• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • US Open Cup Central
  • US Open Cup Qualifying
  • US Open Cup History

Complete U.S. Open Cup Coverage

  • 2022 Schedule/Results
  • 2023 Qualifying Schedule
  • 2022 Stats
  • Support TheCup.us
  • TheCup.us Store
  • Awards
  • Contact Us

US Open Cup History

A history of violence against referees in US Open Cup

November 29, 2022 by Chuck Nolan Jr.

Clint Dempsey of the Seattle Sounders FC is shown a red card during a 2015 US Open Cup match against the Portland Timbers.

Unfortunately, in the long history of the US Open Cup, this was not the first time that there have been more then a few incidents where games were halted due to referee abuse.

Filed Under: 2023 US Open Cup, Feature - History, Feature - Main, Feature - Qualifying, Feature Left - US Open Cup history, US Open Cup, US Open Cup Central, US Open Cup History, US Open Cup Qualifying Tagged With: 2023 US Open Cup Qualifying

How St. Petersburg Kickers became Florida’s first US Open Cup champion

September 7, 2022 by Chuck Nolan Jr.

St. Petersburg Kickers founder Kirk Herbach with many of the trophies his club has won in an early 80s photo from the St. Petersburgh Times archive.

The St. Petersburg Kickers began with Kurt Herbach recruiting pick-up games in the Port of Tampa in the 1950s, and by 1989, they became the first Florida team to win the US Open Cup.

Filed Under: Feature - History, Feature - Main, Feature Left - US Open Cup history, Featured Post - Main, US Open Cup, US Open Cup Central, US Open Cup History Tagged With: 1989 US Open Cup, St. Petersburg Kickers

San Francisco Bay Seals, the ‘amateur’ pro team that reached 1997 US Open Cup Semifinals

September 6, 2022 by Thomas Hodul

San Francisco Bay Seals 1997

One of the most overlooked and dramatic runs in the history of the US Open Cup occurred in 1997. That year, the San Francisco Bay Seals, who competed in the USISL’s D-3 Pro League, upset two MLS teams and the defending A-League champions to earn a spot in the Semifinals.

Filed Under: Feature - History, Feature - Main, Feature Right - US Open Cup History, Featured Post - Main, US Open Cup, US Open Cup Central, US Open Cup History Tagged With: 1997 US Open Cup, San Francisco Bay Seals

Vasco De Gama’s journey from Connecticut to 1978 US Open Cup Final as Pele’s opening act at Giants Stadium

July 30, 2022 by Owen Diana

Connecticut's Vasco da Gama: 1978 US Open Cup runner-up

The National Challenge Cup lived a separate existence from the glitz and glamour of the country’s top domestic league, the NASL, but the two did briefly cross paths on July 30, 1978.

Filed Under: Feature - History, Feature - Main, Feature Left - US Open Cup history, US Open Cup, US Open Cup Central, US Open Cup History Tagged With: 1978 US Open Cup, Maccabee AC, Vasco da Gama

1938-1939 National Challenge Cup: The first time the US Open Cup was invite-only

February 12, 2021 by Chuck Nolan Jr.

Weck Henney (left) and Davidson (right) of Chicago's Manhattan Beer fight for the ball with St. Mary's Celtic in the second leg of the 1939 National Challenge Cup Final at Starlight Park in the Bronx. Photo: Brooklyn Daily Eagle

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.

Filed Under: Feature - History, US Open Cup History Tagged With: 1939 National Challenge Cup, 1939 US Open Cup

American soccer’s greatest modern underdog story: Rochester Raging Rhinos win 1999 US Open Cup

September 14, 2020 by Josh Hakala

Rochester Raging Rhinos: 1999 US Open Cup champions

Every sport has its go-to underdog story. For American soccer, it’s the 1999 Rochester Raging Rhinos

Filed Under: Feature - History, Feature - Main, US Open Cup, US Open Cup History Tagged With: 1999 US Open Cup, Chicago Fire, Colorado Rapids, Columbus Crew, Dallas Burn, new york pancyprian freedoms, Rochester Rhinos

Spanish Flu, severe weather, Olympic Games: 2020 US Open Cup isn’t first tournament to be delayed

April 3, 2020 by Chuck Nolan Jr.

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.

Filed Under: Feature - History, Feature - Main, US Open Cup, US Open Cup History Tagged With: 2020 US Open Cup, Spanish Flu, US Open Cup History

1918/1919 National Challenge Cup Semifinals & Final: Bethlehem Steel earn back-to-back shutouts to win 4th title

October 31, 2019 by Chuck Nolan Jr.

The Bethlehem Steel won the 1918/1919 National Challenge Cup title, 2-0 over Paterson FC in Fall River, Mass. It was the club's fourth National Challenge Cup title in the last six years.

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.

Filed Under: Feature - History, US Open Cup, US Open Cup History Tagged With: 1919 US Open Cup, Bethlehem Steel FC, Bricklayers and Masons FC, Morse Dry Dock, Paterson FC

1918/1919 National Challenge Cup Quarterfinals: Bethlehem Steel flattens Goodyear’s tires as snow causes problems elsewhere

October 1, 2019 by Chuck Nolan Jr.

1919 National Challenge Cup Quarterfinals: Fore River vs. Patterson - Photo: Boston Globe

Six inches of snow greeted Paterson FC when they arrived in Quincy, Mass. on Feb. 22 for their Quarterfinal encounter with Fore River FC.

Filed Under: Feature - History, Feature - Main, US Open Cup, US Open Cup History Tagged With: 1919 National Challenge Cup

1918/1919 National Challenge Cup Round 3: Protests produce controversy, World War I hands Bethlehem Steel free pass

September 18, 2019 by Chuck Nolan Jr.

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.

Filed Under: Feature - History, Feature - Main, US Open Cup, US Open Cup History Tagged With: 1919 National Challenge Cup

  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to page 3
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Go to page 10
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

Featured Video

Follow Us on Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

U.S. Open Cup History

Clint Dempsey of the Seattle Sounders FC is shown a red card during a 2015 US Open Cup match against the Portland Timbers.

A history of violence against referees in US Open Cup

Unfortunately, in the long history of the US Open Cup, this was not the first time that there have been more then a few incidents where games were halted due to referee abuse.

  • How St. Petersburg Kickers became Florida’s first US Open Cup champion
  • San Francisco Bay Seals, the ‘amateur’ pro team that reached 1997 US Open Cup Semifinals
  • Vasco De Gama’s journey from Connecticut to 1978 US Open Cup Final as Pele’s opening act at Giants Stadium
  • 1938-1939 National Challenge Cup: The first time the US Open Cup was invite-only
  • American soccer’s greatest modern underdog story: Rochester Raging Rhinos win 1999 US Open Cup

Analytics powered by

Copyright © 2023 • Built by Jacob Martella Web Development