WSSFL 1934-35 season

Dec. 15, 2022 |  Categories:  Wisconsin   WSSFL  

Otto Reis, former Bayern-Schlitz manager, was elected president of the Wisconsin State Soccer Football League at the organization's annual meeting on July 11, 1934. Reis succeeded Frank Belezanay who held the office for the entire history of the WSSFL up to that point.

Division A of the WSSFL included nine teams for the 1934-35 season. Deutscher Sport Verein left in the offseason for the Milwaukee Municipal League and Madison Badger S.C. left for the new Madison Municipal League. Three new teams joined the league. Deutscher Sport Club of Racine was promoted after winning the prior season's Division B, Hungarian Tigers moved from the Milwaukee Municipal League, and Kenosha Sport Club returned after a year's absence. Division B stayed at four teams with the addition of F.C. Bayern of Sheboygan and the Viking A.C. second team of Racine. The F.C. Bayern second team gained the Bright Spot Bottling Co. as a sponsor and was renamed the Bayern Bright Spots. A month into the season, Deutscher Sport Club-Blatz gained a new sponsor and was renamed the Pabst Blue Ribbons.

Bayern-Schlitz of Milwaukee won the Division A title by one point over Vienna A.C. The Bayerns were the only professional soccer team in the state of Wisconsin at that time and most of its players had formerly been on German teams. The Bayern Bright Spots won the Division B title by two points over the F.C. Wacker second team.

During the winter break, the Viking A.C. first and second teams had to withdraw from the WSSFL due to an inability to finance the squads. The Viking club had been in the league since its founding. Both teams officially forfeited all their spring matches.

For the first time in its history, the Wisconsin Challenge Cup final was a best two-out-of-three series. It was held during the break between the WSSFL's fall and spring halves with Deutscher Sport Club of Racine and Vienna A.C. of Milwaukee as the finalists. The first game was held at Vienna field on March 31, 1935 and ended in a 2-2 draw. The second game was a week later at Bayern Field and ended in a scoreless draw. Vienna A.C. won the final match 3-0 at Bayern Field on April 14 to win the cup.

Vienna A.C. also was the final remaining Wisconsin club during National Challenge Cup qualifying. On December 2, 1934, Vienna beat Harvey United 6-2 at Wacker field to advance out of Illinois and Wisconsin qualifiers and into the NCC first round proper. On February 3, 1935 Vienna A.C. hosted Lawndale Rangers of Chicago in the first round and won 5-0. Two weeks later, Vienna traveled to Sparta Stadium in Chicago and beat the Sparta Leader team 4-3 in the NCC second round. On March 3, Vienna traveled to face Central Breweries in the quarterfinals but lost 5-0 before 2200 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis.