As avid sports fans, people of New England have embraced their professional teams throughout the years. Within this long tradition of sports enthusiasm, a little known team from Andover made its way into the hearts of New Englanders more than 80 years ago.
They were the Shawsheen Indians - and they became national champs in soccer.
During the 1920s, soccer clubs and leagues played a prominent role in American sports, financed mainly by company owners. The team from the American Woolen Co., owned by William Madison Wood, was destined to become outstanding.
As part of Wood's model community, Shawsheen Village, Wood allowed his private secretary, George M. Wallace to build what was then known as the Balmoral Athletic Field. Wallace, a native of Scotland with a soccer background, made it a showplace and envy of all visiting teams. With hand-laid sod and a field house complete with showers and locker rooms, it quickly became a magnificent facility. Wallace then began to turn an average team into a powerhouse befitting his new structure.
Using some existing players, Wallace added high-level players - all Scottish born. They officially became the Shawsheen Football (as soccer was known) Club, locally called the Indians. And they were a force on the field.
In 1924, they moved quickly through the state tournament and captured the Cup with a resounding defeat of a team from Holyoke, 3-0. When Wallace felt his team should move up in competition, in December he announced they would play in a national tournament. No one foresaw what would happen over the next few months. Defeating strong teams from Boston, Worcester and New Jersey, the Indians found themselves in the national semifinals against the Abbot Worsteds form Forge Village in Westford. The Indians prevailed 2-1 and played themselves into the championship match against a team from Chicago.
On a cool and cloudy mid-April day in 1925 at Mark's Stadium in Rhode Island, the Indians played before fewer than 1,000 people. Weather held the crowd level down, but it never played a role in the match. From the beginning whistle, the Indians outclassed the team from the Windy City. Leading 2-0 at halftime, they scored another goal in the second half, then, satisfied, played defense the rest of the way, shutting out their opponents. The Shawsheen Indians, champions of the nation, brought the title to Andover. Wallace hoisted the cup for this little town team.
But, as quickly as the team rose, its fortunes faded.
The Indians began the next year in the American Soccer League playing teams from Boston, Providence, Indiana, Philadelphia and Brooklyn. When they went into a tailspin, however, Wallace shut down the team.
The team's demise came at the same time their sponsor, American Woolen, fell on hard times. New president Andrew Pierce began selling off company property. The athletic field was one of the first pieces to go.
The Indians, the little local team with a huge heart, were no more. Yet, the Balmoral Athletic Field lives on. Now called Lower Shawsheen field, the town of Andover is its owner. Even today, it is soccer one most often sees being played there, a tribute, perhaps, to that group of 11 players from Andover who, in 1925, were briefly kings of the soccer world.
