Sports History
The Other Football
By Anne Madarasz

Though best identified with American football, this region has a long association with the sport Europeans call football, and that we know better as soccer. The sport has its local roots in the coal towns populated in the late 19th century by immigrants from southern and eastern Europe. Their passion and skill transformed this area into a national center for soccer by the 1930s and 40s.

The region is home to one of the oldest soccer clubs in the country. Founded in 1898, Beadling's adult, boys, and girls teams have amassed an array of championships. The club's proudest moment came in 1954 with a victory in the National Amateur Cup Championships. Led that year by prolific scorer Jim Kohlmyer, Beadling soccer became "the heart and soul" of the town, instilling a sense of community pride. The Kohlmyer name has long been associated with the club; four generations have played for Beadling.

The Beadling championship was not the first for a western PA club. The Morgan Strassers, from the coal town of Morgan near Bridgeville, won the U.S. Amateur Cup Championship in 1940. Led by Paul Danilo, who scored the game-winning goal, the Strassers ushered in a decade of dominance on the national stage for teams from this area.

Gallatin, a team from Washington County, came next, winning the 1942 U.S. National Open. Forward Alex Pascarella headed the strong offensive effort. He teamed with his son Nicholas 20 years later in a victorious West Penn League championship effort.

Some of the best competition teams faced was local, with numerous clubs vying in the 1940s and 50s for first local, then national attention.

Castle Shannon had their turn in 1946, competing in the U.S. Amateur Cup finals.

Defenseman Peter Merovich made his mark on this team, competing for them from 1935-1957, appearing in seven West Penn senior championship games and on numerous all-star teams. Merovich is just one of a number of local players inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

Harmarville became the team of the 50s, winning two national titles in 1952 and '56. They defeated local rival Cecil to advance to the national quarterfinals in 1956. Pictured in Sports Illustrated, the teams battled on a snow-covered field nestled in the shadow of a coal tipple. These two teams, and those that came before them, featured the sons of immigrant coal workers, players as tough as the ore they mined.

Anne Madarasz is the Director of the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum which features the story of these industrial soccer teams.