by Craig Drinkhall

I don't know how many times I've heard a soccer parent say  "They didn't have soccer when I was a kid. It's not as big as now.  South Fayette is so new to soccer."

Actually, nothing could be further from the truth.  Obviously soccer has been in the US for quite some time. The US Open Soccer Tournament has been held every year since 1914, even through the war years.  Closer to home, there have been soccer leagues in the Pittsburgh area all through that time.  As a matter of fact, Western PA was considered a national hotbed for soccer players and teams. It was widely known that the team that made it out of Western PA as champions was a rock solid highly competitive team that could compete at the national level. The area was filled with classic clubs like Heidelberg, Beadling, Harmerville, Gallatin, Castle Shannon, and last but not least, the Morgan Soccer Club, our predecessor. 

That's right, the Morgan Soccer Club, was a huge powerhouse, not only in Western PA, but also on a national level. Morgan was and still is known as the area where the South Fayette Municipal Building is, and where the old Morgan High School (still standing) is located.  The original field, where most of our championships were won, is now the Morgan Baseball fields.

Everyone should know about our rich history and heritage for our club.    Here is some information:

The Morgan SC competed in the National Amateur Cup many times, made it to the Final Championship game 4 times, and won 2 times! A fantastic accomplishment!  The Morgan SC was the best Amateur team in the entire USA,... twice! The championship years were 1940 and 1943!  (Note: this is an often-heralded accomplishment made by another local club, Beadling, who competed twice and won only once). Locally, the Heidelberg Soccer Club competed 6 times and won 4 times, the most of any Western PA club at that tournament.  In it's last championship, one of Heidleberg's leading players was a Morgan SC recruit, named Aldo "Buff" Donelli. 

An even larger accomplishment still, the Morgan SC competed in the National Open Cup many times, reaching the Championship game 3 times, and won 1 time in 1949.  The Open Cup, is open to any team in the USA, and usually a professional team wins the Cup. Very rarely does an amateur make it to the finals much less win.  Locally, the Harmerville SC also won the Open Cup, twice.

These were of course men's teams, though the younger Morgan players accomplished a great deal as well.  The Morgan High School (predecessor to South Fayette High School) quite probably owns the record for most WPIAL soccer championships at 14. The years are: 1935, 36, 38, an incredible 10 year run - 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, and finally 1959 Occasionally they display the WPIAL Champs trophies in the case at the High School.  Check there often to see if you can catch a glimpse.  Morgan was not just section champs, a hard enough accomplishment; they were WPIAL, the best team in Western PA.  Also, back then, there were no classifications based upon your student enrollment count as today. Small Morgan High had to play every school large or small to win those championships.

In addition to team accomplishments, there are individual accomplishments as well.  Of the 40 or so members in the US Soccer Association, National Soccer Hall of Fame, there are 2 members from the Morgan Soccer Club.  They are the only players from Western PA in the Hall.  They are Aldo "Buff'" Donelli and Paul Danilo.  As mentioned above, Aldo played on the Heidleberg National Champs team, but also played in the 1934 US World Cup team, scoring 4 goals against Mexico in a qualifier and the lone goal against Italy in the first round of the finals.

Aldo "Buff'" Donelli

Paul Danilo

I'm sure there are many other accomplishments of teams and players over the years I may have missed.  If you happen to have any information regarding our history, please share it with me or any board member of the club.  We'd love to hear if you played for a team, know of any records, news clippings, old photos, jerseys or trophies.  If you don't want to part with your memento, at least let us know about the details, let us photocopy or take a picture of the article.  We'd love to build a collection to reference for our club.

As you can see our club has been to the mountain.  We've won championships and we can win them again!  So the next time someone says to you "Soccer is new around here" or "We don't have a rich tradition of championship soccer in South Fayette" you can tell them otherwise.

Look for future articles about the heritage and traditions of soccer in Western PA and our Soccer Club, in future newsletters.  For now, keep playing soccer and get better every week!