Thomas Swords (October 2, 1885 – March 29, 1953) was an American soccer forward, who served as captain of the U.S. men's national team in its first two games. He is a member of 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 ...

Club career

Swords was born and grew up in

Fall River, Massachusetts Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. Fall River's population was 94,000 at the 2020 United States census, making it the List of municipalities in Massachusetts, tenth-largest city in the state, and the second- ...

, US, an early hotbed of U.S. soccer. In 1903, Swords joined Whittenton Athletic Club of

Taunton, Massachusetts Taunton is a city in and the county seat of Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. Taunton is situated on the Taunton River, which winds its way through the city on its way to Mount Hope Bay, to the south. As of the 2020 United States ...

. After one season, he jumped to his hometown-based

Fall River Rovers Fall River Rovers were a United States association football, soccer club, based in Fall River, Massachusetts. They won the 1888 American Cup, 1888 and 1889 American Cups as well as the 1917 National Challenge Cup. In 1922 Rovers and Fall River Un ...

of the New England League. In 1909, the Rovers won the league title. In 1910, he moved to the

Philadelphia Hibernian Philadelphia Hibernian, also known as Hibernian F.C., was an early twentieth century U.S. soccer team which played in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. History Philadelphia Hibernian was described as one of the leading teams in the East and were champ ...

of the

Eastern Soccer League Eastern or Easterns may refer to: Transportation Airlines *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 192 ...

. After two seasons, he moved to the

New Bedford Whalers New Bedford Whalers was the name of three American soccer teams based in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The first Whalers played in the Southern New England Soccer League between 1914 and 1918. The second Whalers played in the American Soccer Leag ...

for the 1913 season. However, he was back with the Fall River Rovers in 1914 and would remain with the team until he retired in 1920. During his second stint with the Rovers, Swords experienced some of his greatest achievements when the team went to three consecutive

National Challenge Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States. It is the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competition. The competition was first held duri ...

finals between 1916 and 1918. In

1916 Events Below, the events of the First World War have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 1 – The British Empire, British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion, using blood that has been stored ...

, the team fell to

Bethlehem Steel The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Until its closure in 2003, it was one of the world's largest steel-producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its success ...

. Then in

1917 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force's ...

, they redeemed themselves when they defeated Bethlehem to take the Cup title. The two teams met again in

1918 The ceasefire that effectively ended the World War I, First World War took place on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of this year. Also in this year, the Spanish flu pandemic killed 50–100 million people wor ...

. This time Bethlehem won in a replay after the two teams played to a 2–2 tie in the first game. In this second game, Swords' brutal tackle knocked out the Bethlehem goalkeeper.

National team

In 1916, the

United States Football Association The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official governing body of soccer in the United States. It is a full member of FIFA and governs American soccer at ...

(USFA) recruited a team, called the All-American Soccer Football Team, to represent the U.S. on a tour of Scandinavian countries. At the time, these countries and the U.S. were all neutral during the ongoing

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Thomas Swords was selected as the team captain. During the six game tour, the U.S. played two recognized international games, one on August 21, 1916, against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

and another on September 3, 1916, against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. There are disagreements about who scored the first national team goals. The

lists

Dick Spalding Charles Harry "Dick" Spalding (October 13, 1893 – February 3, 1950) was an American soccer and baseball player. He played the first two games in the history of the United States men's national soccer team, U.S. men's national soccer team and ...

, but other sources state that Swords scored an unassisted goal against Sweden. He was inducted into the

in 1951.

References

External links

National Soccer Hall of Fame profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swords, Thomas 1953 deaths American men's soccer players Men's association football forwards Fall River Rovers players National Soccer Hall of Fame members New Bedford Whalers players Philadelphia Hibernian players Soccer players from Massachusetts Southern New England Soccer League players Soccer players from Fall River, Massachusetts United States men's international soccer players 1885 births