1931 American Soccer League

At the start of this season the American Soccer League was in decline, suffering from the effects of the Great Depression. Clubs had begun to fold, merge and disappear. The eventual champions, New Bedford Whalers, had been formed by Sam Mark following the merger of Fall River F.C. and New York Yankees. Long time ASL members Brooklyn Wanderers folded before the season. However New York Americans, later to become a perennial contender in the second ASL, made their debut.

The season began on February 29, 1931. The first half ended on May 31, 1931. The second half began September 19, 1931 and the season concluded on December 27, 1931. The season saw strong performances by New Bedford Whalers, New York Giants and a resurgent Pawtucket Rangers. Hakoah All-Stars improved markedly to take fourth place. Although the Whalers won this season, they lost the playoff series for the overall 1931 champion, being defeated by Spring 1931 champions New York Giants in a play-off. Whalers took the first game at home 8-3 before the Giants came back to win 6-0, taking the series on a 9-8 aggregate score.

League standings

• The percentage is a percentage of points won to points available, not a win-lose percentage.

First half

Place	Team	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA	PTS	PCT
1	New York Giants	17	10	2	5	42	28	22	.647
2	Brooklyn Wanderers	16	9	2	5	32	27	20	.625
3	New York Yankees	17	9	3	5	40	27	21	.619
4	Pawtucket Rangers	18	9	3	6	47	33	21	.583
5	Fall River	16	8	2	6	28	25	18	.558
6	Hakoah All-Stars	17	5	2	10	25	41	12	.353
7	Newark Americans	13	4	1	8	18	29	9	.346
8	New Bedford Whalers	11	3	2	6	18	22	9	.346
7	Boston Bears	7	1	0	6	10	30	2	.143

Second half

Place	Team	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA	PTS	PCT
1	New Bedford Whalers	21	14	2	5	60	32	30	.714
2	New York Giants	20	11	4	5	54	38	26	.650
3	Pawtucket Rangers	20	13	0	7	58	42	26	.650
4	Hakoah All-Stars	21	11	4	6	44	34	26	.615
5	Boston Bears	19	4	3	12	34	50	11	.289
6	New York Americans	20	3	3	14	32	69	9	.225
7	Newark Americans	11	1	2	8	16	39	4	.183

Playoff

New Bedford Whalers v New York Giants

January 1, 1932

New Bedford Whalers	8-3	New York Giants
Billy Gonsalves Werner Nilsen  50' Billy Gonsalves Tommy Florie OG Hugh Lafferty		53' Bert Patenaude  83' Frank Tollan

Battery Park, New Bedford, Massachusetts

New York Giants v New Bedford Whalers

January 3, 1932

New York Giants	6-0	New Bedford Whalers
Shamus O'Brien  20' Bert Patenaude  23' Bart McGhee  30' Shamus O'Brien  53' Jimmy Gallagher  67' Bert Patenaude  80'

The Polo Grounds, New York, New York Attendance: 3,000

New York Giants won 9-8 on aggregate.

Top goalscorers

Rank	Scorer	Club	GP	G
1	Bob McIntyre	Pawtucket Rangers	34	38
2	Bert Patenaude	New York Yankees New York Giants	31	33
3	Willie Crilley	Fall River F.C. Brooklyn Wanderers Newark Americans	22	23
4	Tommy Florie	New Bedford Whalers Fall River F.C.	36	22
5	Werner Nilsen	New York Yankees New Bedford Whalers	29	21
6	Billy Gonsalves	New York Yankees New Bedford Whalers	36	20
7	Davey Brown	New York Giants	30	18
	Rudolph Nikolsberger	Hakoah All-Stars	35	18
9	Bill Paterson	Brooklyn Wanderers Fall River F.C.	30	16
10	Jimmy McAuley	Pawtucket Rangers	35	15
	Moritz Häusler	Hakoah All-Stars	38	15
11	Nib Hogg	Fall River F.C. Pawtucket Rangers	27	14
12	Tec White	New York Yankees New Bedford Whalers	38	13
13	Arthur Scott	Pawtucket Rangers	35	12
14	George Moorhouse	New York Yankees Newark Americans	31	11
	Bart McGhee	New York Giants	32	11
16	Herbert Carlsson	New York Giants	34	10

External links

• The Year in American Soccer - 1931
• The Year in American Soccer - 1932