Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals crest
Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals
Philadelphia, PA 1950–present Mid-Atlantic
View club profile →
Archive › PA › Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals

Ukrainian refugees in Philadelphia built the best soccer team in America. It is still playing.

On May 29, 1960, Mike Noha scored all five goals as the Ukrainian Nationals beat the Los Angeles Kickers 5–3 for the National Challenge Cup, two of them in the second overtime at Edison Field. It was the first of four cups in seven years.3,6

Six league titles, four Open Cups

Won Second in the league or lost the final Took part

League

  1. 1957–58 League. ASL: second
  2. 1958–59 League. ASL: second
  3. 1959–60 League. ASL: second
  4. 1960–61 League. ASL: champions, 12–2–0
  5. 1961–62 League. ASL: champions, 16–1–3
  6. 1962–63 League. ASL: champions, 10–1–3
  7. 1963–64 League. ASL: champions, 11–2–1
  8. 1964–65 League. Eastern Professional Soccer Conference: third in the South
  9. 1965–66 League. ASL: third
  10. 1966–67 League. ASL: second in the North
  11. 1967–68 League. ASL: champions, 10–3–2
  12. 1968 League. ASL: third
  13. 1969 League. ASL: third in the South
  14. 1970 League. ASL: champions, 6–1–2

Open Cup

  1. 1957–58 Open Cup. No record
  2. 1958–59 Open Cup. Semifinal
  3. 1959–60 Open Cup. Champions, beat the Los Angeles Kickers 5–3
  4. 1960–61 Open Cup. Champions, beat the Los Angeles Scots 7–4 over two legs
  5. 1961–62 Open Cup. Semifinal
  6. 1962–63 Open Cup. Champions, beat Armenia SC 1–0
  7. 1963–64 Open Cup. Final, lost to the Los Angeles Kickers-Victoria
  8. 1964–65 Open Cup. Semifinal
  9. 1965–66 Open Cup. Champions, beat Orange County 4–0 over two legs
  10. 1966–67 Open Cup. Quarterfinal
  11. 1967–68 Open Cup. Semifinal
  12. 1968 Open Cup. No record
  13. 1969 Open Cup. Did not enter
  14. 1970 Open Cup. Did not enter

Hover over or tap a season for the result.1,8

A club of its own

1950–57

The club grew out of Philadelphia's Ukrainian community, led by refugees from World War II and from Stalin's postwar oppression. Its Ukrainian name, Tryzub, means trident, and its colors were red and black.1,2 The amateur team first took the field in 1950.4 It won the Philadelphia league in 1955–56 and reached the 1956 National Amateur Cup final, losing to St. Louis Kutis.1

The Philadelphia Ukrainians joined the American Soccer League in 1957 and were suspended after one game, following a complaint by the Penn State Association. A new team, the Ukrainian Nationals, took their place later that October, drawing part of its name from the defunct Philadelphia Nationals.1,5

Noha's final

1957–60

The Nationals finished second in each of their first three seasons and won the 1959 Lewis Cup, with Walter Medusha named ASL Coach of the Year in 1960.1,5,8 The team played at Edison Field, at 29th and Clearfield.7

Mike Noha, the Argentine-born son of Ukrainian immigrants, arrived speaking no English and won the 1959–60 league scoring title with 16 goals. He added 13 goals in eight Open Cup games that year.3 In the final, in front of 5,500, he scored in the 20th, 45th and 78th minutes, the last from the penalty spot, and then in the 130th and 136th.6

Recruiting ran along the same lines. The club found players in the Ukrainian diaspora in Argentina, including goalkeeper George Litynsky and former Argentine international Tarnawsky, and it signed Alex Ely from Brazil.7

Four straight

1961–64

From 1960–61 through 1963–64 the Nationals won four straight ASL titles. In 1960–61 they lost none of their 14 games and scored 60 goals.8 They won the league and cup double in both 1961 and 1963.4,7

