Remembering Steel Field -- the First SSS?

In 1915, Bethlehem Steel FC purchased eight acres of land on East Elizabeth Avenue in Bethlehem from the Moravian Church for construction of an athletic field. It is, I believe, the first “soccer specific stadium” in the United States. Certainly there were other soccer fields built prior to Steel Field, but as far as I can tell it represents the first stadium built specifically by and for what would be a professional team, predating Marks Stadium in North Tiverton, Rhode Island that was constructed for the Fall River Marksmen.

Given that many Bethlehem Steel players came from Scotland and England, it shouldn’t be too surprising that Steel Field looks very much like a British ground. Early stadiums in Scotland and England often consisted of a single, covered main stand, often of brick, surrounded by an open bowl. (A number of the British stands, including Ibrox Park, Bramall Lane and Craven Cottage were designed by Archibald Leitch.)

Steel Field included a brick, covered grandstand that apparently seated 2,400, with bleachers flanking the main stand. The roof was probably a necessity, as the American Soccer League did play from September through May, when weather would have been an issue. I’m not certain of the total capacity. Colin Jose notes in his book on the History of the American Soccer League that ASL teams typically drew between 6,000 and 8,000 fans per game, although Bethlehem Steel itself never drew particularly well and the team played its bigger games at Lehigh University’s old Taylor Stadium.

Wikipedia indicates that Bethlehem Steel gave the stadium to Moravian College, but that doesn’t appear to be accurate. In fact, newspaper accounts of the time indicate that Bethlehem Steel sold Steel Field to Lehigh University in 1925, which renamed the field Lehigh Field, although Bethlehem Steel FC continued to play most of their games at Steel Field until the team folded. With the completion of Sayre Field in 1962, Lehigh University in turn sold Steel Field to Moravian College, which operates it to this day as part of the Steel Field Athletic Complex.

In 2005, Moravian College rebuilt the playing surface, installing a new running track and artificial turf, but I believe the main stand survives to this day. Perhaps someone out there can confirm it. Photos from that 2005 project show the main stand, looking much the same as it did 90 years before. The glass sidewalls are gone, partially replaced by brick, but the old stadium still looks pretty good, standing vigil over the field where one of the first great professional soccer teams in the United States once played.



Links and Sources.

Lehigh University: A History of Education in Engineering, Business, and the Human Condition, by Willard Ross Yates, page 219 (“In the Summer of 1962, Sayre Field was completed and Steel Field was sold to Moravian College.”) Lehigh University Press.

http://www.ironlakessportsclub.com/LV Soccer History.htm (“The Moravian congregation sold The Steel eight acres and in 1915 the Elizabeth Avenue Athletic Field, now called Steel Field and used by Moravian College, was built.”)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moravian_College (“Most of [Moravian] College's athletic fields are located at th[e Steel Field] Complex, including the newly renovated football stadium with a grandstand capacity of 2,400 and a new Sportexe turf field.”)

http://www.geocities.com/bethlehem_soccer/


Photos:

http://www.moravian.edu/giving/rocco/photos.htm

 

Sam Mark's Stadium was a great ASL venue, but unfortunately I believe it was built of wood and it was torn down about 1950. Boston's Ballparks & Arenas By Alan E. Foulds has an entire chapter on the stadium (as well as a couple other ASL stadiums), complete with a photo of the field as it now looks, starting at page 155. You can preview it on Google Book Search if you search "boston's ballparks and arenas".

 

Here is the 1924 NFL

Cleveland Bulldogs
Chicago Bears
Frankford (Philadelphia) Yellow Jackets
Duluth Kelleys
Rock Island Independents
Green Bay Packers
Racine Legion
Chicago Cardinals
Buffalo Bisons
Columbus Tigers
Hammond Pros
Milwaukee Badgers
Akron Pros
Dayton Triangles
Kansas City Blues
Rochester Jeffersons
Kenosha Maroons
Minneapolis Marines
Canton Bulldogs

Half of these NFL teams were gone five years later. When the Soccer War started in 1929, both the NFL and ASL each had ten teams. The Bears drew just under 10,000 people a game to lead the NFL in attendance in 1924, while most NFL clubs drew 1,500 to 5,000 (with the Packers 3,500, for example). By contrast, Fall River averaged 8,000 a game at Mark's Stadium to lead the ASL, while other teams averaged about 6,000.

Baseball was king during the inter-war years, but the ASL was a lot more substantial than people generally give it credit for, and certainly comparable, if not bigger, than the young NFL.

 

Can't get much better confirmation that it's still there than that.

If anyone is ever in the neighborhood with a digital camera, there is supposed to be a marker on the stadium that notes its soccer heritage.

 

I hate to sound testy, but I'm not sure why you moved this. The old name of the "Expansion" forum was "Expansion and Stadiums", and that's what this is about, a stadium -- the first soccer specific stadium for a professional team which isn't even in Philadelphia.

Are stadium discussions no longer part of the Expansion Forum?

 

Many high school games did indeed outdraw college games, in fact. As you may know, in the 1930s and 1940s, the Prep Bowl drew crowds of 75,000 to 110,000 to Soldier Field. Thanksgiving Day prep football was also a huge event in Michigan in the 1920s.

http://www.ihsa.org/activity/fb/records/agen.htm

http://www.mlive.com/preps/weblog/index.ssf?/mtlogs/mlive_fortherecord/archives/2005_08.html


That popularity had not translated to the professional game, however, especially during the 1920s. Seasons were also much shorter -- perhaps 9 games, with four or five home games at the college level, contrasted to Soccer where they were often playing 25 or so home games a year in all competitions.