Archie Stark
FullnameArchibald McPherson Stark
Birth dateDecember 21, 1897
Birth placeGlasgow, Scotland
Death dateMay 27, 1985 (aged 87)
Death placeKearny, New Jersey, U.S.
PositionForward
Youthyears 11911–1912
Youthclubs 1West Hudson Junior
Years 11912–1916
Clubs 1Kearny Scots
Years 21916–1917
Clubs 2Babcock & Wilcox
Years 31917
Clubs 3West Hudson
Years 41919
Clubs 4Paterson F.C.
Years 51919–1921
Clubs 5Erie A.A.
Years 61921–1924
Clubs 6New York Field Club
Caps 669
Goals 645
Years 71924–1930
Clubs 7Bethlehem Steel
Caps 7221
Goals 7240
Years 81930
Clubs 8→ Fall River F.C. (guest)
Years 91930–1932
Clubs 9Newark Americans
Caps 942
Goals 918
Years 101932–1933
Clubs 10Brooklyn Wanderers
Years 111933–1934
Clubs 11Kearny Irish
Caps 1125
Goals 1122
Nationalyears 11925
Nationalteam 1United States
Nationalcaps 12
Nationalgoals 15[1]

Archibald McPherson Stark (December 21, 1897 – May 27, 1985) was a Scottish American soccer player who became the dominant player in U.S. leagues during the 1920s and early 1930s. He spent nine seasons in the National Association Football League and another twelve in the American Soccer League. He also earned two caps, scoring five goals, as a member of the U.S. national team. He holds the U.S. single-season scoring record with 67 goals (including eight hat-tricks) scored during the 1924–25 season which is the current World Record. He was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1950.

Club career

Youth and early career

Although Stark and his brother Tommy Stark were born in Scotland, they moved to the United States when Archie was thirteen years old. His family settled in Hudson County, New Jersey, where Stark immediately began his organized soccer career with the West Hudson Juniors. For a player who made his name as a forward, Stark began as a defender with the Juniors. Stark turned professional a year later when he signed with the Scottish-Americans of the National Association Football League for the 1912–1913 season. At the time, he was only fourteen. He remained with the Scottish-Americans for four seasons.

In 1915, the Scottish-Americans won the 1915 American Cup, defeating Brooklyn Celtic 1–0 on a Stark goal. The next season, the team lost the AFA championship game when Bethlehem Steel F.C. crushed them 3–0. At the end of the 1915–1916 season, Stark moved to the Bayonne, New Jersey–based Babcock & Wilcox club.

In 1917, the U.S. entered World War I, and Stark joined the U.S. Army, which briefly interrupting his career. During the war, Stark served in France.[2]

Post-war resurgence

When he returned to the U.S. in 1919, he joined Paterson F.C., which went to the 1919 National Challenge Cup final, losing to Bethlehem Steel 2–0. Following the cup, Stark joined Bethlehem for the team's August 10, 1919, to September 24, 1919, tour of Sweden and Denmark.[3] On that tour, Bethlehem went 6–2–6 (W-L-T). Stark then moved to Kearny, New Jersey, club Erie A.A. of the NAFBL. In a controversial decision, league officials awarded Erie A.A. the title even though Bethlehem Steel had one more point. Bethlehem Steel appealed to the U.S. Soccer Football Association, which reversed the decision. Stark remained with Erie A.A., now known as Harrison Erie S.C., through the end of the 1920–1921 season, but when several teams defected to form a new league, to be known as the American Soccer League (ASL), the NAFBL folded. Stark then jumped to the New York Field Club of the ASL in 1921. By this time he had gained a reputation as a prolific scorer and was sought after by several teams. In three seasons with New York F.C., Stark scored forty-five goals in sixty-nine games. In his last season with the team, he bagged nearly a goal a game when he scored twenty-one in twenty-five games.

Bethlehem Steel

Further information: Bethlehem Steel F.C. (1907–1930)

In the off-season after the 1923–24 season, the New York F.C. franchise was sold to the Indiana Flooring Company and Stark was among the players who went with the franchise. Indiana Flooring waived Stark and Bethlehem Steel F.C. picked him up just before the new season.[4] Stark's move to Bethlehem would gain him his greatest recognition, as Bethlehem moved him to center forward from the right wing position he had played with New York. Bethlehem had some of the deepest pockets in the ASL and used that money to sign several top Scottish internationals.

Surrounded by talent, Stark responded by scoring 67 goals in 44 games in his first season with the team, including eight hat-tricks,[5] which is the correct World Record for an individual. He also scored three more goals in two league cup games. The next season, Stark earned his first title with Bethlehem as the team took the 1926 National Challenge Cup. Bethlehem rolled over Ben Millers by a score of 7–2, Stark scoring three of the goals. Bethlehem went on to take the 1926–1927 ASL title, then the 1928–1929 and fall 1929 Eastern Soccer League titles.

