A Long Strange Trip: 107 Years of U.S. Open Cup

The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is an unbroken thread that runs from the early 20th century to today. From the industrial leagues of the 1920s and 30s, to the ethnic flavor of the post-World War II era, and the dominance of MLS since the league’s birth in 1996, the Open Cup tells the confusing, chaotic and unlikely story of soccer’s success on American shores. Join usopencup.com for a look at the Cup from the good old days when there were laces on the ball, up to the gleaming professionalism we know now.

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Way, way back

The first U.S. Open Cup was played in 1914, making it the oldest cup competition for soccer in the United States and the country’s oldest annual tournament for team sports. While professional soccer came and went in various forms and incarnations, at various stages of the 20th century, the Open Cup crowned a champion for each of the last 107 years. Even through the want and woe of the Great Depression and the challenges of two World Wars, the U.S. Open Cup survived. Teams from 17 different states have won this title that’s older than the Panama Canal, Mount Rushmore and the Super Bowl too.

Brooklyn beginnings

The first final took place at Coates Field in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, contested by a pair of teams from the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Brooklyn Field Club edged Brooklyn Celtic 2-1. The price of admission on that crisp day in May was 25 cents. Celtic returned to the final the next year only to be beaten by powerhouses Bethlehem Steel, who hold the joint-record of most titles with five. In all, eight teams with Brooklyn in their name have won the Open Cup.

Once there were two

Only once in the long history of the U.S. Open Cup has a champion not been established on the pitch. That was in 1923, when FC Paterson became the first team from New Jersey to win the title. Scullin Steel of St. Louis were unable to field a side for a replay after the initial Final finished tangled at 2-2. In what might be the most American of soccer problems, Scullin claimed they couldn’t play again because many of the young men in their side were making preparations for the upcoming professional baseball season.

Name game

The competition was known as the National Challenge Cup in its early years, and was renamed and dedicated to MLS owner and American soccer pioneer Lamar Hunt in 1999. From then on it became the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. In 2016, FC Dallas, who are owned and operated by Hunt’s sons Clark and Dan, gave the trophy a homecoming of sorts when they defeated New England Revolution 4-2 in the tournament final played at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas.

The Open Cup’s greatest?

Many legends of American soccer have graced the stages of the U.S. Open Cup through the years. Perhaps none shine as bright as the mustachioed and lethally left-footed Billy Gonsalves, who won the Cup a record eight times with four different teams. In 1931, Glasgow Celtic manager Willie Maley said, without hesitation: “This Billy Gonsalves is the greatest player I’ve ever seen.” Sometimes called the Babe Ruth of American Soccer, this son of Portuguese immigrants and the seventh of nine children, Gonsalves lined up for the U.S. Men’s National Team in both the 1930 and 1934 FIFA World Cups.  

Industrial giants

Employer-owned teams dominated the 1920s and 30s, with industrialists in the Northeast and Midwest importing talented foreign players with the promise of good jobs and soccer on the side. Bethlehem Steel won five titles between 1914 and 1924. The likes of St. Louis Ben Miller, named after a prominent hat company, Brooklyn Robbins Dry Dock, St Louis Scullin Steel, Todd Shipyards, Vesper Buick, Holley Carburator, Manhattan Beer, Morgan Strasser and St Louis Stix, Baer & Fuller all made their mark on the competition.

A rich broth of backgrounds

Old NASL opt out

There’s no matching the North American Soccer League of the 1970s and early 80s for over-the-top glitz and glamor. During the league’s salad days, when global superstars like Johan Cruyff, Franz Beckenbauer, George Best and Pele, came to play in the USA, the league declined to take part in the U.S. Open Cup. Theories abound as to why the likes of the New York Cosmos, Chicago Sting and LA Aztecs refused to play, the most plausible being that those big-timers wanted to avoid the possibility of being beaten by smaller fish. “They (NASL sides) didn’t want to run the risk of losing to amateurs,” Dr. Joe Machnik, Open Cup champion in 1965 with New York Ukrainians, told usopencup.com.  

Major-League dominance

Romance be damned! Since the inception of Major League Soccer in 1996, teams from the country’s top flight have dominated the U.S. Open Cup. Only once since then has a team from below the summit of the United States’ soccer pyramid won the competition, when the Rochester Rhinos beat four MLS teams to claim the crown in 1999. The Charleston Battery also reached the Final in 2008, but fell 2-1 to D.C. United. With four titles each, Chicago Fire, Sporting Kansas City and Seattle Sounders FC lead the pack of MLS clubs, followed by D.C. United, FC Dallas and LA Galaxy (2 each) and Columbus Crew SC and New England Revolution (1 each).