VAR in 1920s America

Soccer refereeing in the US was way ahead of its time. This week, we look back at the American official who pioneered VAR explanations 100 years ago. It felt fitting after such a questionable performance from the refs at the Euros and Copa America. Plus, we introduce our next event alongside Worldie FC, look back at the story of our favorite World Cup pup, unveil a little surprise for you, and much more.

This week’s stories:

• 🐶 The World Cup Pup

• 👕 The Century Collection

• 📣 VAR in 1920s America

• 🎁 A Little Surprise

• 🗳️ Poll + Last Week’s Answers

• ➡️ And More

OUR HISTORY
The World Cup Pup

As we’ve just entered the dog days of summer, it’s the perfect time to look back at the story of Striker, the 1994 World Cup mascot. It’s a funny one.

Warner Bros. was hired to create the mascot in the style of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Wile E. Coyote to capture a young audience. They did a good job, but their first draft wasn’t the greatest.

In the original renderings, Striker appeared in a shirt with horizontal stripes (common in rugby but not in soccer at the time) and carrying a ball under his arm (a clear violation of the rules). Thankfully, someone pointed out the mistakes, and we were left with one of the most fitting mascots for a World Cup country. To this day, Striker ranks among the best in history.

CLUBELEVEN
The Century Collection

One hundred of the world’s greatest kits in one room. Game-worn, signed, and some even banned. On July 17th, we’ll be hosting a pop-up event alongside Worldie FC and Norwegian collector Even Nesset to showcase one of the rarest kit collections in the world. Come join us in NYC to see some of these historic jerseys and take a few of them home.

No RSVP required, just mark your calendars. You can catch a glimpse of some of the jerseys here.

COVER STORY
VAR in 1920s America

Even though the refereeing has been atrocious this summer, one welcome change has been to see the refs try to explain their decisions after going to VAR. You might think this is a fairly new development, but American referee Philip Kavanaugh actually pioneered the trend back in the 1920s. In his own way, of course.

It all went down in a 1921 Open Cup game between Scullin Steel and Johnston City, a team of miners from Illinois. A controversial goal by Scullin opened the score and caused huge confusion in the 3,000-strong crowd. The visiting Johnston City felt wronged, and it seems the pressure on the referee was so great, that he had to come up with a detailed explanation ASAP. Even the home supporters were stunned.

His approach to set the record straight was to speak with the local newspaper and help them develop a diagram that would explain why he didn’t rule Scullin Steel’s goal offside.

We’ll never know how the Johnston City fans and players reacted to this newspaper explanation the next day, but it was probably similar to how we’ve all been reacting throughout this Copa America. Whether it’s on video or print pages, refs will always find a way to screw you.

FOR YOU
A Little Surprise

To commemorate the GOAT’s time in Miami, NPLH designed a special tee combining two of my favorite things ever: Scarface and Messi.

Joe, the creator behind NPLH, is an avid reader of our weekly emails, and he wanted to show a little love to the rest of our community.

Starting today, you can use the code CLUBELEVEN% to get 11% off on this tee or on anything else in the NPLH shop. From now, ‘til the end of time.

CLUBELEVEN
The Supporters Section

Let us know why you think so — we’ll highlight your best answers next week!

CLUBELEVEN
Aggregates

Counting Crows: The Minnesota Super Cup rolls on, and our good friend Morgen was there to immortalize MPLS City SC giving a show. An incredible 5-1 win in the semis. And they did it wearing one of the best jerseys this year.

TikTok T-Rod: There’s nothing better than seeing players going out of their way to engage with fans in the stadium. A moment this young supporter will never forget.

Knockouts: We’re still running around trying to cover as many Copa America games as possible. From capturing James getting crowned to shooting Argentina on film, it’s been a fun week of knockouts.

Worldwide Calamity: As if it wasn’t bad enough to get clowned for our performance on the field, now the rest of the world is also blasting the US for what’s been going on at FOX this summer. We’re in shambles.

Champions Lounge: I spent 18 hours at this NYC bar over the weekend. Getting to witness a sea of fans from each nation take over the space during the games was a sight to behold. Highly recommend going if you’re in the area.

MUSIC
Kid Rock Hates Berhalter

Or maybe just soccer specifically? Kid Rock owned all of us footy fans with this diss at his latest concert. So clever. Maybe he got sick of seeing us lose.

And that’s what this latest week has been all about — reeling from that embarrassing early exit at Copa America.

As the country demands Berhalter’s head, here are the top candidates for the job. Word is that an announcement on GGG’s future is coming middle of this week. Let’s see if the USSF follows through.

POLITICS
A Revolutionary Home

Bostonians know the drill. Every once in a while news comes out that a new stadium could potentially come to the city. Except this time it’s closer than ever. 

On Thursday, the Massachusetts Senate will vote to reclassify a coveted area of land away from its current “Designated Port Area” status. In short, if this bill passes, the land that the Revolution has been after would be open for development.

Soccer in Boston needs this.

CLUBELEVEN
Your Takes 🗯️ 

Last week, we asked you who you thought was most responsible for the Copa America failure. Here are some of your answers:

• “GGG mostly, but national teams should never have managers for multiple cycles.” - Danny

• “The youth development system in our country in general and starting at the age 5 in particular. A system that is directed and managed by the group with the least knowledge and most self-interest. Parents.” - Toby

• “ […] Our next coach should not have any ties to US soccer, or at a minimum not come from the same tiresome clique of the 1994/98 players and staff. He or she (and their assistants) must have the know-how to correctly assess individual talent and skill, develop a game strategy accordingly, and make productive in-game adjustments. All of which GGG has shown no signs of having. Not an easy task to find all those qualities in a coaching staff but money should be no object for the next 2 years. It's painful to think what a poor home World Cup performance will do to US soccer.” - Manny

In the poll, “USSF” won with 41% of the vote. It wasn’t even close, and I agree. Our problems start at the very top.

UP NEXT
Icarus Cup

Since 2021, the Icarus Cup in Philly has acted as our CLUBELEVEN creators’ retreat. Most of us are scattered across the country and rarely get to be in the same place at once. But for three days in July, that changes. Last year, against all odds, we somehow won the trophy. This coming weekend, we’ll get to defend our title, so wish us luck. We’ll probably need it.

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