American League of Professional Football

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The American League of Professional Football was the first professional football (soccer) league in the United States existing for one season in 1894, and one of the earliest professional leagues in the world given that most of the football world at this time was dominated by amateur leagues. It was created by the owners of the National League partly to fill their dormant stadiums in the winter months and partly for publicity reasons to keep their baseball seasons visible to the public during the off-season.

The 1894 schedule included six teams sponsored by National League teams (Baltimore, Boston, Brooklyn, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington) that played a total of 23 games. Although the club owners encouraged attendance by setting ticket prices low, typically 25 cents, the turn out was light averaging about 500 spectators--by comparison, average crowds in the National League that year ranged from as much as about 6000 (New York Giants) to as few as about 600 (Louisville) [1]. The most successful franchise was Baltimore, which led the league with a 5-1 record (thus doing an "American Double" since they also won the National League that year as well) and drew crowds as large as 8,000 for some matches. However, other club owners accused Baltimore of illegally employing British players, and U.S. immigration officials soon began to investigate the allegations. At the same time, with rumors circulating that a new baseball league was being formed, the club owners became convinced that the Football League was a distraction from the serious business of possible competition from a new, rival league. The combination of these new competitive pressures and the ongoing immigration investigation scuppered the planned 1895 season and the League itself.

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Defunct Soccer Leagues In The United States

AFA (1884–88) • ALPF (1894–95) • NAFBL (1897) • UTFA (1902–20) • ASL I (1921–33) • ASLII (1933–83) • NPSL I (1967) • USA (1967) • NASL (1968–85) • MISL I (1978–92) • NPSL II 1984–01 USL I (1984–85) • WSL (1985–89) • LSSA (1987–92) • ASL III (1988–89) • CISL (1993–97) • EISL (1997–98) • WISL (1998–01) • WUSA (2001–03)