An American Player Scored the First-Ever World Cup Goal?

From Ellis Island to global soccer history. This week, we look back at the tale of our winger who cemented his name on the record books at the 1930 World Cup. Plus, we unveil our first-ever CLUBELEVEN jersey, unpack the infamous bourbon-soccer controversy, and much more.

This week’s stories:

• 👕 The CLUBELEVEN Home Kit

• 🤔 The Most Interesting Man in the World

• 🏅 An American Player Scored the First-Ever World Cup Goal?

• 🇺🇸 Making History in Colombia

• 🗳️ Poll + Last Week’s Answers

• ➡️ And More

CLUBELEVEN
The CLUBELEVEN Home Kit

After eleven months of careful tinkering, we’re proud to introduce the CLUBELEVEN Home Kit — commemorating six years of our storytelling journey in the region and celebrating America’s special community of soccer creators.

The jersey is designed in our signature colors and adorned with icons from our past, honoring all those driving CLUBELEVEN and North American soccer forward.

Get yours now at clubeleven.com

LIFESTYLE
The Most Interesting Man in the World

Chris Birchell, MLS and Concacaf legend. Chances are you’ve never heard of him, but he’s got quite the resume.

He replaced David Beckham when he made his LA Galaxy debut in 2009, helped Trinidad and Tobago to their first World Cup berth, and even won an MLS Cup.

Now, he’s poised to become a Premier League referee. Chalk it up to the bootstrapping spirit he picked up during his few years here.

COVER STORY
An American Player Scored the First-Ever World Cup Goal?

Seventy years ago today, Ellis Island closed its doors as an immigration station. When I learned this fact, it got me thinking of how many early icons of American soccer probably went through that station.

Enter Bart McGhee, a Scottish immigrant who passed through Ellis Island and cemented his name in World Cup history with the US.

I’d first seen him listed on the USMNT 1930 World Cup roster with his birthplace set as “Scotland,” and naturally, I started digging through the Ellis Island ship manifests to see if he’d entered through that famed immigration station.

After scouring through the entry logs, I eventually found his name listed in 1912, arriving on a ship named the Concordia from Glasgow at just 13 years of age. You can see the log here.

Eventually, Bart worked his way up to the USMNT when he was older, and on July 13, 1930, he made history.

Although most people think the inaugural match of the first World Cup was between France and Mexico, the fact is that the US was playing at the same time against Belgium. Our country essentially kicked off what’s become the greatest sporting competition in human history.

Anyways, McGhee opened the score in the 23rd minute of that inaugural match back in 1930. It was monumental, and everyone present at Estadio Parque Central celebrated him as the first player to score in a World Cup.

Unfortunately, after the game concluded, they all found out that French player Lucien Laurent had scored just four minutes prior in his own game a few miles away.

Part of me clings on to hope that maybe the France - Mexico game had a delayed kickoff due to the festivities around the inauguration, and maybe that could give Bart McGhee the official record. But there’s no way to prove that.

Still, to all of us American soccer fans, Bart McGhee should be a hero. An immigrant who learned to play soccer on our shores, participated in the opening game of the inaugural World Cup, and netted the first-ever goal we scored at that level. A trailblazer through and through.

HISTORY
The Bourbon Controversy

Louisville: home of the Kentucky Derby, Muhammed Ali, and bourbon. Believe it or not, five years ago today, NWSL’s Racing Louisville took this last one and based its original name around it.

On November 12, 2019, the club’s ownership group announced that they’d settled on Proof Louisville FC as their name. A cheeky pun centered around their signature liquor.

Unfortunately, it didn’t go down so smoothly with most fans, and after facing some backlash, the club course-corrected during the COVID-19 lockdowns and everyone forgot about the original monicker.

If we’re being honest, Racing Louisville is objectively a better name, but it does make you think back to the huge number of teams that have changed names in this country. It’s something that you rarely see elsewhere these days.

CLUBELEVEN
The Supporters Section

Drop your favorites — we’ve definitely missed a few! We’ll highlight your best answers next week.

CLUBELEVEN
Aggregates

Pablo’s Debut: Pablo’s Mate has been making the rounds in underground soccer circles around the country for some time, but now it’s time to officially celebrate their launch. It’ll be a blast. RSVP to their launch party in NYC on Nov 16!

