The New York Americans were an American soccer club founded in 1931. Based in New York, New York, it played in both the first and second American Soccer League

American Soccer League

The American Soccer League has been a name used by three different professional soccer leagues in the United States. The first American Soccer League was established in 1921 by the merger of teams from the National Association Football League and the Southern New England Soccer League. For...

s.

History

In 1931, Erno Schwarz

Erno Schwarz

Ernö Schwarz or Schwarcz was a Hungarian American soccer player, coach and promoter who served as head coach of the United States men's national soccer team. He played professionally in Hungary, Czeckoslavakia, Austria and the United States, earning two caps, scoring two goals, with the Hungarian...

, who had played for both the New York Giants

New York Giants (soccer)

New York Giants was a name used by three different New York soccer teams. Two of these teams were associated with the New York Giants baseball franchise. The first team that used the name played in the American League of Professional Football in 1894...

 and Hakoah All-Stars

Hakoah All-Stars

Hakoah All-Stars is a former United States football club that played in the American Soccer League between 1930 and 1932. The club was formed after the merger of Brooklyn Hakoah of the ASL and New York Hakoah of the Eastern Soccer League...

 in the ASL, founded his own team, the New York Americans. That fall, he entered it into the American Soccer League

American Soccer League

The American Soccer League has been a name used by three different professional soccer leagues in the United States. The first American Soccer League was established in 1921 by the merger of teams from the National Association Football League and the Southern New England Soccer League. For...

 which was in the process of collapsing caused by financial losses stemming from the 1928-1929 "Soccer Wars" and the onset of the Great Depression

Great Depression

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

. Schwarz owned, played for and managed the Americans through the last two years of the ASL's existence. After the disintegration of the original ASL following the 1933 spring season, the ownership of the Americans and New York Brookhattan

Brookhattan

New York Brookhattan was an American soccer club based in New York, New York that was a member of the professional American Soccer League. The club joined the ASL for its final season....

 helped form a new, but lower professional level, ASL in 1933/34.

Just before the 1956/57 season, the club merged with Brooklyn Hakoah

Brooklyn Hakoah

Brooklyn Hakoah is a former United States soccer team club based in Brooklyn, New York that played in the American Soccer League.-Brooklyn Hakoah I:Originally formed by former players of SC Hakoah Wien, they played in the American Soccer League in 1929...

 to form New York Hakoah

New York Hakoah

New York Hakoah is a former United States soccer club based in New York City.-New York Hakoah I:Originally formed by former players from SC Hakoah Wien, including among others Béla Guttmann and Rudolph Nickolsburger, they initially played in the Eastern Soccer League in the fall of 1928. In 1929...

.

The club won the Lewis Cup and the Duffy Cup in 1950. The club also earned a "double" in 1954 winning both the ASL championship and the U.S. Open Cup.

In 1965 a team named New York Americans entered the International Soccer League (ISL) and reached the final

1965 International Soccer League

-League standings: GP W T L GF GA Pts Section I New York Americans 6 4 1 1 11 8 9 Portugesa 6 4 0 2 18 11 8 Varese 6 2 2 2 11 9 6...

 losing the championship to Polonia Bytom

Polonia Bytom

Polonia Bytom is a Polish football club founded on 4 January 1920 in the Upper Silesian city of Bytom, during the hectic months of the Silesian Uprisings...

.

Year-by-year

Year	Division	League	Reg. Season	Playoffs	U.S. Open Cup
1931	1	ASL	6th (Fall)	No playoff	N/A
Spring 1932	1	ASL	5th?	No playoff	1st Round
Fall 1932	1	ASL	3rd	No playoff	N/A
Spring 1933	1	ASL	?	?	Final
1933/34	N/A	ASL	2nd	No playoff	?
1934/35	N/A	ASL	2nd	No playoff	?
1935/36	N/A	ASL	1st	Champion (no playoff)	?
1936/37	N/A	ASL	5th, National	Did not qualify	Champion
1937/38	N/A	ASL	3rd(t), National	1st Round	?
1938/39	N/A	ASL	4th, National	Did not qualify	?
1939/40	N/A	ASL	4th	No playoff	?
1940/41	N/A	ASL	6th	No playoff	?
1941/42	N/A	ASL	3rd	No playoff	?
1942/43	N/A	ASL	6th	No playoff	?
1943/44	N/A	ASL	9th	No playoff	?
1944/45	N/A	ASL	9th	No playoff	?
1945/46	N/A	ASL	5th	No playoff	?
1946/47	N/A	ASL	6th	No playoff	?
1947/48	N/A	ASL	6th	No playoff	?
1948/49	N/A	ASL	1st(t)	Finals	?
1949/50	N/A	ASL	3rd	No playoff	?
1950/51	N/A	ASL	5th	No playoff	?
1951/52	N/A	ASL	6th	No playoff	?
1952/53	N/A	ASL	6th	No playoff	Semifinals
1953/54	N/A	ASL	1st	Champion (no playoff)	Champion
1954/55	N/A	ASL	8th	No playoff	?
1955/56	N/A	ASL	6th	No playoff	?