The Globe -- Bethlehem
November 28, 1923
A Swing Along Athletic Row

A Good Appetizer for Soccer Fans
"Why is it that the play in cup games is generally more thrilling than league or exhibition contests" asks the soccer fan who as yet has not been thoroughly initiated to the sport. It is a query that is simple to answer for in a cup competition a player gives everything in him, knowing that one defeat eliminates entirely while in a league or exhibition affair there is always a chance of coming back to avenge a defeat. Furthermore, the laurels at stake are far more important for there is no soccer classic in the country that carries with it the prestige of the National Cup competition. "Soccer games lack thrills" chirps some other fan who has probably witnessed but one or two games. This may have been so in years past when one team stood out far superior over the host of competitors but in this day of soccer when the development of merit has advanced to a more equal basis it means fight from the opening whistle to the finish to conquer. The football season will be ended in Bethlehem on Thursday and a few days later, Saturday afternoon to be more explicit, local fans will be served with a game marking the resumption of the soccer season in Bethlehem and to fans craving the outdoor recreation a more interesting or suitable game could not have been the lot of Bethlehems or home town followers. As an appetizer for the games to follow the attraction on the Steel Field Saturday promises to thrive with thrills for the event is no less other than a cup game as above referred to. It is a meeting in the third round of the National Cup competition, Bethlehem having breezed through successfully to this round, and as the opponents the Bethlehems are meeting the Philadelphia F. C., a club defeated twice this season after a bitter struggle by a margin of a single goal, determined to avenge these two close defeats by blasting the aspirations of the locals in their race for the most coveted soccer honors in this country. Such is the type of game to be played on Saturday afternoon and to those who are somewhat impartial to the sport it might be suggested that they witness this game and give the sport a fair trial. Maybe opinion as to thrills, etc., would be materially altered.


1923-1924
Bethlehem Steel Soccer Club