About this episode

This episode explores the history of soccer as a workers' game in the U.S., focusing on the Workers’ Soccer Association and its ties to the Communist Party.

On this week’s Labor History Today: The FIFA World Cup is once again captivating fans around the globe as the 2026 tournament heads into the semifinal round, with France facing Spain on July 14 and England taking on Argentina on July 15. While soccer is often viewed as a relatively recent arrival in the United States, the game actually has deep roots here, thanks to immigrant workers from Britain and Europe who brought football to mining towns, factories, and mill communities in the late nineteenth century. This week's Labor History Today – originally released during the 2022 World Cup -- explores the long—and often overlooked—history of soccer as a workers' game.From 1927 to 1935, the United States Communist Party (CPUSA) established the Labor Sport Union, a coalition of worker athletic clubs, primarily located in the urban Northeast and Midwest. The CPUSA’s 1925 sport manifesto emphasized that sports should be used as a medium for class struggle and even to create “proletarian fighting units against militarism and fascism.”One of their successful sporting accomplishments was the Workers’ Soccer Association, or WSA, which organized leagues in New York City, Chicago, Detroit…

People in this episode

Guest: Gabe Logan

Topics covered

• soccer history
• workers' sports
• communism in sports
• Labor Sport Union
• FIFA World Cup
• immigrant contributions

Keywords

• soccer
• workers' game
• Labor Sport Union
• communism
• FIFA World Cup
• immigrant workers
• Workers’ Soccer Association
• sports history

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: United States Communist Party, Labor Sport Union, Workers’ Soccer Association

Places: Detroit, New York City, Chicago, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh

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