Lewis Cup

Lewis Cup
Organizing body
Founded1915
Abolished1963; 61 years ago (1963)
RegionLehigh Valley, PA
Last champion(s)Newark Ukrainian Sitch (1963)
Most successful club(s)Uhrik Truckers
(4 titles)

The Lewis Cup was an American soccer trophy established in 1914 as the championship trophy for the amateur Blue Mountain League, which was composed of clubs from the Lehigh Valley region of northeastern Pennsylvania. It was later awarded to the winners of the American Soccer League's League Cup. The last winner received the trophy in 1963 and it resides in the Museum of Sports Glory in Kyiv, Ukraine.

History

In 1914, Horace Edgar Lewis donated a trophy to crown the champion of the newly established Blue Mountain League.[1] When the league disbanded, the trophy was stored in a jewelry store safe.[2] In December 1924, was brought out of storage in order to award to the winners of the 1925 American Soccer League cup. The league began to collapse in 1931 and did not hold a league cup. In 1933, the league disbanded. That year, a semi-professional league, the second American Soccer League, began operations. In 1940, the Lewis Cup was again brought out of storage and given to the winners of the league cup. In 1963, Newark Ukrainian Stich won the cup, the last season it was awarded. The team later donated the trophy to the Museum of Sports Glory in Kyiv.[3]

Winners

Blue Mountain League

Year Winner Runner-up
1915 Bethlehem Reserves Nativity Men's Club[4]
1916 Allentown YMCA[5]
1917 Allentown YMCA (2) Nativity Men's Club[6][Note 1]
1918 North End F.C. Victor F.C.[7]
1919 North End F.C. (2) Saucon Cross Roads[8]
  1. ^ The league was reduced from six to two teams half way through the season when most of the players were drafted into military service when the United States entered World War I. The remaining two teams, Victor FC and North End FC played three games to determine the Lewis Cup champion. North End won two of the three games.

American Soccer League I

Year Winner Runner-up
1925
Details
Boston Soccer Club Fall River F.C.
1926
Details
New Bedford Whalers New York Giants
1927
Details
Boston Soccer Club (2) Brooklyn Wanderers
1928
Details
Bethlehem Steel Boston Soccer Club
1929
Details
New York Nationals New Bedford Whalers
1930
Details
Fall River F.C. Hakoah All-Stars
1931-1933 No competition

American Soccer League II

Year Winner Runner-up
1934-1939 No competition
1940 Kearny Scots Philadelphia German American
1941 Philadelphia German-American Brookhattan
1942 Brookhattan Kearny Irish
1943 Philadelphia Americans (2) Kearny Irish
1944 Kearny Irish Brooklyn Wanderers
1945 Brookhattan (2) Brooklyn Wanderers
1946 Brooklyn Hispano Baltimore Americans
1947 Baltimore Americans Kearny Irish
1948 Kearny Scots (2) Brookhattan
1949 Philadelphia Nationals Kearny Irish
1950 New York Americans Philadelphia Nationals
1951 Philadelphia Nationals (2) New York Hakoah
1952 Philadelphia Nationals (3) New York Americans
1953 Newark Portuguese Philadelphia Nationals
1954 Newark Sport Club S.C. Eintracht
1955 Uhrik Truckers (3) Brookhattan
1956 No competition
1957 Elizabeth Falcons Newark Portuguese[9]
1958 Uhrik Truckers (4) Ukrainian Nationals
1959 Ukrainian Nationals New York Hakoah
1960-1962 No competition
1963 Newark Ukrainian Sitch Ukrainian Nationals

By club

Club Appearances Cups won Runner-up Years won Years runner-up
Uhrik Truckers# 5 4 1 1941, 1943, 1955, 1958 1940
Philadelphia Nationals 5 3 2 1949, 1951, 1952 1950, 1953
Brookhattan 5 2 3 1942, 1945 1941, 1948, 1955
Boston S.C. 3 2 1 1925, 1927 1928
Allentown YMCA 2 2 0 1916, 1917
North End F.C. 2 2 0 1918, 1919
Kearny Scots 2 2 0 1940, 1948
Kearny Irish 5 1 4 1944 1942, 1943, 1947, 1949
Ukrainian Nationals 3 1 2 1959 1958, 1963
Fall River F.C. 2 1 1 1930 1925
New Bedford Whalers 2 1 1 1926 1929
Baltimore Americans 2 1 1 1947 1946
New York Americans 2 1 1 1950 1952
Newark Portuguese 2 1 1 1953 1957
Bethlehem Reserves 1 1 0 1915
Bethlehem Steel 1 1 0 1928
New York Nationals 1 1 0 1929
Brooklyn Hispano 1 1 0 1946
Newark Sport Club 1 1 0 1954
Elizabeth Falcons 1 1 0 1957
Newark Ukrainian Sitch 1 1 0 1963
Nativity Men's Club 2 0 2 1915, 1917
Brooklyn Wanderers 2 0 2 1944, 1945
New York Hakoah II 2 0 2 1951, 1959
Victor F.C. 1 0 1 1918
Saucon Cross Roads 1 0 1 1919
New York Giants 1 0 1 1926
Brooklyn Wanderers 1 0 1 1927
Hakoah All-Stars 1 0 1 1930
S.C. Eintracht 1 0 1 1954

#1941 known as Philadelphia German-American, 1943 as Philadelphia Americans

References

  1. ^ Blue Mountain League
  2. ^ Bringing Back the Cups; The Globe – Bethlehem; December 16, 1924
  3. ^ The Sports Sleuths
  4. ^ "Local Soccer League Celebrates At Banquet". The Morning Call (Allentown, PA). June 4, 1915. p. 13. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
  5. ^ "Soccer League Trophies Awarded". The Morning Call (Allentown, PA). June 10, 1916. p. 17. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
  6. ^ "Another For Allentown". The Philadelphia Inquirer. April 7, 1917. p. 16. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
  7. ^ "Cup For North Ends". The Philadelphia Inquirer. April 21, 1918. p. 23. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
  8. ^ "North Ends Wins Title By Dumping Saucon, 2-1". The Philadelphia Inquirer. March 16, 1919. p. 21. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
  9. ^ "Falcons Lose, 1-0, But Win Cup". New York Daily News. June 17, 1957. p. 53. Retrieved February 13, 2019.