The 1922 American Cup was not held. The American Football Association

American Football Association

American Football Association was the first attempt in the United States to form an organizing soccer body. It is best known for being the second oldest sports league to form, behind Major League Baseball in 1876, as well as being the oldest soccer league in the United States. The Association was...

 in accordance with new rules passed by the USFA

United States Soccer Federation

The United States Soccer Federation is the official governing body of the sport of soccer in the United States. Its headquarters are located in Chicago, Illinois. It is a member of FIFA and is responsible for governing amateur and professional soccer, including the men's, women's, youth, futsal...

 did not conduct a tournament for the 1921-22 season. The hiatus was brief however, with the tournament resuming the following season.

History

On previous occasions the tournament was either diminished or not held. The period from 1899-1905, the tournament was not held on account the AFA had disbanded for mostly economic reasons. The opportunity arose for re-establishment in 1905 and the tournament therefore resumed. The tournament was next affected in the 1916-17 season by rules adopted in the Southern New England FA. With Massachusetts teams forced to choose between one out of state tournament most chose the National Challenge Cup. The 1917

1917 American Cup

The 1917 American Cup was the annual open cup held by the American Football Association. Thirty-six teams entered the competition however none of the major Massachusetts teams entered. A new rule that season made by the Southern New England FA forbade their clubs from entering more than one...

 edition went on as planned, however the AFA suffered a financial loss from the withdrawals of the Massachusetts squads.

Ruling

The situation in 1922 was far more serious. The USFA established a new rule that allowed only for State Cup competitions with the exception of the National Cup. With the AFA operating out of New Jersey, the new ruling would not allow for the other major districts (NE, NY, and E.Pa.) that took part regularly in the American Cup

American Cup

The American Cup was the first major U.S. soccer competition open to teams beyond a single league. It was first held in 1885. In the 1910s, it gradually declined in importance with the establishment of the National Challenge Cup...

 to compete. New Jersey would be the only district left to conduct the American Cup. Thus, with an insufficient number of entries to conduct a viable tournament the AFA was forced to abandon the 1922 edition.

Holders

The Robins Dry Dock squad of Brooklyn had won the two previous editions of the tournament, the second of the two partnered with a National Challenge Cup win to complete 'the double'

The Double

The Double is a term in association football which refers to winning a country's top tier division and its primary cup competition in the same season...

. Robins had merged with the Tebo Yacht Basin team to become the Todd Shipyards which finished runner-up in the 1922 National Cup giving credence to the fact they could have repeated as American Cup champions had they been able to defend their title. Many of the Todds players made their way to Paterson F.C. for the 1922/23 season strengthening them sufficiently to win the National Cup however they fell shy of the American Cup losing out in the semifinals.