Boston Rovers were a United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 soccer

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 team that competed in the United Soccer Association

United Soccer Association

The United Soccer Association is a former professional soccer league featuring teams from the United States and Canada. The league survived only one season before merging with the National Professional Soccer League to form the North American Soccer League. All the teams in the league were imported...

 league in 1967. The team was based in Lynn, Massachusetts

Lynn, Massachusetts

Lynn is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 89,050 at the 2000 census. An old industrial center, Lynn is home to Lynn Beach and Lynn Heritage State Park and is about north of downtown Boston.-17th century:...

 and played their home games at the Manning Bowl

Manning Bowl

Manning Bowl is a former American football and soccer stadium located in Lynn, Massachusetts. It was the home stadium for Lynn English, Lynn Classical, Lynn Tech, St. Mary's High School...

. The USA league was actually made up of visiting club teams from Europe and South America. The Boston Rovers were made up of players from League of Ireland

League of Ireland

The League of Ireland is the national association football league of the Republic of Ireland. Founded in 1921, as a league of eight clubs, it has expanded over time into a two-tiered league of 22 clubs. It is currently split into the League of Ireland Premier Division and the League of Ireland...

 side Shamrock Rovers

Shamrock Rovers F.C.

Shamrock Rovers Football Club are a professional football club from Dublin, Ireland. They compete in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland and are the most successful club in Irish football history. The club have won the League of Ireland title a record 17 times and the FAI Cup a record 24...

, plus some guests. (Indeed, in its earliest days, the team was known as the Boston Shamrock Rovers.) Together with Cleveland Stokers

Cleveland Stokers

The Cleveland Stokers were a soccer team based out of Cleveland, Ohio that played in the United Soccer Association during 1967 and the North American Soccer League in 1968. Their home field was Cleveland Stadium....

, Detroit Cougars

Detroit Cougars (soccer)

The Detroit Cougars were a soccer team based in Detroit, Michigan, which played in the United Soccer Association. The league was made up of teams imported from foreign leagues. The Detroit club consisted of players from Glentoran F.C...

, New York Skyliners

New York Skyliners

The New York Skyliners were a soccer team based out of New York, New York that played in the United Soccer Association. The league was made up of teams imported from foreign leagues. The New York club was actually the C.A. Cerro from Montevideo, Uruguay...

, Toronto City

Toronto City

Toronto City is a former Canadian football team based in Toronto. Between 1961 and 1967, teams using this name competed in both the Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League and the United Soccer Association.-ECPSL:...

  and Washington Whips

Washington Whips

The Washington Whips were a soccer team based in Washington, D.C. that played in the United Soccer Association. The league was made up of teams imported from foreign leagues. The Washington club was actually Aberdeen F.C...

, Rovers competed in the Eastern Division. These teams were actually Stoke City

Stoke City F.C.

Stoke City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire that plays in the Premier League. Founded in 1863, it is the oldest club in the Premier League, and considered to be the second oldest professional football club in the world, after Notts...

, Glentoran

Glentoran F.C.

Glentoran F.C. is a semi-professional, football club in Northern Ireland. The club was founded in 1882 and plays its home games at the Oval in east Belfast. Club colours are green, red, and black.Glentoran's biggest rivals are Linfield...

, C.A. Cerro

C.A. Cerro

Club Atlético Cerro, usually known simply as Cerro is an Uruguayan football club based in Montevideo. They currently play in the Uruguayan 1st Division....

, Hibernian

Hibernian F.C.

Hibernian Football Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Leith, in the north of Edinburgh. They are one of two Scottish Premier League clubs in the city, the other being their Edinburgh derby rivals, Hearts...

 and Aberdeen

Aberdeen F.C.

Aberdeen Football Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Aberdeen...

 respectively.

Rovers finished bottom of the Eastern Division and did not qualify for the play-off stages. The 1968 season saw the United Soccer Association

United Soccer Association

The United Soccer Association is a former professional soccer league featuring teams from the United States and Canada. The league survived only one season before merging with the National Professional Soccer League to form the North American Soccer League. All the teams in the league were imported...

 merge with the National Professional Soccer League

National Professional Soccer League (1967)

The National Professional Soccer League was a North American professional soccer league that existed for only the 1967 season before merging with the United Soccer Association to form the North American Soccer League. It had ten charter members, nine from the United States and one from Canada...

 to form the North American Soccer League

North American Soccer League

North American Soccer League was a professional soccer league with teams in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984.-History:...

 and Rovers were renamed the Boston Beacons

Boston Beacons

The Boston Beacons were a United States soccer team from Boston. In 1968 they were founding members of the North American Soccer League but folded after just one season. The Beacons were actually a relaunch of the United Soccer Association team Boston Rovers. They played their home games at Fenway...

 with a new set of players and new home ground.

Year-by-year

Year	League	W	L	T	Pts	Regular Season	Playoffs	Avg. Attendance
1967	USA	2	7	3	7	6th, Eastern Division	Did Not Qualify	4,171

Selected Players

Carlos Metidieri Carlos Metidieri Jose Carlos Metidieri is a retired Brazilian-American soccer forward. He played professionally in Canada and the United States where he was the leading scorer of the North American Soccer League in 1970 and 1971 and named the league's Most Valuable Player - the only player in the league's history...  Pat Dunne Bobby Gilbert Bobby Gilbert Bobby Gilbert is a former Irish footballer who played for, among others, Derry City and Shamrock Rovers. Gilbert scored in European competitions for both City and Rovers. As an international he also played for the Republic of Ireland.-Derry City:...  Mick Leech Mick Leech Mick Leech was an Irish professional football player who made his name with Shamrock Rovers in the 1960s.He was signed by Paddy Ambrose and Liam Tuohy for Rovers in September 1966 from junior side Ormeau. He spent 6 weeks in the reserves before he made his first team debut against Dundalk at...  Paddy Mulligan Paddy Mulligan Patrick Martin "Paddy" Mulligan is a retired Irish footballer who played mainly as a right-back.Mulligan started his senior career playing for Bohemians in 1963. However after only two games he signed for Shamrock Rovers in December 1963...  Frank O'Neill Frank O'Neill (Irish footballer) Frank O'Neill is a former Irish footballer who spent most of his career at Shamrock Rovers. As an international he also played for the Republic of Ireland.-Early years:...  Liam Tuohy Liam Tuohy (footballer) Liam Tuohy is a former Irish footballer and manager. During the 1950s and 1960s. Tuohy played as an outside left for Shamrock Rovers, Newcastle United, and the Republic of Ireland. In 1959 while playing for Ireland, Tuohy scored the first ever goal in the history of the European Championship...

External links

• Boston Rovers stats
• List of Boston Rovers players