Could a USL team in Pawtucket work? History tells a story

The proposed stadium project in Pawtucket, R.I., along the Seekonk River.

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.