dive into the games history actually goes back a bit further. He references team kicking games that were played by the Chinese and in Mesoamerica 3500 years ago. The Greeks and Romans also had ball kicking games. His book traces soccer’s beginnings in Britain as far back as the year 1000 when mobs of people from different areas, towns or sides might gather and would, using all different body parts, attempt to move a “ball” from one place or landmark to another.
Called mob ball, amongst many other names, these games had little to no rules, and injuries and violence were common. And as the use of the feet began dominating, something more recognizable as ‘foot ball’ eventually developed. The authorities inevitably got involved, lashing out against these games. Various proclamations, denunciations and bans of this ‘foot ball’ were attempted throughout the early years, the 1200s and 1300s, creating early records that these contests did occur. One Puritan described the game thusly, “Sometimes their necks are broken, sometimes their backs … Football encourages envy and hatred, murder and a great loss of blood.”
Franek traces the development of the modern version of soccer in America from the codification of rules by the English in 1863, who “did more to spread the game around the world … than any other country. The English (and Scottish to be honest) gave soccer to us Yanks and for many decades and they helped us as we tried to advance the sport in our country.” He points out that what is generally considered to be the very first football game between Rutgers and Princeton in 1869 (and the granddaddy of modern American gridiron football), “was certainly a soccer-esque game,” and concludes that “the activity was much closer to soccer than to rugby.”
Franek’s research demonstrates that in the latter part of the 19th century, some amateur and semi-professional leagues were started. But the rise of the first truly professional league, the American Soccer League (ASL), really began in what is now considered as the Golden Age of American Soccer in the roaring 20s. This league was supported by corporate benefactors such as Charles Schwab, President of Bethlehem Steel, the 2nd largest steel company in the world at the time. It attracted top talent from Europe and it’s “standard of play … by 1925 – at least among the top teams – rivaled the best in any league worldwide” and was very successful. This was then followed by a period during the Great Depression when that league went bust and, despite some World Cup successes, soccer’s growth was stymied through WWII. Between the development of the North American Soccer League (NASL) in the Sixties and Seventies, a bit more World Cup success and then the birth of Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Eighties and Nineties right through to this years’ World Cup, Franek shows how advances in American soccer have been generally positive, despite some missteps.
With one foreword written by the Philadelphia Union’s Cavan Sullivan and a second written by Tim Howard, this book is a must read for both the casual fan and history buff alike. The story of American soccer’s birth, rise and fall only to rise again is a uniquely American tale, one which Mark Franek brings to life through this excellently researched work and his fine storytelling.
