SNEL 1915-16 season

Sept. 26, 2021 |  Categories:  SNEL  

Along with Taunton City F.C. (which left the league at the late May annual meeting), Pawtucket F.C. dropped out of the Southern New England League before the 1915-16 season. Those two clubs were replaced by four others: Fall River Rovers; Fore River F.C. of Quincy, Mass.; Howard & Bullough F.C. of Pawtucket, R.I.; and Pan-American F.C. of Fall River. The latter was a reorganized version of a club that was a top team at the turn of the 20th century by its original organizer and manager, C.C. "Con" Murphy, Jr. In addition, during the offseason, the Y.M.C.T.A.S. F.C. became the New Bedford Celtics.

The seven-club league began play in mid-September and planned to close the league on April 29. The members also voted that all cup matches would take precedence over scheduled league games. That decision would have consequences to the league. Along with league play, most clubs would take part in three cup competitions during the season. The New Bedford Celtics took part in all four main competitions: National Challenge Cup; American FA Cup; Southern New England FA Cup (also called the Times Cup); and Massachusetts State Cup. The combination of match congestion and bad weather would wreck havoc on the league schedule with only a handful of games played after December.

The season finished with an uncompleted schedule for all the teams and Fore River sitting in first place by three points. At the annual league meeting in June the members declared Fore River the winner of the league.