(From left) Frank Mirisola, Sal Lo Grasso, Umberto Atria, andFilippo Mirisola were members of the Boston Metros, who playedLiverpool FC at Everett Stadium in 1964.
josh reynolds for the Globe
By Frank Dell'ApaGlobe Staff
In 1964, the popularity of two groups of Liverpudlian lads was onthe rise as they toured the United States. In September, the Beatlesperformed at a soldout Boston Garden. Four months earlier, LiverpoolFC attracted a similar crowd for an exhibition soccer match atEverett Stadium.
And just as Beatlemania overwhelmed the Garden audience,Liverpool FC swept away a team called the Boston Metros on May 8,1964.
The score was Liverpool 8, Metros 1. But the result might nothave been so lopsided if a Boston player had not provoked thevisitors by dribbling through the legs of a Liverpool veteran,according to Frank Mirisola, a Metros midfielder.
'It was a humiliation of one of Liverpool's best players,''Mirisola recalled. 'And after that, the game changed and they reallystarted playing. It was 0-0 in the first 15 minutes and we probablycould have held them to three or four goals, instead of 8-1. Butthey had national team players, six of them, like Juventus today.They were professionals and the coach was Bill Shankly.''
The year marked the resurgence of Liverpool FC, which won theFirst Division, an early milestone on the way to becoming one ofEurope's most successful clubs. The next year, Liverpool won itsfirst FA Cup. Two years later, Liverpool made its first extended runin the Champions Cup, eliminated by Inter Milan in the semifinals.
The contrast in the status of Liverpool and the Metros was stark.Three members of the Liverpool traveling party (Shankly andassistant Bob Paisley, plus Ian Callaghan) would be knighted. GerryByrne and Callaghan were members of England's 1966 World Cupchampionship team. Other key Liverpool figures such as Alan A'Court,Ronnie Moran, Ian St. John, and Ron Yeats, would continue to receiveheroes' welcomes when they returned to watch matches at AnfieldStadium.
The Metros, a blend of full-time professionals such as Brazilianforward Carlos Metidieri, plus semi-pro players such as Mirisola,would fold after the season. Some Metros - Mirisola and his brother,Filippo, Salvatore Golino, Sal Lo Grasso, and Mario Russo -- wouldremain in the area. Metro defender Hubert Vogelsinger, an Austrian,would go on to coach the Boston Minutemen and other teams in theNorth American Soccer League in the 1970s.
But the Metros did not have a permanent home stadium to beartestament to their accomplishments. Their story lived on by word ofmouth in cafes in Medford and the North End.
The Metros were competing in the American Soccer League, a NASLprecursor. A few days after the Liverpool match, the Metros jumpedin their cars for a drive to Philadelphia to play the first-placeUkrainian Nationals.
'I was very young,'' said Lo Grasso, now 65. 'I remember -- mycoach said we're saving you for next Sunday, because we had a biggame in Philadelphia.
'So, I was on the bench. But I remember these [Liverpool] guys,they were unbelievable. They were all professional. I was a fan ofInter and we followed [European soccer] and we knew Liverpool inthose days was good -- real good.
'I was not afraid of them, no. Why? I was a good player then. Iwould have liked to get in there but I was young and they were allexperienced guys. It was an unbelievable night, the place was packed-- 18,000, or better, that's what Everett Stadium holds. It was jam-packed.''
The attendance for the game is a point of contention. On aLiverpool fan website, the crowd is listed at 10,000.
'It was 15,000 -- that was the number of tickets,'' saidMirisola, who is referee supervisor for the Boston Public Schoolsleague. 'It wasn't quite full. Everett Stadium was a horseshoe, allbleacher seats. There might have been some people who got freetickets. But I saw the ticket receipts and it was 15,000.''
The perception of soccer in the US was mixed in the '60s.Significant crowds did appear at major soccer events around thecountry, often outdrawing other sports. In 1964, the Red Soxaveraged about 11,000 spectators per game and on May 27 that year, aRed Sox-Washington Senators game drew 3,315 at Fenway Park. The sameday, the Metros met German Bundesliga club Hamburg (a 7-1 defeat)before 6,000 fans at Chelsea Stadium.
