The Globe -- Bethlehem
Tuesday, February 15, 1927
A Swing Along Athletic Row

More About the Cup Tie
Having had time to digest the echoes of Bethlehem's defeat in the American Soccer League cup tie by the lowly Newark club on Sunday afternoon, and analyzing the criticism the writer has come to the conclusion that while the first goal for the Jerseymen resulted in a double misunderstanding between Messrs. Barrie and Edwards, they alone were not to blame for the defeat, but that the whole blamed outfit were more or less off color and not playing the game which characterized their sensational glide through the American Soccer League campaign to date. True, Edwards and Barrie erred, but so did McDonald, Rollo and Jaap, and in picking a flaw some defect could be found in the work of every player. There is no denying that Barrie should not have shoved the ball back to Edwards, which resulted in a goal, and in defense of Barrie, Edwards should not have left his goal. Just a misunderstanding which should not exist, particularly in a cup game. That is seemingly the unanimous opinion of those who witnessed the game. "But it's not fair to single out the error of one or two individuals and let the others off with a word of criticism," ejaculates a fan who witnessed that game and with him we agree. The fact that the forward line with its great scoring power in league games did not tally a signal goal in the last eighty minutes of play speaks for itself. Certainly the forwards were not functioning in their customary style. The halfback line was "wet" at times. To go into details of all the mistakes and to mention each player in turn would require too much space, so let it go that the whole derned team was off its game. From a disinterested spectator we get another slant and one that might be counted as meaning something. "The ground was terrible, had been dug up in a previous game and then frozen hard, and then there was Eddie McCabe." Eddie McCabe, by the way was the official; the same Eddie who crabbed a game in the new England district with a few minutes to play and the score tied, and the same Eddie who when arriving on these shores had great ambition to start a school to teach officials how to officiate and then write a book on "What I Know About Soccer." Home environs seem to influence the dapper little soccer official, who it might be said is not imbued with any too great courage. Bethlehem's out of the cup and that's that. The sooner the players forget that defeat and get down to business, looking forward to the future, the better the chances for the laurels still to be had.

Cup Ties and How They Compare
Probably the average soccer fan attaches entirely too much significance to the American Soccer League Cup competition. Certainly the laurels are well worth fighting for, but in importance are in no way equal to the league honors or the National cup trophy. That may read like a case of sour grapes in trying to atone for the defeat of Bethlehem. To the writer the American Soccer League competition is strictly a commercial enterprise arranged for the purpose of filling the treasury coffers of the clubs, which at this season of the year are sometimes sorely strained. In the National cup it is one defeat and out regardless of which round the teams have survived to. In the American cup the semi-final and final round is arranged on the home and home basis, presenting two games in each round, and then the sum total of goals scored in the two games between the survivors of the final round produces the champion. Restricted entirely to league clubs, the competition compared in significance to the National competition is very much a local affair. There is some criticism against Bethlehem for playing a game in Brooklyn the day previous to the cup affair, intimating that the Bethlehem players were entirely too cocky and took their Newark rivals too cheaply. That is unfair to Newark. The Jerseymen defeated a team of selected cup players none of whom appeared in the game at Brooklyn the day before. In addition to the laurels that might have been attained, the bank roll of the club is depleted to the extent of $1,000 to $3,000 depending on how long the club might have survived. And while on the subject of finance, it might not be amiss to remind followers that it costs money to promote soccer and if Bethlehem is to continue to have the best in the country, the management must be wide awake to grasp every opportunity to bring in the shekels. Bethlehem received for its share more money in Brooklyn than it did in the first round cup game at Newark.


1926-1927
Bethlehem Steel Soccer Club