Burger King Cup: Burger League this, Burger League that. 9th seed Atlanta United knocked out Inter Miami from the MLS playoffs and defended our honor as a soccer country. I celebrated that late Atlanta United winner more than I’d like to admit.

Rhode Island Wave: What a week it was for the underdogs. Rhode Island just made the Eastern Conference Final in their inaugural year. 

Coming Up Roses: Rose Lavelle is a certified big moments player. Already proved it at the 2019 World Cup Final, and she flaunted her clutch gene again with a 90+7 goal to send Gotham FC to the NWSL semis.

Able Made Lil Ballers: The perfect gift for anyone with kids (in case you’re already doing your Christmas shopping). This soccer-themed clothing collection for babies and toddlers is too cute.

AWARDS
Making History in Colombia

What an incredible run. In the inaugural Women’s Amputee Soccer World Cup, the US Team made it all the way to the final and secured a 2nd place medal.

Despite not being favorites going into the tournament, the US Team dazzled the crowds in Colombia, and even took the time to beat England in the quarters. Just beautiful.

It’ll be great to see how the team continues to develop over the next few years, and you can play your part too. Join ambassadors like Kellyn Acosta and James Sands in supporting the growth of amputee soccer in our country by donating here.

WORLD AFFAIRS
No More Going Dutch

Lily Yohannes has been split between the US and the Netherlands ever since moving to the European country when she was 10.

She’s been one of the most exciting young prospects in women’s soccer worldwide, already making 40 appearances for Ajax and becoming the youngest player ever to start a UEFA Women's Champions League game.

On Monday, she officially opted to represent the USWNT — a huge win for us. With all these incredible young players joining Emma Hayes’ roster, the future keeps getting brighter and brighter.

CLUBELEVEN
Your Takes 🗯️ 

Last week, we asked you what you collect when it comes to soccer? Here is our favorite answer, courtesy of Toby from San Francisco:

• “I'm a coach so mostly coaching Books, Magazines, Video (8mm, 16 mm, and beta and VHS tapes). Many in foreign languages because that's all I could get in the 70s and 80s from West and East Germany, the Netherlands, the Soviet Union, Brazil, etc. England was the best source because I kind of spoke their language. I'd look at the photos and diagrams in the foreign language materials and try to figure it out and apply it to practices. My wife and I had a Soccer Shop in San Francisco for 39 years but closed in 2020.

  The inside of our store was covered by posters, jerseys, cleats (boots), keychains, trophies, photos, etc. Customers would give us items to display because ‘My wife won't let me hang it up in our living room.’ One customer called our store in San Francisco the Sistine Chapel of the game because the ceiling was large and very high and completely covered with posters. Our tagline became ‘A Shrine To The Great Game.’ A teenager who worked at our store came up with that.

  Also, my high school coach — who started youth soccer in San Francisco in 1952 — gave me a massive collection of photos, minutes from meetings, newspaper clippings, magazines, etc, just before he died in 2020. Fortunately for me, I've been living with a partner (girlfriend to wife) who is ‘football mad’ so I never had to throw or give all these items away. I still have a pull-out photo from the large photo journal Life Magazine of Pele in his Santos uniform hands on hips with sole of foot on ball. When I was 11 or 12, I hung it up on the wall in front of my bed and prayed to God to give me thighs like his. I absolutely love your newsletter. I look forward to it every week. It provokes thoughts that I haven't had for a long long time. You, I'm sure all young guys, are doing great work for the game in our country.”

From all of us at CLUBELEVEN, we’d like to say a huge thank you, Toby! Reading your response made our week, and we hope to see you the next time we are in San Francisco. We’ll have to go out for dinner at El Farolito and dig through the collection 🤝

UP NEXT
More From Our Kit

Shooting our Home Kit campaign with close to 20 creators from the CLUBELEVEN community was probably one of the highlights of our year.

You can check out the launch video, studio photos, and detailed imagery on our socials right here. We had a ton of fun with all of it, but there’s more to come 👀

Enjoying This?

Make sure to forward this email to a friend and help us spread the soccer gospel far and wide! We’ll see you next week with even more untold stories of soccer.

Have a great Tuesday!

Pablo