Archie Stark scores five in the U.S.’s first ever home match

This day in football history

Brian Seal
Howler Magazine
2 min readNov 8, 2016

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On 8 November 1925, Scottish-born U.S. forward Archie Stark made his second and last international appearance, scoring five times.

He had just come off an incredible 1924–25 season for Bethlehem Steel, scoring 70 goals in 46 appearances across all competitions (67 of those came in his 44 league games). That performance got him his first cap in an away match against Canada in June, but he failed to score and Canada won 1–0.

Stark returned to the lineup for the next game, also against Canada, which was played in Brooklyn—the first official international played by the U.S. on home soil. There, he regained his club form from the previous season, and his five goals led to a 6–1 U.S. victory (Davey Brown scored the other for the hosts, while Canada’s goal came from Gordon Burness).

He went on to have another strong season for Bethlehem Steel, scoring 54 goals in 45 games. The U.S. invited him to join the squad for the 1930 World Cup, but he declined because he was engaged in a new business venture (an automotive company) following the dissolution of Bethlehem Steel earlier that year and could not spare the time.

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Brian Seal
Howler Magazine

Writing about the milestones in football (soccer) at tdifh.blogspot.com. Contributor to whatahowler.com.