Dick Spalding

Charles Harry "Dick" Spalding (October 13, 1893 – February 3, 1950) was an American

In 1916, the United States Football Association (USFA) recruited a team, called the All-American Soccer Football Team, to represent the U.S. on a tour of Scandinavian countries. At the time, these countries and the U.S. were all neutral during the ongoing World War I. During the six game tour, the U.S. played two recognized international games, one on August 21, 1916, against Sweden and another on September 3, 1916, against Norway. There are disagreements about who scored the first national team goals. While the National Soccer Hall of Fame lists Spalding, other sources state that Thomas Swords scored an unassisted goal against Sweden.^[1] After this tour, Spalding never played for the U.S. again.

He was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1950.^[1]

In addition to his soccer career, Spalding was also a successful baseball player. In 1916, while a member of the U.S. national soccer team, he played in a baseball game against a Swedish baseball team from

Spalding's friendship with Jimmie Wilson led to two stints as a first base coach. In 1934, Wilson hired Spalding as the first base coach for the Philadelphia Phillies. In 1941, he was brought into the Chicago Cubs, again by Wilson, to become the Cubs’ first base coach.

Spalding died in Philadelphia at the age of 56 after a long illness.

• Bethlehem Steel article at the Wayback Machine (archived October 28, 2009)
• Baseball stats
• National Soccer Hall of Fame profile