Brooklyn Wanderers

The Brooklyn Wanderers was a U.S. soccer team which was a founding member of the National Association Football League in the late nineteenth century. It later joined the American Soccer League.

Brooklyn Wanderers I

History

The origins of the Wanderers is unknown, but in December 1894, they were a key part of the formation of the National Association Football League. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=990DE4D81730E033A25757C1A9649D94659ED7CF December 14 1894 "New York Times"] ] The league suspended operations in 1899. The team's competitive record then becomes difficult to follow as it appears to have operated as an independent club. In September 1901, it lost to the Bayonne Rangers during a Labor Day sports carnival. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9B05E6DE153DE433A25750C0A96F9C946097D6CF&oref=slogin September 3 1901 "New York Times"] ] In 1906, a member of the Wanderers acted as a referee in a game between Critchleys and Brooklyn Thistle. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9A03E5DE103EE733A25751C0A9679C946797D6CF January 2 1906 "New York Times"] ] This rare reference to the Wanderers is significant in that Critchley's outside right Nat Agar (listed as Agot) later owned the Wanderers. In 1912, the Wanderers rejoined the NAFBL, but withdrew only six games into the season. Several of the players then jumped to Brooklyn F.C. [ [http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/year/1913.html U.S. Soccer History - 1913] ] In 1922, the Wanderers, now owned by Agar, joined the American Soccer League which had been formed in 1921 by the merger of the NAFBL and the Southern New England Soccer League. During its years in the ASL, the Wanderers played at Hawthorne Field, a dedicated soccer stadium owned by Agar. [ [http://www.geocities.com/bethlehem_soccer/gl032526b.html March 25 1926 "Bethlehem Globe"] ] After the 1925/26 ASL season the Wanderers, the Boston Wonder Workers and the New Bedford Whalers joined with four top Canadian clubs to form the one-off International Soccer League held that summer and early fall. The Wanderers won the season championship, but lost to Toronto Ulster United in the final of the league's Nathan Strauss Cup.

The Wanderers folded after the 1931 Spring season, the first half of the ASL 1931 season.

Year-by-year

Notable players

* John O'Connell

References