page_title: History of the U.S. Open Cup
section_title: Great Depression and collapse of ASL I
hierarchical_section_title: History of the U.S. Open Cup / National Challenge Cup era / Great Depression and collapse of ASL I
caption_attribution_description: English: National Champion Stix forward line. Pictured are Alec McNab, captain and outside right; Billy Gonsalves, inside right; Werner Nilsen, center forward; Jimmy Roe, inside left, and Willie McLean, outside left. Français&#160;: Champions de la National Challenge Cup, les Stix, Baer and Fuller. Apparaissent sur la photographie&#160;: Alex McNab, le capitaine, Billy Gonsalves, l'attaquant Werner Nilsen, Jimmy Roe et Willie McLean.
context_page_description: The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is an American soccer competition open to all United States Soccer Federation affiliated teams, from amateur adult club teams to the professional clubs of Major League Soccer. The following is the history of the U.S. Open Cup tournament.
context_section_description: Just two weeks following the United States Football Association and American Soccer League settlement, the stock market crashed. The abrupt and intense economic impact drastically affected the ASL in the league's Spring 1930 season, in which several clubs defaulted during the season, and clubs did not finish the season with the same number of matches played. Initially, the struggles in ASL did not affect the league's stronger clubs, as the Fall River Marksmen completed the double by winning both the 1930 season and the 1930 National Challenge Cup.
  As the Great Depression intensified, the original ASL folded following the Fall 1932 season, which was its 15th season in existence. At the apex of the Depression, several surviving clubs created an incarnation of the ASL which began play in 1933, but the stringent economy lessened the ability of ASL teams to field strong teams, and thereby lacked the financial means nor interest to attract foreign players. This consequently caused a dark age of soccer in which the sport as well as the National Challenge Cup fell out of popularity and into obscurity.
  In spite of the decline in the sport's popularity, several pockets of the country, primarily the Heartland and New England regions, as well as the New York City and St. Louis metropolitan areas,  continued to see excessive popularity of the sport, specifically with ethnic groups and expatriates. The popularity of soccer in these areas reflected on the Challenge Cup during the later Great Depression years, through the World War II years. Most clubs participating were either top amateur teams or semi-professional clubs that hoisted a handful of U.S. internationals, who worked part-time jobs.
caption: Players of Stix, Baer and Fuller, who were dominant in the Challenge Cup in the 1930s
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