The Brooklyn Wanderers was a U.S. soccer team which was a founding member of the National Association Football League in the late nineteenth century. It later joined the American Soccer League

American Soccer League

The American Soccer League has been a name used by three different professional soccer leagues in the United States. The first American Soccer League was established in 1921 by the merger of teams from the National Association Football League and the Southern New England Soccer League. For...

.

History

In December 1894 the Wanderers were a key part of the formation of the National Association Football League. The league suspended operations in 1899. The team's competitive record then becomes difficult to follow as it appears to have operated as an independent club. In September 1901, it lost to the Bayonne Rangers during a Labor Day

Labor Day

Labor Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the first Monday in September that celebrates the economic and social contributions of workers.-History:...

 sports carnival. In 1906, a member of the Wanderers acted as a referee in a game between Critchleys and Brooklyn Thistle. This rare reference to the Wanderers is significant in that Critchley's outside right Nat Agar

Nat Agar

Nathan “Nat” Agar was an English-American soccer player, coach, referee, team owner and league executive. He was part of the formation of the United States Football Association, but later fought it as a team owner and league official of the American Soccer League and Southern New York State...

 (listed as Agot) later owned the Wanderers. In 1912, the Wanderers rejoined the NAFBL, but withdrew only six games into the season. Several of the players then jumped to Brooklyn F.C. In 1922, the Wanderers, now owned by Agar, joined the American Soccer League

American Soccer League

The American Soccer League has been a name used by three different professional soccer leagues in the United States. The first American Soccer League was established in 1921 by the merger of teams from the National Association Football League and the Southern New England Soccer League. For...

 which had been formed in 1921 by the merger of the NAFBL and the Southern New England Soccer League

Southern New England Soccer League

The Southern New England Soccer League was a semi-professional soccer league based in New England which was established in 1914 and collapsed in 1921. During its short existence, it featured some of the top teams in the northeast United States...

. During its years in the ASL, the Wanderers played at Hawthorne Field, a dedicated soccer stadium owned by Agar. After the 1925/26 ASL season the Wanderers, the Boston Wonder Workers

Boston Wonder Workers

The Boston Soccer Club was a member of the American Soccer League. They were renamed the Boston Bears for the Fall 1929 ASL season.In 1925, the ASL and the St. Louis Soccer League boycotted the National Challenge Cup, now known as the U.S. Open Cup. The "Wonder Workers", as they were dubbed, had...

 and the New Bedford Whalers

New Bedford Whalers

New Bedford Whalers was the name of three United States soccer teams based in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The first Whalers played in the Southern New England Soccer League between 1914 and 1918. The second Whalers played in the American Soccer League between 1924 and 1931 before merging into Fall...

 joined with four top Canadian clubs to form the one-off International Soccer League held that summer and early fall. The Wanderers won the season championship, but lost to Toronto Ulster United in the final of the league's Nathan Strauss Cup.

The Wanderers folded after the 1931 Spring season, the first half of the ASL 1931 season.

Year-by-year

Year	Division	League	Reg. Season	Playoffs	U.S. Open Cup
1895	N/A	NAFBL	3rd	No playoff	N/A
1895/96	N/A	NAFBL	?	No playoff	N/A
1896/97	N/A	NAFBL	?	No playoff	N/A
1897/98	N/A	NAFBL	6th	No playoff	N/A
1898/99	N/A	NAFBL	?	No playoff	N/A
1912/13	N/A	NAFBL	Withdrew	No playoff	N/A
1922/23	1	ASL	4th	No playoff	First round
1923/24	1	ASL	5th	No playoff	Third round
1924/25	1	ASL	3rd	No playoff	Did not enter
1925/26	1	ASL	7th	No playoff	Second round
1926	N/A	ISL	1st	Champion (no playoff)	N/A
1926/27	1	ASL	7th	No playoff	Third round
1927/28	1	ASL	4th (1st half); 8th (2nd half)	Did not qualify	Quarterfinals
1928/29	1	ASL	2nd (1st half); 5th (2nd half)	No playoff	?
Fall 1929	1	ASL	7th	No playoff	N/A
1930	1	ACL/ASL	9th (Spring); 7th (Fall)	No playoff	Third round
1931	1	ASL	2nd (Spring)	No playoff	N/A

Notable players

Béla Guttmann

Béla Guttmann

Béla Guttmann was a Jewish Hungarian footballer and coach. He played as a midfielder for MTK Hungária FC, SC Hakoah Wien, Hungary and several clubs in the United States. However he is perhaps best remembered as a coach and manager of some the world’s leading football teams, including AC Milan, São...

 Kálmán Konrád

Kalman Konrad

Kálmán Konrád , an inside right, was one of the best football players in the Kingdom of Hungary in the 1910s, and played on the Hungarian National team with his brother, Jenő Konrád. Kálmán, who later played for Austria, coached the Romanian National team for five games in the mid-1930s...

 James McGuire

James McGuire (soccer)

James "Jimmy" McGuire was a two time president of the United States Soccer Football Association. He played professionally in the American Soccer League and the English Football League...

   Billy Morris

Billy Morris (soccer)

Billy Morris was a Scottish-U.S. soccer wing half who earned one cap with the U.S. national team.-Professional:Morris began his career with Ardeer Thistle of the Scottish Junior Football Association before moving to Hurlford United. In 1922, he signed with Kilmarnock F.C. of the Scottish Football...

 János Nehadoma

János Nehadoma

János Nehadoma was a Hungarian soccer center forward. He was born in Budapest, Hungary. He began his career in the Italian Serie B before moving to the American Soccer League where he shared the 1928-1929 scoring title. Later in his career he played for Serie A club Fiorentina...

 Johnny Nelson

John Nelson (soccer)

Johnny Nelson was a Scottish American soccer center forward who ended his career as the second leading scorer in the history of the first American Soccer League...

   David Robertson

Brooklyn Wanderers II

The second Brooklyn Wanderers was also a member of the American Soccer League

American Soccer League

The American Soccer League has been a name used by three different professional soccer leagues in the United States. The first American Soccer League was established in 1921 by the merger of teams from the National Association Football League and the Southern New England Soccer League. For...

.

The club joined the league before the fall 1932 season and stayed through the disintegration of the league in the spring of 1933.

Year-by-year

Year	Division	League	Reg. Season	Playoffs	U.S. Open Cup
Fall 1932	1	ASL	5th	No playoff	N/A
Spring 1933	1	ASL	?	?	First round

Brooklyn Wanderers III

The third Brooklyn Wanderers was a member of the reformed American Soccer League

American Soccer League

The American Soccer League has been a name used by three different professional soccer leagues in the United States. The first American Soccer League was established in 1921 by the merger of teams from the National Association Football League and the Southern New England Soccer League. For...

.

Suffering financial trouble, the team was sold one game into the 1948/49 season and was renamed the Brooklyn Hakoah

Brooklyn Hakoah

Brooklyn Hakoah is a former United States soccer team club based in Brooklyn, New York that played in the American Soccer League.-Brooklyn Hakoah I:Originally formed by former players of SC Hakoah Wien, they played in the American Soccer League in 1929...

by the new management.

Year-by-year

Year	Division	League	Reg. Season	Playoffs	U.S. Open Cup
1942/43	N/A	ASL	4th	No playoff	?
1943/44	N/A	ASL	2nd	No playoff	?
1944/45	N/A	ASL	3rd	No playoff	?
1945/46	N/A	ASL	4th	No playoff	?
1946/47	N/A	ASL	2nd	No playoff	?
1947/48	N/A	ASL	3rd	No playoff	?
1948/49	N/A	ASL	Played one game	N/A	N/A