Pickup Soccer During the Civil War

Union and Confederate soldiers used to play soccer in between Civil War battles. This week, on the 160th anniversary of the end of the Civil War, we take a look at evidence of soccer games taking place throughout America’s bloodiest conflict. Plus, we recap Round 2 of our soccer bus tour, examine a funny case of accidental soccer tourism, and much more.

This week’s stories:

• 🙏 Thank You Florida!

• 🦅 The Legendary New Jersey Eagles

• 💥 Pickup Soccer During the Civil War

• 🧳 The Accidental Soccer Tourist

• 🗳️ Poll + Last Week’s Answers

• ➡️ And More

CLUBELEVEN
Thank You Florida!

What a week! We headed out to SWFL to catch the FC Naples game on Wednesday and then made a “pit stop” at Not Another Film Lab in Orlando for a chill Saturday hangout with fellow soccer + photo enthusiasts.

Over in Naples, Barra 239 were unable to play their instruments and unfurl their flags during the match, but they eagerly came up to our bus to show us what they’re all about after the game was over. It was definitely one of my favorite memories from the past few weeks on the road. Also, the stadium in Naples was absolutely gorgeous, and I can’t recommend it enough—it had palm trees, lakes, and all that Florida jazz.

A couple of days later, we made our way up to Orlando to park our bus at one of the top photo labs in the city for a few hours. It was incredibly humbling to see all the photo & soccer aficionados (and curious bystanders) who stopped by our bus, grabbed a copy of The Soccer Odyssey mag, snagged our CLUBELEVEN kit, and paused to hear about our roadtrip across the country throughout the afternoon.

Your support keeps us pushing! We’ll be setting off to our next destination in the next few days. Onwards 🫡

OUR HISTORY
The Legendary New Jersey Eagles

The ‘80s were rough. Just imagine not having a nationwide professional outdoor soccer league. Still, that didn’t mean that there weren’t low-budget, regional leagues in pockets across the country.

One such league was the ASL (1988-1990), which featured the New Jersey Eagles, who were somewhat of a New York Cosmos alumni society.

The owner was a longtime Cosmos season ticket holder, Cosmos execs Clive Toye and Dominick Flora reprised their front office roles, and former Cosmos players Hubert Birkenmeier and Andranik “Eski” Eskandarian also laced up for this new club.

These last two have owned a beloved soccer shop in Hackensack, NJ for over four decades, and we’re lucky to have befriended them a couple of years ago (you can see Eski in a few of our past projects if you have a keen eye).

The 37th anniversary of the New Jersey Eagles’ first-ever game is today, April 8th, so we’d like to give them a shout out on this special occasion!

COVER STORY
Pickup Soccer During the Civil War

Tomorrow marks the 160th anniversary of the end of the Civil War. And as it’s usually the case when these big historical anniversaries roll around, I ended up spiraling in search of any soccer connections.

That’s how I stumbled upon a short blurb in a newspaper from 1861, describing an impromptu soccer game amongst Confederate soldiers from Louisiana.

In between raving about how great the game went and going on a mad tangent to call Abraham Lincoln and his Union troops “a set of liars, scamps, vagabonds, braggadocios, and worse of all, infamous cowards,” the reporter described the soccer abilities of the Confederate officers who participated in this pickup game and gave some insight into how their personalities as leaders also reflected on the field.

It might just be one of the earliest examples of soccer punditry in the United States (not so united at the time).

Fortunately, soccer wasn’t only a pastime reserved for Confederate camps—Union soldiers played the beautiful game too.

In fact, there’s an engraving from an 1861 Harper’s Weekly edition that depicts the Union’s First Maryland Regiment playing “foot-ball” before an evening parade.

Notably, there are two cannons in the distance that seem to mark one of the goals. It’s quite surreal to think about Civil War soldiers actually doing that, but it’s right there in documents from the time.

It is worth noting, though, that the version of soccer/football that these soldiers were playing resembled more of a brutal brawl rather than the elegant modern game we know today. When you consider that many of the Civil War battles essentially consisted of large groups of people meeting in a field and clashing head on, it makes sense that their version of soccer looked pretty similar to that too.

TRAVEL
The Accidental Soccer Tourist

This fellow American took soccer tourism to another level.

Arizona college student Evan Johnston was on holiday in the UK, where he made a fatal—or rather fortunate—error.

He hopped on a boat that he thought was doing a sightseeing tour around London, but instead, he boarded a “party boat” that had been rented out by a group of 150 Southend fans on their way to their match against Sutton.

The fans took Evan under their wing, poured him a few pints, and gave him a ticket to the match. A prime example of why we call this sport the beautiful game.

Of course, the Southend fans spent the entire match chanting “Evan is a Shrimper.”

Evan now says he’s a Southend fan for life, despite never having really followed soccer before. You love to see it.

CLUBELEVEN
The Supporters Section

We need your help to finalize our bus’ (nick)name. After much deliberation online and in person, we’ve reached our Final Four and need your input. Vote in each one of the polls above to select our finalists. Grand final poll coming next week.

CLUBELEVEN
Aggregates

De Bruyne to Miami: For some reason, Inter Miami has the discovery rights to Kevin De Bruyne, paving the way for a potential blockbuster transfer over the summer.

Fooled: Saw a lot of soccer jokes on April Fools, but this one really got me.

Burrito Boys: This burrito restaurant/soccer team earned a sweet bonus after being the last surviving team from the open division in the US Open Cup.

Episode 2: The second installment of this doc highlighting Hearts of Pine is officially out. Check it out.

Fearless: Once again I have to shout out this fellow Maryland Terp. He just captained a third division German side to the DFB-Pokal final, beating Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen in the process. Unbelievable.

INNOVATION
Night of Firsts

First-ever pro women’s sporting event at SoFi Stadium, first goal for Trinity Rodman on her return to the USWNT, and the first start for Phallon Tullis-Joyce.

All in front of 32,000 fans who made it an unforgettable afternoon in LA.

Also, the hybrid pitch used for this game at SoFi was part of a special test to see if this new grass tech is ready ahead of the 2026 World Cup. Pretty cool!

EXPANSION
Chattanooga Proves Them Wrong

“…to think they [an MLS team] might be playing in Chattanooga in a stadium of 4,000 people on a crappy field with no fans, makes no sense." - Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber, 2015.

It’s a quote that nearly every fan in Chattanooga remembers, and one that they repeatedly brought up when we visited the city last year for a game. It was an ill-advised statement by Garber—and one he might not have intended to come out that way—but it’s become a sort of rallying cry for supporters in Chattanooga ever since.

Last week, they proved that this is why you should never question their love for the game. Breathtaking.

CLUBELEVEN
Your Takes 🗯️ 

Last week, we asked you: Who would you rather see in the Club World Cup? Here are some of your best answers:

• “LAFC. Give ‘em a chance! :)” - Steve

• “Club America. The scenes would be unreal just look at how all their friendlies go here. Now imagine at a competition like the CWC.” - Ben

• LAFC. Another MLS team would be great, but it should’ve been Columbus.” - TD

In the poll, “Club America” earned 68% of the vote, while “LAFC” captured "32% of the vote.

If I’m being honest, I want Club León to win their appeal so we can see James at the Club World Cup. That man turns into prime Pelé when he has to play summer competitions. Make it happen, lawyers.

But if you really made me choose between the two other options, I’d have to go with LAFC just on principal. As much as I respect Club America, I have to stick with the team from here.

UP NEXT
Where to Next?

The bus is currently sitting in Orlando, taking a very short break before embarking on what might just be its most ambitious journey to date. We’ll announce our next destinations over the next few days right here. 

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