Soccer suffered from administrative problems and lack of mediaexposure. Talent development programs were inconsistent. SeveralBoston players -- Metidieri, Nestor Caceres, Francisco Catroppa, andJorge Piotti -- had started their professional careers in SouthAmerica, then being recruited by Toronto Italia in Canada.
Lo Grasso and the Mirisola brothers were in their teens when theyemigrated from Riesi in Sicily. There were few professional socceropportunities, so they went to work doing manual labor and foundplaces on local teams, the best of which were ethnically-affiliated -- Greek, Italian, Polish, Portuguese. School was not a practicaloption, either, because of the language barrier, but they foundacceptance on the soccer field.
The Boston Italia club had an office on Hanover Street and theteam played games at North End Park. Umberto Atria owned Sal's Pizzaon Cambridge Street and also coached the team, entering it in theASL as the Metros, and a later version as the Tigers.
The Metros compiled a 9-1-3 record and finished second to theUkrainian Nationals in the 1964 ASL standings.
The local team was popular in some ethnic communities butstruggled to find acceptance in the mainstream media.
'In those days soccer was big,'' Lo Grasso said. 'We used to hangout at Caffe' Dello Sport, Caffe' Paradiso, and they used to have aboard on the wall to tell you the leading scorer of American League[ASL] and the teams [standings].
'We had a good team. Most of the guys used to play pro, they wereolder, they had experience.''
British teams regularly dominated the competition on NorthAmerican tours, their motivation increasing after the UnitedStates's 1-0 win over England in the 1950 World Cup in Brazil. InMay of 1964, the national team included three Liverpool players --Roger Hunt, Gordon Milne, and Roger Thompson -- who skipped theclub's tour to be with the England team that took a 10-0 victoryover the US in an exhibition in New York.
The Boston team would compete against several visiting Europeanclubs -- Celtic FC, Hapoel Petah Tikva, Hamburger SV, Hearts ofMidlothian, Nottingham Forest, West Ham United, several ItalianSerie A clubs. They had a nomadic existence, playing at stadiums inChelsea, Everett, Lynn, Malden, and Somerville.
'The only decent game we had was against Hearts, we tied, 1-1,''said Lo Grasso, who would go on to play in the NASL. 'I scored on afree kick. But it was, like, 85 minutes at one end. Our goalie wassuperior.''
After their playing days ended, the Metro players would keeptheir hand in the game. In 1972, AS Roma played a preseason contestagainst Hungarian champion Ujpest at Nickerson Field, losing, 2-0.The referee was Frank Mirisola.
Many of the Metros went into business. Lo Grasso and Mirisola ownrestaurants across from each other on L Street in South Boston.
Meanwhile, the Liverpool teams of the '60s achieved legendarystatus in European soccer. Shankly, the manager, is commemorated bythe Shankly Gate and a statue at the club's Anfield Stadium.
Shankly had established a long-term plan to build a team whenLiverpool was in the Second Division, his planning paying off as TheReds were promoted in 1962 and won the First Division title in '64.
Shankly, a Scotsman, united Liverpool FC based on his belief insocialism's collective philosophy. Shankly was obsessive, known forsaying: 'Some people believe football is a matter of life and death,I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it ismuch, much more important than that.''
The Shankly years established the basis for Liverpool's latersuccess. The Reds won the Champions Cup in 1977, '78, and '81 underPaisley. They also won the Champions competition in '84, with formerRevolution coach Steve Nicol in the starting lineup, defeating ASRoma in Rome's Stadio Olimpico, and 2005.
And the Boston area received a preview during Liverpool FC's May8, 1964, visit.
'Liverpool was a young team, fast,'' Lo Grasso recalled.'' Theyhad speed, and that makes a lot of difference, even if you haveexperience.
'They won the league and the next year they played against Interin the Champions Cup. And we went back to work. It's not easy,playing against those guys. They've got another speed. When you'reprofessional you're professional -- that's what you do for a living.Even though we were good they were better.''
Frank Dell'Apa can be reached at f_dellapa[239 128 185]@globe.com.
