The Boston Beacons were an American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

professional team that competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) in 1968. The team was based in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

and played their home games at

Fenway Park Fenway Park is a ballpark located in Boston, Massachusetts, less than one mile from Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home field of Major League Baseball's (MLB) Boston Red Sox. While the stadium was built in 1912, it was substantia ...

. Originally intended to be a charter member of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) in 1967, the team played its first and only season in the

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

NASL following the merger of the NPSL and rival

United Soccer Association The United Soccer Association (USA) was a professional association football, soccer league featuring teams based in the United States and Canada. The league survived only one season before merging with the National Professional Soccer League ( ...

History

In 1966, several groups of entrepreneurs were exploring the idea of forming a professional soccer league in United States and Canada. Two of these groups merged to form the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) and franchise rights were awarded to ten ownership groups. Boston was originally chosen as a team location, but withdrew from the 1967 season as the organization was unable to find a suitable stadium. The NPSL announced that Boston would join the league in 1968 with a team owned by retired

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

coach

Red Auerbach Arnold Jacob "Red" Auerbach (September 20, 1917 – October 28, 2006) was an American professional basketball coach and executive. As a head coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA), he led the Boston Celtics to an unprecedented champio ...

and

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

executive vice president Dick O'Connell. In April 1967, General Manager Joe McKenney announced that the team name of Beacons had been chosen based on fan suggestions and that the team would start play in 1968 at

. In June 1967, Jack Mansell was hired as head coach, resigning from

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional association football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The team plays in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, after suffering relegation fr ...

to take the position. In preparation to join the league, the organization hosted an exhibition match between the Baltimore Bays and the

Chicago Spurs Chicago Spurs were an American soccer team that was a charter member of the non-FIFA sanctioned National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) in 1967. The team was based in Chicago, Illinois and played their home games at the Soldier Field. When ...

in July 1967. Following the merger of the NPSL and the

, it was announced that the city of Boston would be represented by one of the 20 teams in the North American Soccer League (NASL); the Boston Shamrock Rovers of the former USA folded, leaving the New England region to Beacons. The Beacons opened their season on the road against the

Oakland Clippers The Oakland Clippers (active 1967–1968, also named the California Clippers) were an American association football, soccer team based in Oakland, California. They played in the non-FIFA sanctioned National Professional Soccer League (1967), N ...

with a 2–1 loss in front of 5,714 fans, losing due to a botched clearance that bounced off a Beacon player and into the net for the Clipper's winning goal. On July 8, 1968, the Beacons lost by a score of 7–1 to Brazilian team

Santos FC Santos Futebol Clube () is a Brazilian sports club based in Vila Belmiro, a ''bairro'' in the city of Santos, São Paulo, Santos. It plays in the Campeonato Paulista, the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo's premier State football lea ...

, who were touring the United States and playing a series of exhibition matches against NASL and international teams. Santos star

Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; 23 October 1940 – 29 December 2022), better known by his nickname Pelé (), was a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. Widely reg ...

scored a goal and created an assist in the game played before a crowd of 18,431, the largest to attend a Beacons match at Fenway Park. The team finished the season in last place in the Atlantic Division with a record of 9 wins, 17 losses and 6 draws, and an average attendance of 4,004. During a meeting of NASL officials on October 24, 1968, GM Joe McKenney stated that the team would "100 per cent chance" quit the league. The team officially folded shortly after.

Year-by-year

Notes

References

{{North American Soccer League (1966–85) Defunct soccer clubs in Massachusetts Soccer clubs in Boston North American Soccer League (1968–1984) teams Soccer clubs in Massachusetts 1968 establishments in Massachusetts 1968 disestablishments in Massachusetts

Association football clubs established in 1968 Association football clubs disestablished in 1968

History

Year-by-year

See also

Notes

References