Competitive soccer had been around for some time in Rhode Island when the following headline appeared in The Boston Globe editions of July 3, 1922: “Pawtucket Will Be One Great Soccer City The Next Season.”
The Globe story detailed how the J&P Coats FC team seemed set to acquire several top-level players for the upcoming American Soccer League campaign. Sure enough, the Pawtucket-based team went on to clinch the championship of the country’s first professional soccer league with four games remaining in the 1922-23 season.
Pawtucket could have a chance to make soccer headlines again, 100 years later, via a team that could begin playing in the USL Championship in 2022. This time, the team will be playing in the second division – but there will be nothing minor league about the project, judging by its $400 million price tag and the backing of Brett Johnson and Fortuitous Partners.
