Pito Villanon was a Cuban

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who spent eleven seasons with

Brookhattan Brookhattan was an American soccer club based in New York City that was a member of the professional American Soccer League (ASL) from 1933 to 1962. The name is a blend of the names of Manhattan and Brooklyn where it played. It later changed ...

in the American Soccer League. At the time, he was one of a handful of black professional athletes, playing in an integrated American sports league. He is reputedly the first black player in the American Soccer League. During his eleven seasons in the ASL, Villanon led the league in scoring twice ( 1948-49, 1952-53). He was also the 1952-53 ASL MVP. In 1948, Villanon and his teammates finished runner-up in the 1948 National Challenge Cup. They also finished runner-up in league play in 1954.

References

Year of birth missing Cuban men's footballers Brookhattan players American Soccer League (1933–1983) players Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Cuban expatriate men's footballers Cuban expatriate sportspeople in the United States Men's association football forwards {{Cuba-footy-bio-stub