Dick Spalding

Charles Harry “Dick" (or "C.H.") Spalding (October 13, 1893 – February 3, 1950) was an American soccer and baseball player. He played the first two games in the history of the U.S. national soccer team, as well as professional soccer for nearly fifteen years, primarily with teams in Pennsylvania. Spalding also spent two seasons in Major League baseball and was later a first base coach. The lifelong resident of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1951.

Soccer

Club career

Spalding attended the Northeast Manual Training School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he was a multi-sport athlete. He then went on to play soccer with the Lighthouse Boys Club as well as several other local Philadelphia clubs. In 1916, when called into the U.S. national team, he was with the Disston A.A. In the fall of 1916, he signed with Bethlehem Steel F.C. of the National Association Football League (NAFBL). However, he injured his knee and did not play consistently until January 1917. In November 1919, he signed with Philadelphia Merchant Ship of the NAFBL. In 1921, he joined the Harrison Soccer Club of the American Soccer League (ASL). He then spent the 1924-1925 ASL season with Fleisher Yarn.