The 1912 Campaign to Abolish Penalty Kicks

A century ago, the American soccer landscape was on the verge of making a radical decision. This week, we revisit the war to eliminate penalty kicks in 1912. Plus, we dive into some unexpected soccer and music connections, celebrate a huge victory for Vermont, and much more.

This week’s stories:

• 🤔 Forgetting Abby Wambach

• 🎶 Chappell Roan, Bob Dylan, and Soccer

• ❌ The 1912 Campaign to Abolish Penalty Kicks

• 🌪️ State of Flow

• 🗳️ Poll + Last Week’s Answers

• ➡️ And More

OUR HISTORY
Forgetting Abby Wambach

Almost nine years ago to the day, Abby Wambach played her last-ever professional game and delivered an emotional farewell message.

The match was a friendly against China in New Orleans, on December 16, 2015. Unfortunately for the USWNT, it ended up being a 1-0 loss that would snap a 104-game home unbeaten streak, but that was the least of anybody’s worries.

A fervent crowd paid its respects to the greatest goalscorer in our country’s history, and Abby left us all with one touching request:

“I want to leave a legacy where the ball keeps rolling forward, where the next generation accomplishes things so great that I am no longer remembered. So…forget me, because the day I’m forgotten is the day we will succeed.”

Unfortunately for Abby, no matter how much we all accomplish as a country, we’ll never be able to forget her. A true legend.

CULTURE
Chappell Roan, Bob Dylan, and Soccer

A few weeks ago, an old Instagram post resurfaced showing Chappell Roan in a classic 08/09 Liverpool jersey [insert a Red Wine Supernova pun here somewhere 😅]. It had everyone’s head spinning, but it was nothing compared to the following story.

This week, someone dug up an old Timothee Chalamet photo from his youth soccer days, and they found a crazy coincidence. The star of the upcoming Bob Dylan biopic had actually shared the field with Liverpool defender Joe Gomez as a kid. Seriously.

COVER STORY
The 1912 Campaign to Abolish Penalty Kicks

Oh, the PK. Our country has a notorious history of tinkering with this rule. All you have to do is look back at the hockey-style penalty kick of the early MLS. But I never would’ve expected previous generations to go as far as wanting to completely eliminate this rule from the game. Yet, that’s where we found ourselves in December of 1912.

Right before the holidays, the Philadelphia Inquirer published an article reporting on the growing dislike that many Americans had for that rule. To be fair, the penalty kick had only been introduced in 1891, and the version of the PK we know today was only adopted in 1902.

The article was scathing. It painted the penalty kick as an unfair advantage for the fouling team. Allegedly, back then, the PK conversion rate was only 50% — although that figure may have been a sensationalized number by the press.

Either way, people were up in arms. For the next month, prominent figures in the early American soccer landscape cast their opinions and engaged in heated public discourse. Even the founders of the early US Soccer Federation chimed in on the debate. Although some wanted it eliminated, many actually wanted it modified, and they proposed some crazy alternatives. 

In the end, cooler heads prevailed, and the Inquirer put the issue to bed in 1913 with some final thoughts:

“The game of soccer, it is claimed, is in its infancy here and until we, America, learn the game as well as it has been learned in England we should not attempt to improve upon its laws and rules.”

But, the Inquirer also predicted that as the game grew here, America would soon gain the experience to play the game as it best saw fit.

“The time does not seem far distant when America will make some changes in the game to meet with the best conception of the sport as it is held here,” they concluded.

In some ways, they were right. Just look at TST, or at some of the rule variations we have at the college and even professional level. This curious story from 1912 should remind us that we’ve always been soccer innovators at heart.

KITS
State of Flow

One of the best things about soccer in America is getting to live through the birth (and first steps) of professional teams around the country. You’d probably never get to experience that anywhere else in the world with this much frequency. It’s quite a privilege.

One of the other great things is getting to see how audiences react to these first steps. The inaugural San Diego kit released last week is the perfect example. Many slammed it on social media, and yet, it ended up breaking the record for most jerseys sold in 24 hours for an MLS expansion club. Just puzzling. It really makes you wonder if soccer is just as polarized as everything else in this country.

But we’re curious to know, what do you think about this jersey release?

CLUBELEVEN
The Supporters Section

Let’s see what the community has to say. We’ll highlight your best answers next week!

CLUBELEVEN
Aggregates

Messi Animated Series: Yesterday, it was announced that the series will be called “Messi and the Giants,” and it’ll premiere on the Disney Channel and stream globally on Disney+. A launch date will be announced in the future.

Goonited States of America: Shame. It seems a majority of the country supports Arsenal. FBRef unveiled the map of the most visited team pages by state in 2024.

Officially Official: What we speculated last week actually came true. Get ready for an expanded USL Jägermeister Cup. 

Caps on the Market: The Vancouver Whitecaps owners put up the club for sale. Forbes recently valued the MLS club at $420 million, so whoever wants to snatch it up will have to pay a pretty penny. Here are some suggestions on who should buy the club. 

Call Her Trinity: Trinity Rodman will seemingly make an appearance on Call Her Daddy, one of the biggest podcasts in the world. The episode is set to drop on Wednesday.

UPLIFTING
Don’t Call Them Cinderella

… call them National Champs. They’d shocked the No. 2 and No. 3 seed on their way to the Final. But everyone wondered, could they actually pull it off? Could they really go all the way?

Well, the University of Vermont answered in spectacular fashion and lifted their first-ever NCAA Division I National Championship last night. Their title-clinching golden goal in extra time will be the stuff of legend for decades to come.

Plus, the call on the broadcast was iconic too. You just have to see it. It’s peak soccer.

BUSINESS
Updates to MLS Season Pass

There’s always room for improvement, and it seems like MLS Season Pass will be seeing some changes in 2025.

Reports speculate that we’ll see integration into pay-TV and electronic program guides, partnerships with wireless carriers, as well as featured matches in stand-alone time slots (as opposed to the fixed slots we see today).

All of this comes after questions regarding the true success of the Apple deal have begun to surface this offseason. It’ll be interesting to see how the league pivots. Any steps to grow the domestic soccer audience is a positive in my book.

CLUBELEVEN
Your Takes 🗯️ 

Last week, we asked you if USL implemented pro/rel, would it make the league more attractive than MLS? Here are some of your best answers:

• “League Two is a summer league so it would have to be extended to a full season to make sense. Otherwise, promotion and relegation between two leagues feels pretty limited.” - Matthew R

• “INSTANTLY. Pro/rel is the only way.” - Pierre

In the poll, “Yes” came in first with 76% of the vote. It was a resounding victory, and I agree with everyone who voted yes. Having pro/rel would completely change the dynamic between USL and MLS. Of course, there would have to be a lot of tinkering to make sure it becomes feasible, but my money is on it coming to fruition before the end of the decade. I’m willing to bet on it.

UP NEXT
Photo Contest

We’re in the final stages of planning our third annual North American Soccer Photo Contest. Stay tuned, and if you’re a photographer, start gathering your best photos from 2024 👀

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Have a great Tuesday!

Pablo