Walter’s first involvement with soccer came at the age of 11, when he joined the Lighthouse Boys Club team in the Kensington section of Philadelphia. Within four years he had signed as an amateur with the Philadelphia Nationals of the professional American Soccer League. There he developed under coach Jimmy Mills, himself a Hall of Famer, and becoming a professional helped the Nationals win American Soccer League titles in 1950, 1951 and 1953. In 1949 and 1952 he was a member of the Nationals team that reached the U.S. Open Cup final, but lost on each occasion to a team from the Pittsburgh area. He won the ASL title again in 1955 and 1956 with Uhrik Truckers another Philadelphia team. Walter also played the 1953 summer season in Canada for Montreal Hakoah and once again his team reached the national final before losing to New Westminster Royals. In other years he played in the New York German-American League for S.C. Eintract and the German-Hungarians.

On numerous occasions Walter played for the American Soccer League all-star team against some of the finest club teams in the world, including in 1948 the English team Liverpool and the national team of Israel. In 1950 against Besiktas of Turkey and Jonkopping of Sweden. In 1951 against A.I.K. Stockholm of Sweden. In 1953 against Rapid Vienna of Austria. In 1956 against the Israeli Olympic team, Everton of England and Rapid Vienna of Austria for the second time, and in 1957 against Hapoel of Tel Aviv.

In 1948 he was selected for the U.S. Olympic squad at the Olympic Games in London and captained the team. However, soon after he signed as a professional and became ineligible to play for the Olympic team again. In 1949 Walter Bahr was a member of the U.S. World Cup team that qualified from a tournament in Mexico City for the 1950 World Cup of Soccer held in Brazil. There he played against Spain, England and Chile. Against England in Belo Horizonte he supplied the pass that led to Joe Gaetjens scoring the winning goal in one of the greatest sporting upsets of all time. In April of 1952 he was a member of the U.S. national team that played against Scotland at Glasgow’s famed Hampden Park before 107,765 fans. Altogether Walter Bahr played 19 times for the U.S. national team in full international competition at a time when the U.S. didn’t play anything like as many internationals as it does today. He is known, not only in the U.S., but around the world as one of the greatest and most respected soccer players ever to wear the shirt of the U.S. national team and has often served as an ambassador for his country.

After his retirement as a player Walter Bahr became a highly successful coach at Temple and at Penn State Universities, and with two professional teams Philadelphia Ukrainians and Philadelphia Spartans. He coached Temple from 1970 to 1973 and Penn State from 1974 to 1988 as well as Frankfort High School for 17 years. His overall coaching record is 448-137-70. He was elected NSCAA Coach of the Year in 1979 and the Nittany Lion soccer team was selected to the NCAA Tournament 12 times in Walt’s 14 year career. In 1995 he was elected to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Hall of Fame.

His three sons Casey, Chris and Matt all played soccer. Casey and Chris both played for the U.S. Olympic team and all three played in the North American Soccer League, Casey and Chris for Philadelphia Atoms and Matt for Colorado Caribous. Later Chris and Matt kicked field goals for a number of teams in the National Football League. Daughter Davies Ann also carried on the family’s sports tradition and was named to the All-America gymnastics team in 1977. Walter’s wife, also named Davies Ann, was a championship swimmer at Temple and a Physical Education teacher at Penn State.

This article was provided courtesy of the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

Location:
Cannstatter Volksfest-Verein
9130 Academy Road, Philadelphia, PA 19114

The event begins with a cocktail hour at 5:00pm and dinner will be served at 6:00pm.  The awards presentation will follow dinner and will include the new Hall of Fame inductees, Male & Female Player of the Year, Club of the Year, and Coaches of the Year.

Tickets for the event are $40.00 per person.  Tables of 8 are available.

Tickets will be available by mail order or at one of our scheduled meetings.

For more information please contact us via the website or email SEPA Soccer HoF Vice President Gordon Dunlop Jr. directly.

Two of our distinguished members are coordinating the respective tournaments. John Dunlop, coach at Father Judge High School is handling the boys side, and Kevin Schneider, coach at St. Basil Academy is the coordinator for the ladies. These games will surely provide the most competitive and entertaining soccer at this level as some of the best teams in the area have been invited. The list of teams and schedule will be posted as soon as all teams have been confirmed.

The tournament will take place on the Saturday before Labor Day Weekend. The exact date is Saturday, August 29, 2009. The Parkwood Youth Organization has graciously agreed to allow us to use their fields for this event. They are located at 3301 Mechanicsville Road (Dunksferry & Mechanicsville), Philadelphia, PA 19154. Games for all teams will kick-off at 9:00AM and run about two hours. We will be playing a round-robin format where one team will play each of the other three teams in thirty-five minute games. At the conclusion of the games a tournament champion will be announced for both the boys and girls sides. This will be the first of what we hope will be an annual event. The players will receive a commemorative shirt to mark this historic occasion, and also be provided with lunch.

All are invited to come out and watch these college players of tomorrow. We are looking for help in defraying the cost of the event. If you or your business would like to sponsor a team, at only $150, please contact us at info@sepasoccerhall.com. You would receive recognition for your donation on our website, tournament shirts and in our program. Thanks.

In 2008, the POSA, in an effort to meet the changing soccer environment, became the Southeastern Pennsylvania Soccer Hall of Fame. After sixty-two memorable years, the “Oldtimers” realized that the world of soccer was changing dramatically and that the organization needed a new approach. In order to facilitate this change, new officers were elected and a plan to recruit new and “younger” members was initiated. Bob Kozlowski as President and Gordon Dunlop as Vice-president, have been chosen to lead the way with this transition.

The new organization, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Soccer Hall of Fame, has stated that it is firmly committed to continuing the Oldtimers’ legacy and perpetuate its venerable Hall of Fame.  The very popular annual spring banquet, which has become a “who’s who in soccer” event, will also be continued and expanded.

This transition will also enable the organization to expand its reaches into the surrounding areas, and initiate new programs to help build the soccer community. The sponsorship of signature events for youth and high school teams are being planned. Partnerships are being developed with various soccer entities including leagues, clubs, schools, sponsors, organizations, etc. And finally, the formation of this first-class web site will not only help with the running of the organization, but also the sharing of information to benefit the whole soccer community.

In conjunction with the launching of our web site and in an effort to grow our new organization, we are announcing that membership will be free from now through the remainder of our 2008-2009 membership year which ends in August. Our annual membership fee of $15 is being waved until the start of our next membership year which begins September 1^st. To join just fill out the online form here and you will become a member and receive timely emails with information about our meetings and events.

William Gardiner

William J. Gilmore, Sr.

Bartholomew McGhee

Albert Blakely

Benny McLaughlin, Sr.

Thomas Oxley

Fritz Ihrig

William Bradley, Sr.

George Wilson

William Kuklick

David Grieve

William Gallagher, Sr.

Robert Murray, Sr.

William Kirkpatrick

Dennis Gilmore

Joseph Wambach

Walter Hemingway

Thomas Pepper

George Griffin, Sr.

Charles Buchter

Francis Cavanaugh, Sr.