For our inaugural site, we chose Hanson Park Stadium at W. Fullerton Ave and N. Central Ave in Chicago’s Belmont-Cragin community and within a space where soccer has been played for over 120 years (and a time when N Central Ave was known as 56th Ave).
Narration video filmed at Hanson Park Stadium 29 July 2026 and T-Shirt is Blind Adam and Federal League homage to Haymarket Martyrs
Inserts:
Chicago Maroons form Hap Meier Collection, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville
Wisla Chicago 1927 from www.ksiazeksport.com
Polish Baseball from Dziennik Chicagoski, 05 May 1906 p. 4
Chicago Cats logos from funwhileitlasted.net
Pan American Games from Chicago Public Library, Special Collections Department of Urban Renewal Records, Box 103, Folder 20
Besiktas clippings and photos from Chicago Tribune, 26 May 1950 p. 51, photographs by Chuck Carlson from Besiktas Museum, Istanbul, Turkey 2025
Closing, AI generated clip of Hanson Park Stadium by Drew Wasserman
Soccer History Lives Here Logo element: International Brigade
Earliest Sports at Hanson Park:
At the site where Hanson Stadium sits, Polish baseball teams competed there as early as 1906 and Polish soccer teams were not far behind. In 1928, Hanson Park at the corner of W Fullerton Ave and N Central Ave in Chicago’s Belmont-Cragin Community, was the home ground of Wisla a team which still plays in Chicago’s local soccer leagues.
Professional Soccer at Hanson:
While the Chicago Maroons didn’t call Hanson Stadium home during their short professional life (Wrigley Field was their home ground in 1946 and Winnemac Stadium in 1947), they did do some PR on the grounds.
When the professional ASL league entered the Chicago market in 1975 with the Chicago Cats, they DID choose Hampton Stadium as their home ground for their 1975 and 1976 seasons.
In 1992, the primarily indoor team, Chicago Power, played outdoor matches at Hanson Stadium against Mexican teams Cruz Azul and Tigres.
International matches at Hanson Park Stadium
In 1950, Besiktas beat a team of Chicago All-Stars 5-3. The event is still memorialized with a trophy in Besiktas’s excellent Istanbul stadium museum.
SOME additional International matches:
1949 June 25: Kamraterna of Sweden 3 v Chicago All-Stars 1. The All-Stars included Sparta’s Gil Heron.
1952 May 11: Stuttgarter Kickers of Germany 10 v Chicago All-Stars 3. The now 4th division team beat All-Stars 10-3 in front of 12,000.
1953 June 7: Liverpool FC of England 4 v Chicago All-Stars 2. Reuben Gonzales of Necaxa replaced Carlos Mottes in goal >8,500 fans
1960 December 11: SK Bratislava of Czechoslovakia (Slovakia) 2 v National Soccer League All-Stars 1 in front of 5,000 fans. Now SK Slovan Bratislava, their supporters have earned a reputation as one the most racist fan groups in Europe. This was their second visit to Chicago, they defeated a Chicago All-Stars team in 1948 6-1 at Comiskey Park.
1961 May 30: VfB Stuttgart of Germany 12 v Chicago All-Stars 2 11,000+ fans came out on a Tuesday night. The Weiss-Rot returned in 1972 and beat a Chicago All Stars team 3-0 in front of 1,200.
1972 July 2: Santos of Brazil 2 v UNAM of Mexico 0. Pele scored both goals.
1976 July 12: Borussia Monchengladbach of Germany 3 v “Soviet Union” 3. 12,000 fans attended. The “Soviet Union” team were actually FC Dynamo Kyiv.
1976 August 3: GKS Tychy of Poland 3 v Chicago Cats 0. GKS translates as Mining Sports Club. Tychy are from a coal mining area of Poland and were founded by a Miners Union.
1992 Tigres (10 July) and Cruz Azul (7 August) of Mexico v Chicago Power. The primarily indoor Power lost to Tigres 1-0 but tied Cruz Azul 2-2 in front of 7,000+ fans.
We welcome your insights, corrections, and perspectives. Your contribution helps build a more complete history of the game.
