1933 National Challenge Cup
The 1933 National Challenge Cup was the annual open cup held by the United States Football Association now known as the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. As in 1931, the ASL teams played a round robin format instead of direct knockout games. The five New York teams formed the Metropolitan group. The New England group included the three remaining ASL teams along with Victoria Mills of the Southern New England Association who qualified by defeating Fairlawn Rovers. The Round Robin was somewhat unpopular because of the methods used. Despite a league setup, games tied at the end of regulation were to go into overtime. In the event of a tie in the standings, goal average was used to break the tie. A slight controversy ensued when a game between Boston and Fall River was called at the 78th minute with the score 0-0. Fall River later forfeited the replay leaving Boston tied for first with Pawtucket. The Rangers advanced on better goal average leaving Boston unable to make up the difference in a replay with Fall River or a playoff with Pawtucket. In the West it was business as usual with the standard knockout procedure and the Stix of St. Louis making their second of what would be six consecutive trips to the national final. Other highlights include Bert Patenaude's five goal performance against Fairhill in the First German Club's first round match on January 14.
Eastern Division
| First round | Second round | Semi-finals | Final | |||||||||||
| February 5 - Brooklyn | ||||||||||||||
| German Hungarians | w/o | |||||||||||||
| February 26/March 5 - New York | ||||||||||||||
| Brooklyn Celtics | ||||||||||||||
| German Hungarians | 1-4 | |||||||||||||
| January 15 - Newark | ||||||||||||||
| Swanton F.C. | 1-0 | |||||||||||||
| Swanton F.C. | 3 | |||||||||||||
| March 27 - New York | ||||||||||||||
| Trenton Highlanders | 1 | |||||||||||||
| German Hungarians | 0 | |||||||||||||
| January 7 - February 19 | ||||||||||||||
| Pawtucket Rangers | 5 | |||||||||||||
| Pawtucket Rangers | 1st | |||||||||||||
| Boston SC | 2nd | |||||||||||||
| Pawtucket Rangers | ||||||||||||||
| Won Round Robin | ||||||||||||||
| Fall River FC | 3rd | |||||||||||||
| April 1, 2 | ||||||||||||||
| Victoria Mills | 4th | |||||||||||||
| Pawtucket Rangers | 4-1 | |||||||||||||
| January 14, 21 - Philadelphia | ||||||||||||||
| New York Americans | 2-4 | |||||||||||||
| German Americans | 6-2 | |||||||||||||
| February 25 - Philadelphia | ||||||||||||||
| Fairhill | 5-1 | |||||||||||||
| German Americans | 3 | |||||||||||||
| January 15 - Baltimore | ||||||||||||||
| Baltimore Canton | 2 | |||||||||||||
| Baltimore Canton | 4 | |||||||||||||
| March 11, 12 | ||||||||||||||
| Bethlehem Steel | 1 | |||||||||||||
| German Americans | 0-2 | |||||||||||||
| January 8 - February 22 | ||||||||||||||
| New York Americans | 1-3 | |||||||||||||
| New York Americans | 1st | |||||||||||||
| New York Field Club | 2nd | |||||||||||||
| New York Americans | ||||||||||||||
| Won Round Robin | ||||||||||||||
| Hakoah All-Stars | 3rd | |||||||||||||
| Brooklyn Wanderers | 4th | |||||||||||||
Western Division
| First round | Second round | Semi-finals | Final | |||||||||||
| January 22 - St. Louis | ||||||||||||||
| Stix | 4 | |||||||||||||
| February 12 - St. Louis | ||||||||||||||
| Coca-Colas | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Stix | 10 | |||||||||||||
| January 22 - Milwaukee | ||||||||||||||
| Jugo-Slavs | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Deutscher Sport Club | 0 | |||||||||||||
| February 26/March 12 - St. Louis | ||||||||||||||
| Jugo-Slavs | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Stix | 1-4b | |||||||||||||
| January 15 - St. Louis | ||||||||||||||
| Andersons | 2-1 | |||||||||||||
| Andersons | 3 | |||||||||||||
| February 19 - St. Louis | ||||||||||||||
| Ben Millers | 2 | |||||||||||||
| Andersons | 7 | |||||||||||||
| January 22,29/February 5 - Detroit | ||||||||||||||
| Sons of Malta | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Maccabee All-Stars | 4a | |||||||||||||
| March 19, 26 | ||||||||||||||
| Sons of Malta | 6 | |||||||||||||
| Stix | 7-1 | |||||||||||||
| January 22 - Chicago | ||||||||||||||
| Chicago Sparta | 3-0 | |||||||||||||
| Chicago Sparta | 2 | |||||||||||||
| February 19 - Chicago | ||||||||||||||
| Norwegian Americans | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Chicago Sparta | 2 | |||||||||||||
| February 5 - Chicago | ||||||||||||||
| Swedish Americans | 0 | |||||||||||||
| Chicago Bricklayers | 1 | |||||||||||||
| February 26 - Chicago | ||||||||||||||
| Swedish Americans | 2 | |||||||||||||
| Chicago Sparta | 1 | |||||||||||||
| January 22 - Pittsburgh | ||||||||||||||
| Cleveland Slavia | 0 | |||||||||||||
| Pittsburgh Curry | 4 | |||||||||||||
| February 19 - Pittsburgh | ||||||||||||||
| Cleveland Shamrocks | 0 | |||||||||||||
| Pittsburgh Curry | 1 | |||||||||||||
| January 22 - Cleveland | ||||||||||||||
| Cleveland Slavia | 3 | |||||||||||||
| Cleveland Slavia | 4 | |||||||||||||
| Buffalo German | 1 | |||||||||||||
a) aggregate after 3 games
b) replayed after protest
Round Robin Groups
| Metropolitan | Pts | GP | W | L | GF | GA | Dif | Perc | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York Americans | 12 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 14 | 5 | +9 | 1.000 |
| 2 | New York Field Club | 6 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 3 | +6 | .750 |
| 3 | Hakoah All-Stars | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 5 | +4 | .500 |
| 4 | Brooklyn Wanderers | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 10 | -7 | .000 |
| 5 | Bohemian Queens | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 15 | -12 | .000 |
| New England | Pts | GP | W | L | GF | GA | Dif | Perc | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pawtucket Rangers | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 26 | 13 | +13 | .666 |
| 2 | Boston SC | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 11 | -1 | .666 |
| 3 | Fall River FC | 4 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 12 | -3 | .333 |
| 4 | Victoria Mills | 4 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 20 | -9 | .333 |
Final
First game
| Stix, Baer and Fuller F.C. (MO) | 1–0 | New York Americans (NY) |
|---|---|---|
McLean  47' |
Second game
| New York Americans (NY) | 1–2 | Stix, Baer and Fuller F.C. (MO) |
|---|---|---|
| Michaels |
McLean 15' Nilsen 83' |
Sources
- St. Louis Post-Dispatch