Shamus O'Brien
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William Shamus O'Brien (November 29, 1907 – November 28, 1981) was an American-Scottish
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 ...
inside left In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on be ...
. During his
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career, O'Brien spent eight seasons in the first American Soccer League and another five in the second American Soccer League.


Youth

While born in Scotland, O'Brien's family immigrated to the United States when he was eleven. They initially settled in
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when his father was hired by the
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. However, the family did not remain in Virginia, but moved to
Kearny, New Jersey Kearny ( ) is a town in the western part of Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, and a suburb of Newark. As of the 2020 United States census, the town's population was 41,999, an increase of 1,315 (+3.2%) from the 2010 census cou ...
where O'Brien was immersed in one of the country's most productive soccer regions. He began his career with Ryerson Juniors, winning the 1925 New Jersey state cup. He then briefly moved to Hartley before turning professional in the fall of 1925.


Professional

In 1925, the
New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...
of the American Soccer League signed O'Brien. In 1928, the Giants, along with two other teams from the ASL, were suspended from the league for playing
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matches. The suspension was part of the Soccer Wars which pitted the ASL and the U.S. Soccer Football Association for control of professional soccer in the U.S. When the ASL boycotted the National Cup, the Giants defied the league and played its games anyway, leading to its suspension. USSFA then assisted the three suspended ASL clubs to merge with several teams from the Southern New York Soccer Association to form the
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. O'Brien and the Giants played the 1928–29 season in the ESL before returning to the ASL in the fall of 1929. However, he also played one game with the New York Nationals. In 1930 the owner of the Giants was forced to sell the club as he also owned
New York Hakoah New York Hakoah is an American soccer club based in New York City, which takes its name from two earlier, defunct clubs. ''Hakoah'' (roughly translated as "strength" from Hebrew) is a frequent name for sport and social Jewish clubs around the wor ...
, another ASL team. Under the new ownership, the Giants became the
New York Soccer Club New York Soccer Club was the name of a New York soccer team that, in 1930, played briefly in the American Soccer League. In 1923, New York fur merchant Maurice Vandeweghe - the father and grandfather of later basketball stars Ernie and Kiki Van ...
. In the spring of 1931, O'Brien moved to the second
New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...
. This version of the Giants was in no way related to the earlier Giants. This Giants team folded at the end of the 1931–32 season and O'Brien moved to the
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. The first American Soccer League finally collapsed in 1933, to be replaced by the second ASL. With the change in league, O'Brien left the Americans to sign with the Kearny Irish Americans in 1933. The Irish-Americans won the 1933–34 league titles before becoming known as the Kearny Irish. O'Brien retired from playing professionally in 1938. Although selected for the United States team to compete in the first World Cup, he had to decline the offer because at that time he was not a U.S. citizen. O'Brien was inducted into the
National Soccer Hall of Fame The National Soccer Hall of Fame is a public-private partnership among FC Dallas, the City of Frisco, Frisco Independent School District, and the U.S. Soccer Federation, and currently located in Toyota Stadium (Texas), Toyota Stadium in Frisco, T ...
in 1990.


References


External links


National Soccer Hall of Fame profile


{{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Shamus 1907 births 1981 deaths People from Neilston Scottish men's footballers American men's soccer players American Soccer League (1921–1933) players New York Giants (soccer) players New York Nationals (ASL) players New York Soccer Club players New York Giants (soccer, 1930–1932) players New York Americans (soccer) (1933–1956) players American Soccer League (1933–1983) players Scottish emigrants to the United States Kearny Celtic players National Soccer Hall of Fame members Soccer players from Kearny, New Jersey Scottish people of Irish descent Men's association football forwards Scottish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Scottish expatriate men's footballers Footballers from East Renfrewshire 20th-century Scottish sportsmen