Philip Slone

While in high school, SC Hakoah Wien a powerhouse Austrian team toured the U.S. During that tour, members of the team saw Slone playing and when they moved to the U.S. in 1928 to form a team in the Eastern Soccer League (ESL), they invited Slone, then in college to play with them. Slone signed with New York Hakoah of the ESL in 1928, beginning his twelve-year professional career. That first season was difficult. As he remembers it, "Life was hectic then. I played professional soccer on the weekends, worked during the week and went to evening classes at St. John's University Law School." A little background is required to understand the next two years of Slone's career. The ESL was created during the “Soccer War” which pitted the American Soccer League and the USFA. After three ASL teams were expelled from the league, they joined several other teams to form the ESL. This league lasted a season and a half before merging with the ASL at the end of the “Soccer War”. New York Hakoah was owned by Maurice Vandeweghe, who also owned the New York Giants of the ASL. The merger of the ESL and ASL meant that Vandeweghe now owned to teams in the same league. League rules forbid that, so Vandeweghe sold Hakoah. When he did, Slone jumped to Vandeweghe's other team, the Giants. In June 1930, Slone left the U.S. to play in the 1930 FIFA World Cup. He and his teammates returned to discover the ASL had experienced a reshuffling of teams in their absence. As a result, Slone left…