John Nelson (soccer)
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | John Nelson | ||
| Date of birth | February 27, 1905 | ||
| Place of birth | Johnstone, Scotland | ||
| Date of death | November 30, 1984 (aged 79) | ||
| Place of death | Yonkers, New York, United States | ||
| Playing position | Center Forward | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| Yonkers Thistle | |||
| 1923–1928 | Brooklyn Wanderers | 126 | (101) |
| 1928 | Fall River Marksmen | 14 | (10) |
| 1928–1929 | J&P Coats | 12 | (7) |
| 1929–1930 | New York Nationals | 82 | (93) |
| 1930–1931 | → New York Giants | 16 | (12) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. | |||
Johnny Nelson (1905 in Johnstone, Scotland – November 30, 1984 in Yonkers, New York) 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. He was posthumously inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2005.
At some point as a teenager, Nelson joined the semi-professional Yonkers Thistle of the New York State League. In the spring of 1924, he signed with the Brooklyn Wanderers of the American Soccer League. He played only four games, scoring one goal. While these numbers give little indication of his goal scoring prowess, his first full season in the league showed his full worth. He stormed to fifth place on the goals table with twenty-four in thirty-three games. Before Brooklyn traded him to the Fall River Marksmen for George Graham in March 1928, he scored 101 goals for the team. Nelson played only eleven games at the end of the 1927–1928 season and another three at the start of the 1928–1929 season in Fall River before he jumped to J&P Coats for twelve games. He then moved to the New York Nationals for the end of the season. On May 18, 1929, Nelson scored two goals for the Nationals in a 2–2 tie with the Providence Clam Diggers in the final of the 1929 American Cup. The Nationals won the rematch two days later. Nelson remained with the Nationals, renamed the New York Giants in 1930, until an April 5, 1931 knee injury ended his career.
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