Southern New England Soccer League

The Southern New England Soccer League was a semi-professional U.S. soccer league which was established in 1914 and collapsed in 1921. During its short existence, it featured some of the top teams in the northeast United States. Dissatisfaction with league mismanagement led to the end of the SNESL in 1921 as several teams moved to the newly created American Soccer League.

History

The Southern New England Soccer League's first season, 1914-1915, went well with the New Bedford Whalers taking the league title based on a singe table points system. However, the 1915-1916 season introduced many of the problems which would plague the league until its demise. Several teams refused to travel to away games and weather caused the cancellation of others. This resulted in the cancellation of the season at some point with Fore River at the top of the standings. The 1916-1917 season went better than the previous one, it still left a lot to be desired. Two teams played eleven games (J&P Coats and Crompton) the rest varied from five to eight completed. The 1917-1918 season was again cancelled for many of the same reasons as the 1915-1916 season, but this time the league awarded the championship to J&P Coats. The next year, the season was cancelled entirely due to the loss of players to military service in World War I. While the league resumed play in 1919, records have not allowed a complete reconstruction of the season. In 1920, the league began what was its most successful season. Only one team played less than ten games, and it disbanded during the season. Most of the teams played at least thirteen with a high of sixteen by the champions Fore River. However, frustration at the constant mismanagement led several of the teams to join with teams from the professional National Association Football League to create the American Soccer League. The ASL began its first season in the fall of 1921 at which point the NAFBL and SNESL both disbanded.

Champions

* 1914-1915 New Bedford Whalers
* 1915-1916 No champion
* 1916-1917 New Bedford Whalers
* 1917-1918 J&P Coats
* 1918-1919 Cancelled
* 1919-1920 Unknown
* 1920-1921 Fore River

Teams

* New Bedford Whalers (1914-1921)
* YMCTAS (New Bedford Temps) (1914-1915)
* J&P Coats (1914-1921)
* Pawtucket (1914-1915)
* Taunton City (1914-1915)
* Fall River Pan Americans (1915-1918)
* New Bedford Celtics (1915-1918)
* Howard & Bullough (1915-1917)
* Fall River Rovers (1915-)
* Fore River (Fore River Shipbuilding Company Stars) (1915-1921)
* Crompton F.C. (1916-1921)
* Greystone F.C. (1917-1918)
* Lonsdale F.C. (1917-1918)
* General Electrics (1919-1920)
* Sayles Finishing Plant F.C. (1920-1921)
* St. Michael’s (1920) (disbanded after seven games)
* Sharp Manufacturing Company (1920-1921)

External links

* [http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/snesl.html Annual league standings]