Mark's men

Fall River United entered the new American Soccer League in 1921 and finished sixth of eight, with five wins in 24 games.⁹ It nearly folded. When United could not agree a lease for 1922–23, the league turned down a joint bid with the Fall River Rovers and accepted one from Sam Mark.¹

Mark was 25, the son of Ukrainian Jewish immigrants who had grown up in Fall River. His family name had been Markelevich until 1916. He had promoted basketball and baseball, and owned a semi-professional baseball team.⁶ He took over the franchise on July 22, 1922, and knew baseball and basketball better than soccer, so he recruited hard in Canada, Scotland and England. The team became the Marksmen, after its owner.^2,16

Player-coach Harold Brittan scored 19 goals in the first season. James White, Charlie McGill and Bill McPherson came from Scottish clubs to form the core of the team.¹

Across the line

Mark's lasting idea was the ground. He built Mark's Stadium in North Tiverton, Rhode Island, just over the border, where the team could play on Sundays despite the Massachusetts blue laws. It held about 15,000 and was one of the earliest soccer-specific stadiums in the country.^1,6 The first game was an exhibition draw on September 24, 1922, and the first home win came on October 12, 4–2 over the Fairlawn Rovers.²

Four years on top

In 1923–24 the Marksmen won the first league and cup double in ASL history.¹ On the way they beat Bethlehem Steel 2–0 in the eastern semifinal at Dexter Park, in front of a reported 20,000, then won the final 4–2 against Vesper Buick in St. Louis.^14,17 Bethlehem was the great rival: the Marksmen also knocked it out of the cup in 1927 and 1930.⁴

Two more league titles followed. The 1925–26 team went 30–12–2 and scored 143 goals.⁹ The club skipped the 1925 cup with the rest of the ASL, then won it again in 1927, 7–0 over Holley Carburetor in Detroit.^1,17

Visitors at Mark's Stadium

Touring clubs came to North Tiverton, and few left with a win. Rangers drew about 15,000 for a goalless draw in 1928, with Jimmy Douglas in goal.^1,2 Rangers did beat the Marksmen twice on its 1930 tour, but those games were in New Bedford and at the Polo Grounds.²

The treble

In 1929 Billy Gonsalves joined Bert Patenaude up front, two local players who gave the team its best partnership.^1,11 The Marksmen stayed with the ASL during the Soccer War, won the league in 1928–29, and did not enter that year's cup.¹

In 1930 they won everything: the league, the Lewis Cup over the Hakoah All-Stars, and the Challenge Cup. The cup final with Cleveland's Bruell Insurance opened 7–2 at the Polo Grounds, and Alex McNab's late shot, in off the post and goalkeeper, sealed a 2–1 win in the second game.^2,5

That July, Patenaude scored three times against Paraguay at the first World Cup in Uruguay. FIFA recognized it in 2006 as the first hat-trick in World Cup history. He finished with 112 goals in 114 league games for Fall River.¹²

Central Europe

While Gonsalves and Patenaude were in Uruguay, the club left Boston on August 8, 1930, for six games in Czechoslovakia, Austria and Hungary. Archie Stark, between teams after Bethlehem's collapse, went as a guest and scored four of the team's ten goals. They drew 2–2 with Slavia Prague and beat FK Austria 3–1 in Vienna.^2,3 The tour finished with two wins, a draw and three losses, and it ended early after a dispute over promised money and accommodations.^1,2,3 Film of the 6–2 loss at Ferencváros survives in Hungary's National Film Institute.¹³

Three names, three cups

The team came home to a failing city. The textile mills were moving south, and Fall River declared bankruptcy in 1931.⁵ Crowds fell, and in February 1931 Mark moved the club to New York, merging it with the New York Soccer Club as the New York Yankees.^1,2

It had already entered that year's Challenge Cup as Fall River, so it played the final under the old name while playing league games as the Yankees.¹⁰ Patenaude scored five in a 6–2 win over the Chicago Bricklayers at the Polo Grounds on April 5. After a 1–1 draw in Chicago, the deciding game came on April 19. Captain Alex McNab had broken his arm in a midweek friendly and the club had brought no reserves, so ten men won it 2–0. That was the last match played as Fall River.^1,10

That fall Mark moved again, to New Bedford, and merged the team into the Whalers. They won the 1932 Challenge Cup in a replay against Stix, Baer and Fuller in St. Louis, the same franchise's third straight cup in three cities.^5,6 A move to Brooklyn was refused. The Whalers folded during the fall 1932 season, as the league itself was failing.^5,6

What remains

Mark became a nightclub owner, then moved to Los Angeles, where he helped form the Los Angeles Kickers, recruiting players from Fall River. He died in 1980.⁶ Gonsalves went on to a record eight Open Cup titles, and he was in the first National Soccer Hall of Fame class in 1950.¹¹

Other clubs used the stadium for years, including Ponta Delgada, which won the 1946 Challenge Cup final there.⁷ It was later torn down and replaced by a drive-in theater. Most accounts say that happened in the 1950s, though one review of aerial photos raises doubts about the date.^7,8 The site today is largely an empty lot.^7,8 A modern club in the UPSL, Fall River Marksmen FC, now carries the name.