‘Stayin’ Alive’: Pele’s Debut at Nickerson Field Marred by Riot

Over the years, Braves Field, which Boston University administration named Nickerson Field, has hosted many professional soccer games. Elevens from the North American Soccer League, the American Professional Soccer League, the American Soccer League, and the Women’s United Soccer League called the old ballpark home.

Two of the greatest male soccer players of all time played at Nickerson Field on June 20, 1975. Pelé and Eusébio squared off in a North American Soccer League contest.

The illustrious Pelé, who had recently signed a three-year $ 4.5 million contract with the New York Cosmos, led the visiting Cosmos against the Boston Minutemen.1 The Brazilian star was signed for more than his playing ability. Bringing the world’s most famous athlete to America, it was hoped, would jump-start interest in the world’s most popular sport A US record TV audience of 10 million watched Pelé’s debut with the Cosmos five days earlier.2

Minutemen owner John Sterge didn’t stand idle. To counteract the Cosmos, he signed a player who he thought could match up with Pelé. Portuguese World Cup star Eusébio, considered by many to be one of the 10 greatest players of all time, was the Boston striker. Eusébio, who played for international soccer power Benfica, was once the all-time leading scorer for the Portuguese national team. At the time of his signing, Eusébio had been playing for the Rhode Island Oceaneers of the American Soccer League, the NASL’s rival circuit. Minutemen management thought that Eusébio would be a drawing card for the large Portuguese fanbase in New England.3

According to a United Press International preview of the game, “the messiah (Pelé) has arrived to convert pagan Bostonians to the religion of soccer.”4 It didn’t seem to bother the fans that Eusébio (32 years old) and Pelé (34) were past their prime. Normally only several thousand fans attended Minutemen matches. For this one, more than 18,000 fanatics jammed the 12,000-seat stadium.

The NASL and the Minutemen were totally unprepared for hosting the two international greats. There were long lines to enter the stadium. The Minutemen didn’t provide enough seats, parking, or security. Before the start, firefighters had to put out a fire beneath the stands.

If this wasn’t enough to sour Boston, a healthy dose of soccer hooliganism made it worse. Eusébio scored the game’s first goal. Pelé apparently responded with a point-blank strike on a rebound off a save by goalkeeper Shep Messing to tie the match at 1-1. But the referee called a foul on Pelé for an illegal pushoff of a defender in front of the net. His goal was disallowed. Hundreds of fans, unhappy with the call, stormed the field in protest. Pelé barely escaped being trampled and was carted from the field on a stretcher. He only had minor injuries. John Powers of the Globe wrote: “You would expect this to happen in Rio de Janeiro or Lisbon. You did not expect this to happen in Boston.”5

After order was restored, the Minutemen scored the winner in overtime. The Cosmos protested the results and the game’s playing conditions. Their protest was upheld by NASL Commissioner Phil Woosnam and the match was replayed at Nickerson Field on August 3. Neither Pelé nor Eusébio played in the rematch, which the Minutemen won, 5-0.6

Many have doubted soccer’s ability to attract American fans. The Minutemen’s attendance at Nickerson Field was poor. By the end of the 1976 season, the Minutemen, like all previous professional soccer teams in Boston, had failed. The NASL and the Cosmos went out of business in 1984. But in 2014 an average audience of more than 18 million American fans watched the US team play Portugal in the World Cup on television.7 Major League Soccer (MLS), North America’s highest professional league in the sport, saw growing attendance and achieved lucrative television contracts. The New England Revolution, an original franchise in the MLS, owned by New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, were the 2014 Eastern Conference champions, losing the MLS Cup to the Los Angeles Galaxy in a 2-1 overtime match. Plans were launched to eventually move the Revolution from Foxboro’s Gillette Stadium to a soccer-specific stadium in Boston. Pelé’s visit to Nickerson Field was an unforgettable chapter in United States soccer history.

TOM MASON is an attorney and an accomplished freelance writer with dozens of articles to his credit. His work has been published in the New Bedford Standard-Times, the Brockton Enterprise, and the Quincy Patriot-Ledger. He was the primary author of the Maple Street Guide to New England Ballparks and contributed to the Pawtucket Red Sox yearbook. A graduate of the Wharton School of Finance and Boston University Law School, Tom has lived in Lakeville and Lexington, Massachusetts. As a boy, Tom would go to Nickerson Field to watch Boston University play football. He’s also seen United States Football League and professional soccer games at the ballpark formerly known as “Braves Field.”

 

Sources

The firsthand accounts of Pelé’s game at Nickerson Field are mainly drawn from the Boston Globe. An excellent comprehensive history of the Boston Minutemen can be found at: funwhileitlasted.net/2013/08/25/1974-1976-boston-minutemen. There are abundant reSources available about Eusébio and Pelé. Eusébio died on January 5, 2014. Portugal held a national day of mourning for him.

 

Notes

1 Pelé had previously played in a June 30, 1972, exhibition match at Nickerson Field featuring the Boston Astros of the ASL vs. the Brazilian Santos team. About 1,100 attended. Pelé had three goals and Santos won, 6-1. The crowd was held down because of erroneous reports that the game had been canceled due to excessive fog.

2 nasl.com/page/slug/a-review-of-the-golden-era#.VKGFOF4Ao.

3 A statue to honor Eusébio was unveiled next to Gillette Stadium on May 6, 2006. It is a replica of a statute in front of Benfica’s home stadium.

4 “Pelé the Lure at BU Tonight,” Boston Globe, June 20, 1975, 31.

5 John Powers, “Frenzied Fans Rough Up Pelé,” Boston Globe, June 21 1975, 17.

6 Francis Rosa, “Minutemen Ramble Over Cosmos, 5-0,” Boston Globe, August 4, 1975, 25.

7 forbes.com/sites/maurybrown/2014/06/23/u-s-a-vs-portugal-highest-rated-ever-world-cup-match-for-espn/.