The Globe -- Bethlehem
Tuesday, May 1, 1923
A Swing Along Athletic Row

League Lead Dangerously Threatened
The Bethlehem F. C. is at present holding the league lead in the American Soccer flag race but the hold on the topmost position is decidedly flimsy with the J & P Coats eleven of Pawtucket R. I. crowding the Steel Workers. To be perfectly frank Coats seems to line up with a better chance of coming through for the honors than the Steel Workers, in spite of the fact that Bethlehem at the present time is at the top of the heap with a three point lead. However, the Bethlehems are not entirely eliminated from the race for the honors and there is still a chance which although hardly probable is by no means impossible. This chance is pending entirely on the outcome of the games still to be played. Bethlehem with two scheduled, one of which is against the Coats aggregation and the Rhode Island clan with five games scheduled. Should Bethlehem and Coats win all of their remaining games the team which includes Whitey Fleming and Jock Ferguson, former Bethlehem veterans in their lineup, will close the season with the honors.

Bethlehem-Coats Game in Doubt
Although J & P Coats is scheduled to appear in Bethlehem for another game and fans would welcome this attraction as one of the classics of the season, a likelihood exists that this game will not be necessary and if it is the issue of championship will be decided in the tilt. Bethlehem goes away to meet Paterson, the National champions, on the latter field on Sunday afternoon and if successful in again downing the champions will await the outcome of the campaigning of the Coats team in four of the five remaining games scheduled. Should Bethlehem drop the tilt on Sunday, the pennant is virtually cinched by the Rhode Island rivals. Should Coats lose one of the five remaining games, to be more exact, any of the next four tilts the team would compile enough points to win the title, regardless of whether the game was played in Bethlehem or not. Therefore, in view of the late date in the season the chances are that the Bethlehem game would be canceled. Bethlehem players, however, are hoping that the game will be played and the flag award will be depending on the outcome, feeling confident that in that event the American League honors will come to Bethlehem. T hat the title aspirations of the local clan are not entirely remote is evident by the fact that of the games still to be played by Coats one is against New York F. C., on the latter's field and the other against Paterson, the National champions, on the Paterson field. A defeat in either one of these games would make the race mighty interesting. Paterson especially is favored to turn the trick for several weeks ago the Jersey exponents eliminated Coats in the Eastern final in the National Challenge Cup competition.

Fleisher's the Season's Soccer Surprise
There was not much surprise when Paterson outplayed the Scullins of St. Louis, although the game ended a deadlock by a score of 2 goals each, and was awarded by forfeit the National Cup trophy; or in fact the outcome of any other game thus far t his season which more or less ran true to form, but when the Fleisher Yarn, of Philadelphia journeyed to the lair of the Jerseymen and defeated the National champions in the semi-final American Cup competition on Sunday afternoon the soccer world received a rude jolt. This Fleisher team is a very strong combination of youngsters and in Philadelphia is probably even more popular than the Philadelphia Club of the American League. As for merit Fleisher's seems to have it all over the Phillies. The team is fostered by the Fleisher Yarn Co., and includes in its makeup only amateurs. However, the status of amateur in soccer ranks is rather easy to attain once lost for it is understood that a professional can be reinstated into the simon pure ranks providing his term as a professional has not exceeded five years.


1922-1923
Bethlehem Steel Soccer Club