Archibald Macpherson Stark

   Another name for Archibald was Archie.

  Noted events in his life were:

1. Residence, 1985, Kearny, Hudson, New Jersey, USA.

2. Honors: National Soccer Hall of Fame, 1950. Archibald MacPherson “Archie” Stark


Inducted: 1950
Position: Forward
Born: Glasgow, Scotland, December 21, 1897.
Died Kearny, New Jersey, May 27, 1985.
The most prolific goal scorer in American soccer history, Stark came to the United States as a young man. He began his senior soccer career with the Kearny Scots-Americans before switching to the Babcock and Wilcox team in nearby Bayonne. World War One interrupted his playing days and he spent time in the U.S. Army. With the end of the war he resumed his career with the Erie Athletic Association team in New Jersey before crossing the Hudson River in 1921 to play for the New York Football Club, in the professional American Soccer League where he was used mainly at inside right. But Stark's career really took off and he gained national prominence when he was signed by Bethlehem Steel as a center forward at the start of the 1924-25 season. In his first season with the famous Steel club, he scored 67 goals in 44 league games and added three more in ASL cup competition. Between 1921 and 1932 he scored over 300 goals in games played in the American and Eastern professional soccer leagues, and ASL cup games, plus 29 more in U.S. Open Cup games. With Bethlehem Steel he won the American Soccer League championship in 1927 and Eastern Soccer League championship in 1929 as well as the U.S. Open Cup in 1926. Stark also played for the United States against Canada twice in 1925 scoring four times in the 6-1 American win at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn. Selected to the U.S. World Cup team in 1930, he turned down the offer citing business reasons, but later went on tour to Europe as a guest player with Fall River. When the first American Soccer League collapsed following the combined effects of an internal dispute with the United States Football Association and the Great Depression, Stark signed to play in the second ASL for Kearny Irish-Americans. The greatest American goal scorer of all time, Archie Stark ranks 43rd on the all time list of the worlds top first division goal scorers with his 300 goals.

3. Social Security Number: 145-26-9733, 1985.

4. Military Service: US Army, World War One.

Archibald married Elizabeth McAllen, daughter of William McAllen and Unknown.