The 2021 US Open Cup is expected to be reduced to 24 teams and few may know this will mark the second time in the tournament’s history that the entire field was selected by invitation only instead of individual club entry.
US Open Cup History
American soccer’s greatest modern underdog story: Rochester Raging Rhinos win 1999 US Open Cup
Every sport has its go-to underdog story. For American soccer, it’s the 1999 Rochester Raging Rhinos
US Open Cup officially cancelled for first time in tournament’s 106-year history
The 2020 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup, the United States’ national soccer championship, has been cancelled for the first time since its inception in 1913.
Spanish Flu, severe weather, Olympic Games: 2020 US Open Cup isn’t first tournament to be delayed
This is not the first, or longest, the US Open Cup has been delayed in its 106-year history. The start of the 1919 competition was set back nearly a month when the Spanish Flu pandemic swept through the country and there were many delays in the 1940s because of the weather and the Summer Olympics.
1918/1919 National Challenge Cup Semifinals & Final: Bethlehem Steel earn back-to-back shutouts to win 4th title
For the fifth year in a row, the juggernaut Bethlehem Steel had rumbled through the tournament and were once again in the Final. Standing in their way were fellow National Association Football League members Paterson FC.
1918/1919 National Challenge Cup Quarterfinals: Bethlehem Steel flattens Goodyear’s tires as snow causes problems elsewhere
Six inches of snow greeted Paterson FC when they arrived in Quincy, Mass. on Feb. 22 for their Quarterfinal encounter with Fore River FC.
1918/1919 National Challenge Cup Round 3: Protests produce controversy, World War I hands Bethlehem Steel free pass
The Eastern bracket’s third round schedule kicked off on Dec. 21 in Pawtucket, RI as J & P Coats played host to Fore River FC.
1918/1919 National Challenge Cup Round 2: After Spanish Flu, tourney resumes with controversy, promises of gold watches
With the Spanish Influenza threat cleared, the Second Round of the 1918/1919 National Challenge Cup got under way in November of 1918.
1918/1919 National Challenge Cup Round 1: World War I, Spanish Flu cause chaos for tournament
TheCup.us begins a five-part series that jumps in a time machine back a full century to see the challenges that the 1918/1919 tournament faced.
US Open Cup history: A final four with teams without a title game appearance is rare
This year’s Semifinal marks just the 10th time in the US Open Cup’s 106-year history that all four remaining teams have never lifted the trophy.