October 29th (1948)

Oct. 29, 1948: A dispute between the professional St. Louis Major Soccer League and the U.S. Soccer Football Association (today’s U.S. Soccer Federation) comes to a head in local newspapers. League president Eddie Murphy tells the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that it informed the USSFA the day before that all four of the league’s teams, including 1948 U.S. Open Cup champion Simpkins Ford, have withdrawn from the 1949 Open Cup tournament. Murphy claims the league lost $2,300 during the 1948 Cup competition. The dispute began when the USSFA postponed the Cup final between Simpkins and the New York Brookhattans from June to Oct. 17 so as not to interfere with Olympic soccer team trials. The final draws just 2,226 fans to Sportsman’s Park. Making the situation worse, the Brookhattans, who travel to St. Louis by air, hand St. Louis promoters a bill for $1,550 for plane fare. Required under Cup rules to pay for the visiting team’s travel, St. Louis promoters counter that they will only pay the equivalent of much lesser train fare. Given that Cup games involving St. Louis teams normally draw good crowds, resulting in higher revenue for the USSFA, which shares in the gate receipts, the St. Louis Major Soccer League retaliates by yanking its teams from the 1949 tournament. They will return for the 1950 Cup, and Simpkins Ford will win again. That raises the intriguing question: If Simpkins and its five future U.S. Soccer Hall of Famers (Bob Annis, Frank Borghi, Charlie Colombo, Gino Pariani and Frank “Pee Wee” Wallace) had played in the 1949 Cup tournament, would Simpkins have won, and thus have taken the Cup title three consecutive years from 1948 through 1950?