1931 National Challenge Cup

Football tournament season

1931 National Challenge Cup

Dewar Challenge Cup

Country|  USA
Defending champions| Fall River Marksmen
Champions| Fall River Marksmen (4th title)
Runners-up| Chicago Bricklayers
Semi-finalists|

* Ben Millers
* Newark Americans

Championship match score| 9-3 agg.

← 1930

1932 →

The 1931 National Challenge Cup was the annual open cup held by the United States Football Association now known as the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.

## Contents

* 1 History
* 2 Eastern Division
* 3 Western Division
* 4 Final
* 4.1 First game
* 4.2 Second game
* 4.3 Second game (replay)
* 5 Sources
* 6 References

## History[edit]

By the spring of 1931, the twin ravages of the Great Depression and the "Soccer Wars" had taken their toll on the American Soccer League. As a result, Sam Mark moved his Fall River Marksmen to New York, hoping that a new market there would be more lucrative. Once there he merged the club with New York Soccer Club and renamed them the New York Yankees. Before the merger was finalised, however, Fall River Marksmen had entered the National Challenge Cup and Mark was unable to re-register them as the Yankees. As a result, the Spring 1931 season saw them continue to play in the Challenge Cup as the Fall River Marksmen while at the same time playing as the New York Yankees in the ASL. While the Yankees only managed to finish third in the ASL, the Marksmen won the cup. Largely on the goalscoring strength of Billy Gonsalves, with 9, and Bert Patenaude, with 13, they reached the final where they eventually beat Chicago Bricklayers in a final played as a three-game series. The last of these three games is officially regarded as the last game the Marksmen ever played. The first leg of the final was played on April 5 at the Polo Grounds, where the Marksmen won 6–2, and seemingly established a clear lead. Patenaude scored five goals in that game while Bill McPherson added the other. A week later at Mills Stadium in Chicago, the Bricklayers kept the series alive by earning a 1–1 draw. This time Gonsalves got on the score sheet. Sparta Stadium in Chicago attracted 4,500 for the deciding game on April 19. The Marksmen could only field 10 players after their captain, Alex McNab, broke his arm in a midweek friendly and the club had neglected to bring along any reserves. Despite this they still managed to win 2–0 with goals from Patenaude and Gordon Burness.[1][2][3][4]

The Marksmen were not the only club to relocate, merge or disappear. This has made it difficult to follow the teams as they progressed through this year's competition. To muddy the waters more, the Providence Gold Bugs had been bought by a group of Fall River businessmen and moved to that city to replace the Marksmen. The Gold Bugs were then renamed Fall River F.C. Furthermore, after the Gold Bugs had moved to Fall River to become Fall River F.C., it merged with the New Bedford Whalers. As these teams had all played initial Challenge Cup games, the results become difficult to follow.

