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Fall River Rovers
Fall River, MA 1884–1922 Northeast
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Founded in a mill city in 1884, the Rovers won the American Cup twice in the 1880s. From 1916 to 1918 they met Bethlehem Steel in three straight national finals and won one of them.

Three finals against Bethlehem Steel

  • May 6, 19160–1A disputed late penalty decided it, and the crowd of about 10,000 rushed the field.1,3
  • May 5, 19171–0Scored in the first minute. The Rovers were national champions.1,2
  • May 4 and 19, 19182–2, 0–3A draw after extra time, then a replay lost in Harrison, New Jersey.1

A club from the mills

Fall River was a textile city, and workers who came from Lancashire and Glasgow brought the game with them. The Rovers were organized at a meeting on County Street in February 1884, one of several clubs in the city.1

They won the Bristol County association four times between 1887 and 1891. They also won the American Cup in 1888, beating Newark's Alma 5–1, and again in 1889, 4–0 over the Newark Caledonians.1,5

  • 1885–1892Bristol County association, champions four times
  • 1891–1909New England League, a founding member, champions in 1894 and 1909
  • 1909–10Eastern Professional Soccer League, leading when the league stopped mid-season
  • 1915–1921Southern New England Soccer League, champions in 1920

Thomas Swords

Swords was born in Fall River in 1885 and played for the Rovers from 1904 to 1909, and again from 1914 until he retired in 1920. In August 1916 he captained the United States on its Scandinavian tour, which included the country's first official international, against Sweden on August 21.4

The tour came between two of the Bethlehem finals. In 1916 the Rovers lost to Tommy Fleming's penalty and their fans invaded the field. A year later, at Coats Field in front of 5,000 to 7,000, Swords scored about thirty seconds in, and the Rovers held on for the national title.1,2,3 They also won the Times Cup that spring.1 Swords was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1951.4

The Bethlehem Steel archive page tells the other side of the rivalry.

The end in 1922

The club didn't field a team in 1918–19, during the First World War. It came back to win the Southern New England league in 1920.1 Costs were rising, and in 1922 the Rovers and Fall River United tried to combine and share a ground. Their joint application to the new American Soccer League for 1922–23 was turned down, and the club broke up, its players signing elsewhere.1

The city's next great club, the Fall River Marksmen, was founded the same year. A different team revived the Rovers name in the American Soccer League in 1933–34.1

Sources

  1. “Fall River Rovers.” Wikipedia.
  2. “1917 National Challenge Cup.” Wikipedia.
  3. “1916 National Challenge Cup.” Wikipedia.
  4. “Thomas Swords.” Wikipedia.
  5. “USA: List of Cup Winners.” RSSSF.