Amateur When he was nineteen, McGhee began playing for
New York Shipbuilding, located in
Camden, New Jersey, of the South Jersey League. The next season, he moved to Wolfenden Shore, of the Allied American Football Association; playing with them until at least March 1921 when he was on trial with
Bethlehem Steel F.C. before moving to
Philadelphia Hibernian of the National Soccer League of Philadelphia. He played with them from 1921 to 1922.
Professional In 1922, McGhee signed with the
New York Field Club of the
American Soccer League. He spent two seasons with New York before moving to
Fleisher Yarn in 1924. Fleisher had existed for years as an amateur powerhouse, and in 1924 the team went professional. It was unable to maintain itself as a professional team and folded at the end of the season. When Fleisher failed, McGhee moved to
Indiana Flooring which played in New York City. McGhee spent two seasons with Indiana. In 1927,
Charles Stoneham, owner of the
New York Giants baseball team, bought Indiana Flooring. He renamed the team the
New York Nationals. That year the original
New York Giants ASL club folded. Stoneham acquired the rights to the name and used it for his club. McGhee played with this team, under all its names, through 1932, except for a loan period to
Philadelphia Field Club during the 1928–1929 season. In 1928, the New York Nationals won the
National Challenge Cup. In 1929, the club then won the Lewis Cup, the ASL cup competition. Under the new name, New York Giants, the club also won the 1930–1931 ASL championship. After 1929 ASL statistics become patchy as the
Great Depression and the ASL/FIFA Soccer Wars took a toll on the league. Despite this, McGhee played at least 350 games and scored 137 goals from 1921 to 1931. According to the
National Soccer Hall of Fame, "There are also reports in some publications that he later played in England for Hull City. However, he
[sic] son Ed, who lives in Riverton, New Jersey, told me that, apart from his trip to South America, Bart never left the U.S."
National team McGhee earned three
caps with the
U.S. men's national team, all coming in the
1930 FIFA World Cup. He scored the first goal for a United States team in World Cup competition in the opening victory over
Belgium, which became the 2nd goal in World Cup history. In 1986, the
National Soccer Hall of Fame inducted McGhee. During his ASL career Bart McGhee played in 350 league games and scored 127 goals, almost all of them from the left wing position.
International goals United States' goal tally first ==See also==