May 1, 1926: Hakoah at the Polo Grounds

Béla Guttmann

May 1, 1926, 100 years ago: A crowd of 46,000 files into the Polo Grounds in New York to watch an all-star team from the American Soccer League beat Hakoah Wien, 3-0. It remains the largest crowd to watch a soccer game in America until Pelé and the New York Cosmos move into Giants Stadium, 51 years later.

The New York Yankees beat the Washington Senators, 4-1 at Yankee Stadium. This game was just across the Harlem River from the Hakoah match, and attracted 42,000 customers -- 4,000 fewer. Waite Hoyt outpitched Dutch Reuther. Babe Ruth went 1-for-3 with a walk. Lou Gehrig went 0-for-3.

Hakoah -- a Hebrew word meaning "strength" -- was an All-Jewish sports club based in Vienna, the capital of Austria. It was founded in 1909, countering the then-popular idea of "muscular Christianity" with "muscular Judaism." It sponsored teams in several sports, and in 1925, its soccer team won the national title. They went on a tour of the United States, including that game at the Polo Grounds.

Their best player was centerback Béla Guttmann. He was born on January 27, 1899 in Budapest, the capital of Hungary. He starred for the team now known as MTK Budapest. Escaping his homeland's anti-Semitism, in 1922 he moved to Vienna, and played for Hakoah Wien. In 1923, they went to London, and beat West Ham United, 5-1 at Upton Park in the East End. While the Hammers, who had reached the FA Cup Final that season, had played a largely reserve team against Hakoah, this still made Hakoah the 1st team from the European Continent to defeat an English team in England.

Their 1926 U.S. tour inspired some of the players to stay in America. Guttmann played for the Brooklyn Wanderers at Ebbets Field, and the soccer version of the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds; and founded New York Hakoah, who played at Dexter Park in Queens, and are still in existence today, albeit at a semipro level.

Losing everything in the stock market Crash of 1929, Guttmann returned to Europe, coaching in Austria, the Netherlands and Hungary. In 1944, he was captured by the Nazis, and sent to a concentration camp. Several members of his family were killed, as were 6 of his Hakoah teammates, but he escaped.

After World War II, he managed teams in Hungary, Romania, Italy, Argentina, Cyprus, Brazil, Portugal, Uruguay, Switzerland and Greece. He won League titles in Hungary with Újpest in 1939 and 1947; in Portugal with Porto in 1959, and Benfica in 1960 and 1961; and in Uruguay with Peñarol in 1962. With Benfica, he won the European Cup (now the UEFA Champions League) in 1961 and 1962. He was the Larry Brown of his sport, rarely staying at a club longer than two seasons, no matter how well he was doing, and was quoted as saying, "The third season is fatal."

After the 1962 title, he asked for a raise, didn't get it, and quit. Supposedly, he then said, "Not in a hundred years from now will Benfica ever be European Champions again." So far, 64 years later, he is still right: Between the Champions League and the UEFA Cup/Europa League, they have lost their last 8 finals in European competition. Nevertheless, a statue of him now stands outside Benfica's Estádio da Luz (Stadium of Light). He died on August 28, 1981, in Vienna.

Sportclub Hakoah Wien had been founded in 1909, but the Nazis dissolved it after the Anschluss with Austria in 1938. It was re-started in 1945, but it dropped soccer in 1949. It is still active in other sports.