In what became known as the Soccer War, FIFA declared the ASL an “outlaw league” in 1927.[6] Reasons for this centered on a dispute between the ASL and the U.S. Football Association (USFA), which was backed by FIFA, about control of the sport in the United States. FIFA and USFA demanded that all ASL teams enter the National Challenge Cup (now the US Open Cup). The ASL refused to force its teams to do so, and FIFA labeled the ASL an “outlaw league”.

The ASL, U.S. federal law on its side, announced it would no longer abide by FIFA rules and would boycott FIFA events, including the National Challenge Cup. The ASL, as one of the most competitive and highest paying leagues in the world at the time, expected that many prominent international players would continue to flock to the ASL in defiance of FIFA. In order to reduce the prominence of the ASL, USFA organized a rival league, the Eastern Soccer League, in October 1928. Bethlehem Steel, in defiance of the ASL, had elected to enter the National Challenge Cup and was suspended by the league seven games into the 1928–1929 season, leading Bethlehem to join the ESL. Stark and Bethlehem Steel remained in the ESL for two seasons before returning to the ASL for the team's final season. Neither Bethlehem Steel FC nor the ASL could withstand the financial strains imposed by this situation and the Soccer War led to the demise of the ASL and Bethlehem Steel.[7] When Bethlehem Steel folded in 1930, Stark joined the Fall River F.C. of a tour of Europe. However, the team faced financial difficulties and left the players stranded in Budapest, after which they returned to the U.S. as third class passengers.

Newark Americans and Kearny Irish

When Bethlehem Steel folded in 1930, Stark moved to the Newark Americans for the 1930–1931 ASL season. He remained with the Americans through the demise of the ASL in 1933. However, the statistics for the last two ASL seasons have been lost and we no longer know how many goals Stark scored during them.

After the first ASL finally collapsed in 1933, Stark ended up with Kearny Irish, which joined the new American Soccer League (ASL II) for the league's inaugural 1933–1934 season. The Irish took the league title, and Stark shared the scoring title with Razzo Carroll of the Kearny Scots.

International career

Stark earned only two caps with the U.S. national team, both in games against Canada in 1925.[8] His first cap came in a 1–0 loss to Canada in Quebec in June. In November, Canada came to the U.S. for a game; Stark scored five goals as the U.S. easily dispatched its northern neighbors 6–1.[9]

While Stark received an invitation to play on the national team at the 1930 FIFA World Cup, he declined the invitation for business reasons.[10]

In 1950, Stark was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame.[11]

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season, and competition. Only official games are included in this table.[12]
ClubSeasonLeagueLeagueNational CupLeague CupTotal
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Kearny Scots1912–13NAFBL
1913–14
1914–152+3+3+3+5+6+
1915–16
Babcock & Wilcox1916–17
West Hudson1917–18
Paterson F.C.1918–195+6+2+2+7+8+
Erie A.A.1919–202+4+2+4+
1920–211+3+2+2+1+1+4+6+
New York Field Club1921–22ASL2113222315
1922–232311562817
1923–242521432924
Bethlehem Steel1924–254467234670
1925–26374357344554
1926–27292330123325
1927–28[Note 1]462721465234
1928–297272
1928–29EPSL3241463647
Fall 19297979
1929–30ASL1928562434
Newark Americans19301912432315
Spring 193112211133
Fall 193111431145
Kearny Irish1933–1934ASL II25222522
Career total367+319+45+43+11+16+423+378+
  1. ^ The ASL instituted a playoff system for the 1927–28 season. In four games, Stark scored seven goals.

Honors

  • World Record holder of the Highest Season Scoring Record (67 goals, 1924/25 season)[13]
  • Seasonwise World Top Scorer: 1924-25[14]
  • U.S. single-season scoring record: 67 goals, 1924/25 season

See also

References

  1. ^ "USA - Details of International Matches 1885-1969". Archived January 13, 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2010-01-17.
  2. ^ "Archie Stark". Bethlehem Steel Soccer. Retrieved 2016-04-27.
  3. ^ DETAILS OF BIG SOCCER TOUR
  4. ^ ARCHIE STARK COMES HERE
  5. ^ "Final Standing Of Clubs". (June 5, 1925). Standard Union, p.17 col.6
  6. ^ "What was the Soccer War?". Society for American Soccer History. 2015-05-11. Retrieved 2016-04-27.
  7. ^ Jose, Colin (1998). American Soccer League, 1921–1931 (Hardback). The Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0-8108-3429-4.
  8. ^ "Hall of Famers". www.ussoccer.com. Archived from the original on September 30, 2016. Retrieved 2016-04-27.
  9. ^ U.S. International Results at RSSSF Archived 2010-01-13 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ "The record-setting Archie Stark". Society for American Soccer History. 2015-11-03. Retrieved 2016-04-27.
  11. ^ "Archie Stark - 1950 Inductee | National Soccer Hall of Fame". Archie Stark - 1950 Inductee | National Soccer Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2023-12-28.
  12. ^ Newark Star-Eagle
  13. ^ Highest Season Scoring Records. rsssf.org
  14. ^ Seasonwise World Top Scorer. rsssf.org