Brookhattan

Not to be confused with Brookhaven, New York.

Brookhattan
Full nameBrookhattan
Founded1933
Dissolved1962

Brookhattan was an American soccer club based in New York City that was a member of the professional American Soccer League (ASL) from 1933 to 1962.[1] The name is a blend of the names of Manhattan and Brooklyn where it played.[2] It later changed its name to Brookhattan–Galicia (1948,[3] though informally often Brookhattan thereafter[4]), Galicia (1958[5]), and Galicia–Honduras (1961[5]) after Galicia in Spain and Honduras.[5]

Formed as New York Brookhattan in 1933,[5] it joined the first ASL and was leading the spring 1933 half-season when the league collapsed.[6] It then joined the new ASL as Brookhattan in late 1933.[7][6] In 1942 it won the Lewis Cup,[8] and in 1945 the ASL, National Challenge Cup and Lewis Cup.[9]

In 1947, coffee importer Eugene Diaz, owner of New York Galicia, bought the Brookhattan team, withdrew Galicia from the National Soccer League of New York and transferred its players to Brookhattan.[10][11][12] The merged team, renamed Brookhattan–Galicia, reached the final of the 1948 National Challenge Cup.[3]

During the 1948-49 season, Brookhattan's Pito Villanon led the ASL in scoring.[13] In the 1949-50 season, Joe Gaetjens was the top scorer in the ASL.[14] Pito Villanon led the ASL in scoring in 1952-53 and was also the ASL MVP.[13] Brookhattan finished runner-up in the ASL in 1954.[15]

In 1961 Galicia merged with Honduras, a non-ASL team, to form Galicia–Honduras.[16]

  1. ^ Brucato 2001 p. 144
  2. ^ Brucato 2001 pp. 17, 214, 245
  3. ^ a b "Soccer Champs: Simpkins (Ford) Team Wins U.S. Title". Automotive News. 24 (3160). Crain Communications: 25. November 22, 1948.
  4. ^ Briordy, William J. (November 13, 1958). "Hakoah Defeats Brookhattan in Soccer Final Before 6,121 Fans at Garden". The New York Times. p. 46. Retrieved March 19, 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d Brucato 2001 p. 38
  6. ^ a b Jose, Colin (1988). The American Soccer League: The Golden Years of American Soccer 1921–1931. Scarecrow Press. p. 313.
  7. ^ Brucato 2001 pp. 38, 142, 144
  8. ^ "Brookhattan". SoccerStats.us. Retrieved December 26, 2012.
  9. ^ Dave Litterer (March 31, 2005). "The American Soccer League". The Year in American Soccer - 1945. Archived from the original on May 10, 2013. Retrieved November 21, 2020.
  10. ^ "The Year in American Soccer History - 1948". Archived from the original on March 15, 2016.
  11. ^ Graham, Bill (October 15, 1947). "American Loop May Withdraw Soccer Protest". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. p. 18. Retrieved March 19, 2024 – via newspapers.com.
  12. ^ Graham, Bill (October 6, 1948). "Wanderer Club Again Wiped Off Soccer Books". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. p. 20. Retrieved March 19, 2024 – via newspapers.com.
  13. ^ a b "ASL II Leading Scorers, 1933-1983". Archived from the original on December 11, 2017. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  14. ^ "Chasing Gaetjens". ESPN Deportes. February 26, 2010. Archived from the original on February 16, 2015.
  15. ^ "The Year in American Soccer - 1954". Archived from the original on July 26, 2015. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  16. ^ Brucato 2001 p. 230