Haeusler, Moritz

One of the best inside rights in the world in the 1920s, Haeusler played for the Austrian National team seven times during his international career. He was also a member of the famed Hakoah-Vienna club in the mid-1920s. The Hakoah-Vienna team has been inducted as an entity into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

Birth and Death Dates:
b. 1901 - Dec. 24, 1952

Career Highlights:
One of the greatest goal scorers in the history of American professional soccer, Haeusler began his career in Austria for the famed Hakoah-Vienna club. In 1926, Hakoah played a ten-game tour of the United States and played in front of a total of 200,000 people. On May 1, 1926, they played before 46,000 at the Polo Grounds in New York City, an American attendance record for a soccer game until 1977. Haeusler, who captained Hakoah on the tour, was praised in newspapers as a knowledgable player with terrific passing ability (New York Evening Post, April 21, 1926), and a player with, "a fine toe and great stamina." (New York Times, April 20, 1926)

Following the tour, Haeusler was one of many Hakoah players who remained in the U.S. to play in the American Soccer League. During the 1926-27 season, he registered 12 goals (third on the team, 23rd in the league) while playing for the fifth-place New York Giants. The following year, Haeusler scored 16 goals (22nd in the league) for the Giants, but then switched teams and leagues in the middle of the 1928-29 season. That year, the ASL forbade its teams from playing in the U.S. Open Cup during the season, but three teams ignored the rule and were suspended from the league. In response, they formed their own league called the Eastern Soccer League and invited the former Hakoah players to join as the New York Hakoah. Haeusler was one of the players on the new Hakoah club.

While the "soccer war" between the ASL and ESL was brewing, the New York Hakoah calmly captured the U.S. Open Cup in 1929. In the finals, they defeated the Madison Kennel Club in both games by scores of 2-0 and 3-0. Haeusler scored the final goal in the second game. In October 1929, the "soccer war" ended and the ASL and ESL merged. Haeusler and his New York Hakoah teammates then merged with the ASL's Brooklyn Hakoah and were renamed the Hakoah All-Stars.

Haeusler remained with Hakoah until the end of the 1931 season, when he finished eighth in the league in scoring with 10 goals (the ASL soon folded due to the Depression). Over his ASL career, he played in 178 games and scored 57 goals. His 57 goals ranked 32nd all-time in ASL history.

Origin:
Vienna, Austria

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