I.R.T Celtics (USA)
The United States in the 1920s. The Jazz Age and Prohibition. It makes
us think of glamour, The Great Gatsby, and Boardwalk
Empire. Not quite as prominent in the forefront of our minds is that
this era has also been described as the ‘Golden Age of American Soccer’. Not a
‘Golden Age’ due to glamour or riches, but due to the popularity of the sport
and the abundance of leagues and teams playing at a high level. The biggest
league was the American Soccer League, which featured professional teams, while
there was also the International League, the Spanish-American League, and the
Hebrew League among others, which made for an abundance of clubs and players
from all over the world. Within this diasporic melting pot were the I.R.T.
Celtics, an Irish-American team who competed in the International League.
While they only came into existence in 1927, their
routes can be traced to the high levels of Irish immmigrants arriving on U.S.
shores since the famine. Emigration had slowed down since the 19th
century but was still very present with Ireland’s poor economy and the
rebuilding of the country, post-War of Independence. But there is no need to
delve further down this avenue, the Irish presence in America is known the
world over. The letters I.R.T stand for Interborough Rapid Transit. It was this
company that built the first New York subway. The man who oversaw its
construction was John B. McDonald, born in Cork in 1844. I.R.T. also lent its
name to the I.R.T. Rangers and New York I.R.T. who were also sponsored by the
company and competed around the same time.
The Celtics made their debut the same day as
another Irish-American side, Dublin Bohemians. Bohemians were made up of
immigrants who had played in Ireland for Bohemians and gotten together to form
a team across the Atlantic. The Celtic’s first game was against the Brooklyn
Wanderers, who at the time competed in the American Soccer League. The match
was played at Hawthorne Field, in Brooklyn. Celtics, along with Bohemians,
would later play some of their home matches at the New York Oval which had a
stated capacity of 60,000, and was situated in the borough of Queens. Of the
Celtic’s first game, against Wanderers, and Bohemian’s first match, against
Galicia, on September 5th 1927, this is what the Evening Herald (Irish
newspaper)had to say, ‘Both the Irish elevens had strong followings and both
brought new blood to the sport. In recent years teams from all parts of the
world have played the game in New York, but so far the Irish had been slighted,
but when given the chance to see some of Erins sons in action they responded in
no uncertain manner’. It is unclear whether the entirety of the Celtics were
born and bred Irishmen, as appeared to be the case with Bohemians, but it is
likely that many were, and it is without question that many had Irish roots.
The Celtics were granted access into the amateur
International League, where they faced off against teams such as the First
Germans, Galicia, and the Vikings. They were a popular team with the New
York Times reporting that they brought a crowd of 2,500, ‘the largest crowd
for an amateur contest in this vicinity’, to the New York Oval where they
defeated Centro Asturiano in the fourth round of the National Challenge Trophy.
The Celtics had some success but exactly how much is hard to define. They were
leading the league at one point and managed a ten game winning streak, but it
is unclear where they finished. They did reach the final of the New York State
Championship but lost to Galicia 2-1 in the second replay. The New York
Times described it as ‘the most stubbornly contested and prolonged struggle
in the history of the New York State Football Association for the possession of
the State Cup.’
Despite what might be glamorised as an exciting
time to be living and playing soccer in 1920’s New York, the publication Football
Weekly, warned against it in their article titled ‘KEEP AWAY FROM AMERICA’.
It was a warning to Irish footballers in the late 1920’s, a period where more
Irish players than ever were contemplating a move across the Atlantic. The
article scorns the attempt of American representatives and scouts to lure Irish
and Northern Irish players away from their homeland. They use examples of
ex-international players Mick O’Brien and Billie McStay as players who played
in the American Soccer League, for Brooklyn Wanderers and New York F.C.
respectively, but did not last long over there. America was not enough to keep
them away from the British Isles. While there is understandably bias in the
piece, as no fan wants their league to weaken with the migration of players,
the article does have a prophetic quality about it. Soon this ‘Golden Age of
American soccer’ would be over and the Jazz Age dead, as the Great Depression
swept in and changed the social landscape across the world. The United States
would not hold the same alluring dream as it once did and these diverse and
vibrant soccer leagues would not be the same, and the I.R.T. Celtics would soon
be lost to history.