Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Date of birth | 7 March 1902 | ||
Place of birth | Budapest, Hungary | ||
Date of death | 19 June 1977 | (aged 75)||
Place of death | Queens, New York, United States | ||
Playing position | Wing Forward | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1922–1923 | Ferencváros | ||
1923 | Makkabi Brno | ||
1923–1926 | Hakoah Vienna | ||
1926–1928 | New York Giants | 77 | (20) |
1928–1929 | New York Hakoah | ||
1929–1931 | → Hakoah All-Stars | 56 | (10) |
1931–1936 | New York Americans | ||
National team | |||
1922 | Hungary | 2 | (2) |
Teams managed | |||
1931– | New York Americans | ||
1953–1955 | United States | ||
1957 | New York Americans | ||
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
Ernő Schwarz or Schwarcz (7 March 1902 – 19 June 1977) was a Hungarian American soccer player, coach and promoter who served as head coach of the United States men's national soccer team. He played professionally in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Austria and the United States, earning two caps, scoring two goals, with the Hungarian national team in 1922. Schwarz founded, owned, managed and played for the New York Americans in the first and second American Soccer Leagues. He was also the ASL and International Soccer League vice president. His daughter was married to United States national team player Ben Zinn.
Schwarz began his professional career as a forward for Ferencvárosi TC when he was seventeen. In 1922, Ferencvárosi won the Hungarian Cup. That fall, Schwarz moved to Czechoslovakian club Makkabi Brno. In November 1923, Makkabi played an exhibition game against SK Rapid Wien, crushing them 4-1 off two Schwarz goals. This brought him to the attention of Hakoah Vienna which signed him in December 1923. He went on to play twelve games, scoring nine goals, through the remainder of the 1923-1924 season. In the spring of 1926, Hakoah Vienna toured the United States. Impressed by the high pay and relatively minor anti-Semitism compared to Europe, Schwarz and several of his team mates decided to move to the U.S. following the conclusion of the tour. Before he did so, he returned to Austria where Hakoah won the league championship. Then in the summer of 1926, he left Europe for good to move to the United States. When he arrived, he signed with the New York Giants of the American Soccer League (ASL). In 1928, the ASL and United States Football Federation engaged in a struggle for dominance in the U.S. Known as the “Soccer War”, this struggle led to USFA and FIFA declaring the ASL and “outlaw league”. When that happened, Schwarz signed for Rangers F.C., but was unable to join the club due to labor restrictions in Great Britain. After the Rangers deal fell through, Schwarz helped form New York Hakoah in the Eastern Professional Soccer League. Hakoah took third in the league, but ran away with the 1929 National Challenge Cup. Hakoah won both legs of the final over St. Louis Madison Kennel, with Schwarz scoring a goal in Hakoah’s 3-0 second game victory. Following the end of the “Soccer War” in 1929, the ASL and ESL merged with New York Hakoah of the ESL merging with Brooklyn Hakoah of the ASL to form the Hakoah All-Stars. In 1931, Schwarz founded his own team, the New York Americans with whom he became both a player and coach. In 1933, Schwarz and his team mates lost to Stix, Baer and Fuller F.C. in the final of the 1933 National Challenge Cup. While the Americans defeated the St. Louis Shamrocks in the 1937 National Challenge Cup, Schwarz did not play in the final game as he had broken his leg in February 1937. After that, he played sporadically, but continued to play occasional games with the Americans until at least 1951.