Boston Beacons
The Boston Beacons were an American soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) in 1968. The team was based in Boston and played their home games at Fenway Park. Originally intended as a charter member of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL), the team postponed their entry into the league and joined the NASL when the NPSL and rival United Soccer Association merged to form the new league. The team folded at the conclusion of the 1968 NASL season. History. In 1966, several groups of entrepreneurs were exploring the idea of forming a professional  soccer league in United States and Canada. Two of these groups merged to form the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) and franchise rights were awarded to ten ownership groups. Boston was originally chosen as a team location, but withdrew from the 1967 season as the organization was unable to find a suitable stadium. The NPSL announced that Boston would join the league in 1968 with a team owned by retired Boston Celtics coach Red Auerbach and Boston Red Sox executive vice president Dick O'Connell. In April 1967, General Manager Joe McKenney announced the team name of Beacons was chosen based  on fan suggestions and that the team would start play in 1968 playing its home matches at Fenway Park. In June 1967, the team hired Jack Mansell as head coach, who resigned from Rotherham United to take the position. In preparation for joining the league, the organization hosted an exhibition match between the Baltimore Bays and the Chicago Spurs in July 1967. With the merger of the NPSL and the United Soccer Association it was announced that the city of Boston would be represented by one of the 20 teams in the North American Soccer League (NASL). The Boston Shamrock  Rovers of the USA folded leaving the New England region to Beacons. The Beacons opened their season on the road against the Oakland Clippers with a 2–1 loss in front of 5,714 fans due to a botched clearance that bounced off a Beacon player and into the net for the Clipper's winning goal. On 8 July 1968, the Beacon's lost by a score of 7–1 to Brazilian team Santos who were touring the United States and playing a series of exhibition matches against American NASL and other international teams. Santos star Pelé scored a goal and created an  assist in the game played before a crowd of 18,431, the largest to attend a Beacon's match at Fenway Park. They finished the season in last Place in the Atlantic Division with a record of 9 wins 17 losses and 6 draws and an average attendance of 4,004. On 24 October 1968, GM Joe McKenney stated during a meeting of NASL officials that the team would "100 per cent change" quit the league. The team officially folded soon after.