1968
Fall River Astros
Click on the Arrow on right - to get a brief overview of a few of this years' highlights
The Astros then moved to Fall River, where in 1968, they were known as Fall River Astros
The team attracted two to three thousand fans each game, and were adored by their Fall River followers.
After one very successful season in Fall River, Bertos made a bid for the Hub.
1968 Fall River Astros " The starting lineup was..."
Gustavo
Lucas
Alberto (from Chile)
Lacerda
Dinga (Warley)
Carlos Paulino
Wagner
Sabino
Fernando
Itamar
Other players added that period:
Noventa, Brito, Haroldo, etc.
Dunfermline FC, Scotland
May 15, 1968 - June 12, 1968
Results: 3 wins, 6 draws, 1 loss.
5/12/68
At Fall River Astros 0
Dunfermline 0
*match abandoned at half-time Attendance 2,100
5/15/68 Dunfermline 1, Manchester City 1 (at Toronto)
5/19/68 Dunfermline 1, Manchester City 1 at Willow Brook Park, New Britain, Conn. (4,000)
5/22/68 Dunfermline 0
at Greek-Americans 2
5/30/68 Dunfermline 1, Kansas City Spurs 1 (at Memorial Stadium, Kansas City (10,507)
6/1/68 Dunfermline 0, Manchester City 0 (at Vancouver (6,500)
6/5/68 Dunfermline 0, Vancouver Canadians 0 (at Vancouver)
6/9/68 Dunfermline 3, St. Louis Stars 1
(at Oakland; together with Oakland Clippers v Manchester City; 25,327)
6/11/68 Dunfermline 8, Rochester Lancers 1 (at Rochester)
6/12/68 Dunfermline 7, Ukrainian Nationals 1 (at Philadelphia)
Aug. 3, 1968
Lancers top Astros
Rochester was awarded the win in a game that ended prematurely.
With seven minutes remaining, Roberts snapped a 2-2 deadlock for a 3-2 advantage over the Fall River Astros.
Astros head coach John Bertos then ran onto the field and to argue with referee Tom Clements that offside should have been called. Clements and his linesman headed for their car.
Fall River goalkeeper Luiz Serrano reportedly grabbed a corner flagpole and punched out one of the car’s windows while several Astros players pounded on the vehicle Clements was injured and couldn’t continue.
ASL president Charlie Schiano, who also was the Rochester Lancers general manager, declared the Lancers as winners.
Geraldo Monteiro and Warley Ornelas pushed the Astros 1-0 and 2-1 leads but goals by Bergamo and Allison equalized to give head coach Ricardo Musci a winning debut.
American Soccer League
1967 - 1968
As fall 1967 approached, the ASL endeavored to persevere: earlier that year, interests in Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit and Minnesota were refused permission by the USSFA to join the ASL. Notwithstanding this setback, the ASL went into its 1967-68 season with a twelve-team, two division league. The only noticeable change from the early days was the admission of the Rochester and Washington clubs.
The ASL teams still operated on small budgets-New York Inter’s budget was about $50,000 a year-and still had ethnic followings, played in dusty ovals, and had part-time players who performed before small crowds. Edner Breton, later to play for Detroit Cougars in the other league, played a couple of exhibition games for Rochester’s ASL team in 1968. "It was like a bunch of kids playing in a park with no organization whatsoever", he recalled.
Ukrainian Nationals of Philadelphia took the 1967-68 ASL crown. With the demise of the NASL's Detroit Cougars, the ASL started looking seriously at expansion to the Midwest, and began making the first preliminary planning for such a move.
In an apparent concession to the "majors", the ASL announced that it would begin playing a summer season in 1969. As a result, for the first time since its inception, the American Soccer League did not begin a season in September of the year. The 1968-69 season was truncated to become simply the 1968 Fall season. scheduled for 12 games. Some clubs, not content to spend the summer and fall of 1968 idly, staged an "internal season": Washington Darts took the championship.
In between the two sessions, five teams folded, while Lowell moved to Fall River.
Before the season, Hartford became the Hartford SC.Patterson,
Fall River, and Washington were added. Baltimore became the Flyers.
Final ASL League Standings, 1967-68
G W T L GF GA PTS
First Division
Ukrainian Nationals 15 10 3 2 36 12 23
Boston Tigers 15 8 0 7 34 26 16
Washington Darts 15 7 2 6 28 26 16
Rochester Lancers 15 6 2 7 34 31 14
Baltimore Flyers 15 4 3 8 17 35 11
Newark Ukrainian Sitch 15 4 2 9 15 34 10
Premier Division (as of April 20, 1968)
New York Inter SC 9 6 3 0 13 9 15
Fall River Astros 11 6 3 2 23 13 15
Newark Portuguese 11 5 2 4 24 20 12
Patterson Roma SC 11 3 4 4 27 25 10
New Brunswick Hungarians 12 1 0 11 19 55 2
Hartford SC (played a few games)
CHAMPIONSHIP: Ukrainian Nationals defeated New York Inter 3-3, 5-1.
Hartford withdrew early in the season. After the season,
Boston, Baltimore, Newark Portuguese, Patterson Roma, and
New Brunswick folded.
Top Scorers: (as of April 30, 1968)
Ivan Paleto, Ukrainian Nationals 14
Nelson Bargamo, Rochester Lancers 12
Luis Passache, Ukrainian Nationals 9
Manual Rugel, New York Inter 8
Carlos Metidieri, Boston Tigers 8
Jorge Benitez, Boston Tigers 8
Billy Fraser, Washington Darts 7
Robert Waugh, New York Inter 7
Aguedo Perez, Newark Portuguese 6
Avner Wolanon, New York Inter 6
Most Valuable Player: Robert Waugh, New York Inter
Coach of the Year: Norman Sutherland, Washington Darts
League Standings, Fall 1968
(as of late 12/68)
Before the season, Hartford returned, changed their name to Kings, and
Ukrainian Nationals became Philadelphia Ukrainians.
G W T L GF GA PTS
Washington Darts 11 9 1 1 33 5 19
Rochester Lancers 12 6 1 5 32 20 13
Philadelphia Ukrainians 9 6 0 3 24 13 12
Fall River Astros 9 4 0 5 13 11 9
New York Inter 7 3 1 3 18 18 8
Hartford Kings 12 2 0 10 12 56 4
Newark Ukrainian Sitch 8 1 1 6 8 20 3
CHAMPION: Washington Darts
After the season, Hartford folded. Fall River Astros became "Boston Astros".
The first half concluded in the 2nd week of January 1969, and the second half was cancelled, as the league moved to a summer schedule.
The Darts ultimately finished at 10-1-1.
Leading Scorer: Brown, Washington Darts, 12 goals in 12 games.
