- Nicholas DiOrio
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Nick DiOrio Personal information Full name Nicholas DiOrio Date of birth February 4, 1921 Place of birth Morgan Township, Pennsylvania, United States Date of death September 11, 2003 (aged 82)Place of death Green Tree, Pennsylvania, United States Height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) Playing position Forward Youth career Avella Juniors Senior career* Years Team Apps† (Gls)† –1946 Morgan Strasser 1946 Pittsburgh Strasser 1947 Chicago Vikings 1947–1949 Morgan Strasser 1949–? Harmarville Hurricanes – Pittsburgh Beadling * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).Nicholas DiOrio (February 4, 1921 in Morgan Township, Pennsylvania – September 11, 2003 in Green Tree, Pennsylvania) was a member of the U.S. national team at the 1950 FIFA World Cup. He is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame.
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Youth
DiOrio grew up in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area and graduated from South Fayette Township High School in 1939. During high school, he was best known as an outstanding basketball player, reputedly scoring fifty points in one game.[1] While he played basketball in school, he was an excellent soccer player for his club team, Avella Juniors. In 1939, his club won the U-19 national championship, known as the McGuire Cup.[2]
Club career
While making a living as a factory worker, DiOrio devoted his spare time to his passion, playing soccer. In 1942, he was on the roster of Morgan Strasser when it lost the National Amateur Cup to Fall River. However, the team took the cup in 1943 with a victory over Santa Maria S.C. In 1944, Morgan Strasser went to a third straight Amateur Cup final, but lost to S.C. Eintracht.[3] In 1946, DiOrio left Morgan Strasser, for the Pittsburgh Strasser of the newly established North American Soccer Football League. In 1947 he moved to the Chicago Vikings. After the collapse of the NAFSL, following the 1947 season, DiOrio rejoined Morgan Strasser S.C. In 1949, the club won the U.S. Open Cup. In 1950, he was with Pittsburgh Harmarville when the lost the National Amateur Cup final to Ponta Delgada S.C.. In 1951, DiOrio lost another Amateur Cup final, his fourth. However, Harmarville followed those two loses with a U.S. Open Cup championships in 1952. At some point, he left Harmarville and signed with Pittsburgh Beadling, with whom he finished his career in 1959. During his twenty years of playing soccer, DiOrio won the National Amateur Cup, U.S. Open Cup, and five Keystone Senior League championships.
National team
While DiOrio was selected to the U.S. roster for the 1950 FIFA World Cup, he never entered a game.
Soccer management
After retiring from playing in 1959, DiOrio continued to coach soccer teams. In 1971, he became the president of the West Penn Soccer Association.
Non soccer career
While soccer remained at the center of his life, including leading him to his wife whom he met through a team sponsored by her father’s beer garden, Jack’s Supper Club, he earned a living at a factory worker in Bridgeville, Pennsylvania. He also worked for the county road maintenance department.
DiOrio was inducted, along with the rest of the 1950 U.S. World Cup team, into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1976. He is also a member of state and regional halls of fame.
He died of colon cancer on September 11, 2003.
References
External links
United States squad – 1950 FIFA World Cup Categories:- 1921 births
- 2003 deaths
- American soccer players
- American people of Italian descent
- Cancer deaths in Pennsylvania
- Chicago Vikings players
- Deaths from colorectal cancer
- Harmarville Hurricanes players
- Morgan F.C. players
- National Soccer Hall of Fame members
- North American Professional Soccer League players
- Pittsburgh Beadling players
- Pittsburgh Indians players
- Soccer players from Pennsylvania
- 1950 FIFA World Cup players
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