## Eastern Division[edit]

| First round| | Second round| | Semi-finals| | Final

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |

| January 10 - February 1| | | | | | | |

| Fall River Marksmen| 1st

| Providence Gold Bugs| 2nd |

| Fall River Marksmen|

| | Won Round Robin| |

| New Bedford Whalers| 3rd

| | February 23 - New Bedford

| Pawtucket Rangers| 4th |

| Fall River Marksmen| 6

| January 11 - Rochester

| | New York Galicia| 2 |

| Rochester Celtic| 2

| January 25 - Quincy|

| Fore River| 3 |

| Fore River| 2

| January 11 - New York

| | New York Galicia| 5 |

| New York Galicia| 2

| | March 22 - New York

| Tappen Post| 1 |

| Fall River Marksmen| 6

| January 11 - February 15

| | Newark Americans| 1

| Hakoah All-Stars| 1st

|  |

| New York Giants| 2nd |

| Hakoah All-Stars|

| | Won Round Robin| |

| New York Soccer Club| 3rd

| | February 22/March 15

| Brooklyn Wanderers| 4th |

| Hakoah All-Stars| 1-0

| January 11 - Newark

| | Newark Americans| 2-2 |

| Newark Americans| 3

| January 25 - Newark|

| Newark Portuguese| 0 |

| Newark Americans| 6

| January 11 - Dundalk

| | BS Baltimore| 1 |

| BS Baltimore| 7

| Trenton Highlanders| 1 |

## Western Division[edit]

| First round| | Second round| | Semi-finals| | Final

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |

| January 11 - St. Louis| | | | | | | |

| Ben Millers| 5

| February 8 - St. Louis

| Tablers| 3 |

| Ben Millers| 2

| January 31 - St. Louis

| | Kavanaughs| 1 |

| Kavanaughs| 8

| | March 1 - St. Louis

| Hellrungs and Grimm| 2 |

| Ben Millers| 2

| January 25 - Cleveland

| | Cleveland Slavia| 1 |

| Cleveland Slavia| 3

| February 22 - Cleveland|

| Bruell Hungarian| 2 |

| Cleveland Slavia| 2

| February 16 - Cleveland

| | Morgan F.C.| 1 |

| Cleveland Shamrock| 1

| | March 8, 15

| Morgan F.C.| 3 |

| Ben Millers| 2-0

| February 8 - Chicago

| | Chicago Bricklayers| 7-1

| Chicago Bricklayers| 3

| February 15 - Chicago|

| Olympia F.C.| 0 |

| Chicago Bricklayers| 2

| February 8 - Chicago

| | Sparta ABA| 1 |

| Sparta ABA| 4

| | March 1 - Chicago

| Maccabee All-Stars| 0 |

| Chicago Bricklayers| 4

| February 8 - Chicago

| | Swedish Americans| 1 |

| Swedish Americans| 4

| February 15, 22 - Chicago|

| Norwegian Americans| 0 |

| Swedish Americans| 4-2

| February 1 - Detroit

| | Workers A.C.| 4-1 |

| Liberty F.C.| 0

| Workers A.C.| 2 |

Round Robin groups for Quarterfinal qualifying.

New York  | Pts  | Pld  | W  | L  | T  | GF  | GA  | GD

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Hakoah All-Stars | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 9 | -2
New York Giants | 7 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 17 | 13 | +4
New York Soccer Club | 5 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 13 | 12 | +1
Brooklyn Wanderers | 4 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 11 | 16 | -5
New England  | Pts  | Pld  | W  | L  | T  | GF  | GA  | GD

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Fall River Marksmen | 10 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 19 | 7 | +12
Providence Gold Bugs | 6 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 9 | +2
New Bedford Whalers | 6 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 13 | -2
Pawtucket Rangers | 2 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 9 | 21 | -12

## Final[edit]

### First game[edit]

April 5, 1931

Fall River Marksmen (MA)| 6–2| Chicago Bricklayers (IL)

|
|

Patenaude , , , ,
McPherson | Report | Cuthbert
Greenlees

Polo Grounds, New York, New York

Attendance: 12,000

Referee: Charles Creighton, New York (USA)

### Second game[edit]

April 12, 1931

Chicago Bricklayers (IL)| 1–1| Fall River Marksmen (MA)

|
|

Gregg 57' (pen.) |  | Gonsalves 40'

Mills Stadium, Chicago, Illinois

Attendance: 8,000

Referee: Jack Johnstone (USA)

### Second game (replay)[edit]

April 19, 1931

Chicago Bricklayers (IL)| 0–2| Fall River Marksmen (MA)

|
|

|  | Patenaude
Burness (pen.)

Sparta Field, Chicago, Illinois

Attendance: 4,500

Referee: Harry Pithie, Detroit, (USA)

## Sources[edit]

* Jose, Colin (1998). American Soccer League, 1921-1931 (Hardback). The Scarecrow Press. (ISBN 0-8108-3429-4).
* 1931 U.S. Open Cup Results

## References[edit]

1. ^ www.rsssf.com Archived 2011-05-13 at the Wayback Machine
2. ^ "American Soccer - 1931". Archived from the original on 2008-06-16. Retrieved 2008-04-30.
3. ^ "www.sover.net". Archived from the original on 2009-08-20. Retrieved 2008-04-30.
4. ^ Wangerin, David (May 12, 2006). Soccer in a football world. London, England: WSC Books, Ltd. ISBN 0954013476.

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