The 1961 final had some drama. Noha was sent off in the 2–2 first leg against the Los Angeles Scots after disputing an equalizer, refused to leave the field and drew a one-year federation suspension.3 Herman Niss scored three in the 5–2 second leg at McCarthy Stadium.9 In 1963, Noha was back and scored the only goal against Armenia SC, in the 102nd minute at Cambria Field.10

Manchester United, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Eintracht Frankfurt and others came to play friendlies. Reportedly the Nationals were also the first American soccer team to have home games televised.1,4

YearOpen Cup final opponentResult
1960Los Angeles KickersWon 5–3 after extra time
1961Los Angeles ScotsWon 7–4 over two legs
1963Armenia SCWon 1–0 after extra time
1964Los Angeles Kickers-VictoriaLost: drew 2–2, then lost the replay 2–0
1966Orange County SCWon 4–0 over two legs

The last cup

1964–70

The 1964 final ended 2–2 at Cambria Field after extra time, in what Alex Ely remembered as one of the longest games ever played, and the Kickers won the replay at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles.7,11 The club spent 1964–65 in the Eastern Professional Soccer Conference, returned to the ASL when that folded, and won its fourth cup in 1966, beating Orange County 1–0 in California and 3–0 in Philadelphia.1,12

In November 1967 the club played Alianza in the CONCACAF Champions' Cup semifinals, losing 2–1 and 1–0 with both legs in San Salvador. The club says it played there in front of 102,000 people.4,13

That was also the year major league soccer arrived in the United States. Many of the club's players left for the new leagues.5 The team won two more ASL titles, in 1967–68 and 1970, the last as the Philadelphia Ukrainians, before moving to the amateur German-American Soccer League.1,8

Walter Chyzowych

Chyzowych settled in Philadelphia in 1949 as a boy, came up through the club's youth teams and joined the first team in 1958.2,14 He earned three U.S. caps, later coached at Philadelphia Textile and Wake Forest, and was U.S. national team coach from 1976 to 1980, the first American to hold the job full-time.11,14 He also built a network of coaching schools across the country, and Tryzub's unofficial historian calls him the “godfather” of American soccer.2 He and Ely were inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1997.11

Still Tryzub

1971–today

The club turned to amateur soccer and youth teams, and it bought farmland north of Philadelphia, in Horsham, for its own fields. Sources date the purchase to 1978 or 1983.4,11 As of 2009 it had 28 youth teams.11 The Tryzub Ukrainian American Sport Center also hosts cultural events, and it has taken on new meaning since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.2

The Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals play on as a top amateur team, listed in the NPSL's Keystone conference in 2026.1,2 As of 2018, the 1966 cup was still the last U.S. Open Cup won by a Philadelphia-area team.15

Sources

  1. “Philadelphia Ukrainians.” Wikipedia, including the references it cites.
  2. Mann, Brian. “Long before the World Cup, Ukrainian immigrants built a soccer powerhouse in Philly.” NPR, June 25, 2026.
  3. Cuttone, Charles. “Heroes of the Open Cup: Philly Ukrainians’ Five-Star Noha Kicks off 60s Dynasty.” U.S. Soccer, June 5, 2025.
  4. Ukrainian Nationals. Tryzub, club history.
  5. Holroyd, Steve. “It’s time to remember the Ukrainian Nationals.” Society for American Soccer History, September 29, 2015.
  6. “1960 National Challenge Cup.” Wikipedia.
  7. Fontela, Jonah. “Open Cup Rewind: Remembering Philadelphia’s Unshakable Ukrainians.” U.S. Soccer, March 2, 2022.
  8. “American Soccer League II.” RSSSF.
  9. “1961 National Challenge Cup.” Wikipedia.
  10. “1963 National Challenge Cup.” Wikipedia.
  11. Farnsworth, Ed. “Great Philly soccer teams: Ukrainian Nationals.” The Philly Soccer Page, January 21, 2010.
  12. “1966 National Challenge Cup.” Wikipedia.
  13. “Copa de Campeones CONCACAF 1967.” RSSSF.
  14. “Walter Chyzowych.” Wikipedia.
  15. Tannenwald, Jonathan. Ukrainian Nationals and U.S. Open Cup history. The Philadelphia Inquirer, September 7, 2018.