SOCCER TIME LINE
| YEAR
| EVENT
| 1620
| American folklore asserts that Pilgrim Fathers,
when they settled at Plymouth Rock found American Indians along the Massachusetts coast playing a form of soccer. The Indians called it "Pasuckquakkohwog," which means "they gather to play football."
| 1820
| Many American colleges played soccer, but there was no intercollegiate competition. Rules were casual and changed often.
| 1862
| The Oneidas of Boston, the first organized soccer club in America, were formed by Gerritt Miller Smith. The Oneidas were undefeated from 1862-65. A monument now stands in Boston Common, where the Oneidas played their home matches.
| 1865 - 1876
| Soccer was initiated as an organized college sport in the USA in the years following the Civil War. Princeton and Rutgers Universities engaged in the first intercollegiate soccer match November 6, 1876, in New Brunswick, N.J. Rutgers won the match 6-4. The game was more similar to both rugby and soccer than gridiron football.
| 1876 - 1880
| Thousands of British immigrants arrived in the metropolitan areas of the East, Midwest and Pacific Coast. Communities with textile mills, shipyards, quarries or mines also had soccer teams among its immigrant population, a pattern occurring all over the world during the time of the Industrial Revolution.
| 1884
| The American Football Association was organized in Newark, N.J., uniting the numerous metropolitan area enclaves of the East to maintain uniformity in the interpretation of rules and provide an orderly and stable growth of soccer in America.
| 1904
| The Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) was formed in Paris on May 21. Charter members included: France, Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. The International Board, the authority over the rules and their interpretation continued under the jurisdiction of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, even though they were not affiliated with FIFA. The Olympic Games of 1904 in St. Louis included soccer as an official Olympic sport where club teams competed under the national team banner. FIFA did not become active in Olympic soccer until 1908.
| 1914
| The United States Football Association (USFA) was incorporated under the laws of the state of New York, May 30, and was granted full membership in FIFA at the annual congress at Oslo, Norway, June 24.
| 1919
| Bethlehem Steel (PA) became the first American professional team to play in Europe when they toured Sweden.
| 1920
| The Dick-Kerr's Ladies Professional Team, which toured the United States in 1920. They outscored their male opponents 35-34, and left with a 3-3-2 record.
| 1923
| The world's first indoor soccer league with 11-a-side teams on a full-sized field opened the winter season at the Commonwealth Calvary Armory in Boston.
| 1930
| The USA was one of 13 nations to compete in the first FIFA World Cup competition in Montevideo, Uruguay. BERT PATENAUDE (Fall River, MA) was the third leading scorerof the U.S. team was the third-leading scorer in the tournament. He also was the first player to tally three goals in a World Cup match.
At the first World Cup, 90,000 electrified fans watched as Argentina beat the US in the semi-final. The United States team, who was favored to win, finished third overall.
| 1933
| The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), governing body of college athletics in the United States, released their official rulebook covering all intercollegiate soccer in the United States.
| 1938
| West Chester State College and Salisbury College played in the first intercollegiate soccer game under floodlights.
| 1950
| JOSEPH GAETJENS' goal lifts the USA over England 1-0 at the World Cup in Brazil. It was called the biggest upset ever in international soccer.
| 1958
| The American Soccer League (ASL) was granted permission from the USSFA assumed to create an International Soccer League (ISL), made up of top-class European, South American and United States professional league teams that would operate in the cities throughout the United States.
| 1983
| FIFA awarded the 1986 World Cup to Mexico, rejecting the bid from the United States.
| 1985
| The first U.S. Women's National Team competes internationally in August in Italy.
| 1987
| New 4,000 sq. ft. interim National Soccer Museum opens in Oneonta, including the Hall of Famer's from USSF, NSCAA, and NISOA (National Intercollegiate Soccer Officials Association).
| 1989
| The United States Futsal National Team won the bronze medal at the inaugural FIFA World Championship in the Netherlands.
PAUL CALIGIURI scores the biggest goal in U.S. Soccer history since Gaetjens goal in the 1950 World Cup against England. Referred to as the "shot heard around the world," Caligiuri's 35-yard dipping shot found the net in a 1-0 victory over Trinidad & Tobago Nov. 19, in front of 35,000 red-clad Trinidadians, clinching the USA's first appearance in the World Cup since 1950.
| 1992
| The U.S. Men's National Team won the inaugural U.S. Cup '92 in June. The USA defeated Ireland 3-1, Portugal 1-0, and tied three-time World Cup champion Italy, 1-1.
The Major Indoor Soccer League folded after 15 years in existence.
| 2004
| United States Women's National Team qualify for the Olympics.
United States Futsal Team defeats Cuba 2-0 to win the CONCACAF Futsal Championship.
Major League Soccer announce the expansion of Utah and Los Angeles bringing the total number of MLS teams to 12.
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