Cahill returned to the
East Coast and settled in
Newark, New Jersey in 1910. Cahill decided to establish a national governing body for soccer. He was the secretary and one of the founders of the American Amateur Football Association, one of the governing bodies vying for sole status as the nationally recognized governing body. He traveled to
Stockholm in 1912 to attend
FIFA's ninth annual congress where he applied for the American Amateur Football Association, to become the U.S. national governing body. Cahill's efforts were opposed by a representative from the American Football Association, a rival also attempting to become the nationally recognized body. FIFA did not immediately resolve the dispute, and urged Cahill and the AAFA to work with the AFA to create a solution. Cahill ultimately achieved his goal, however, when the
United States Football Association was formed on April 5, 1913, at a meeting at the Astor House hotel in New York. The USFA later became the
United States Soccer Federation. Cahill served three separate terms as the Executive Secretary of the USFA; 1913–1921, 1923–1924 and a final term in 1928. Cahill was the editor of Spalding's annual Official Soccer Football Guide from 1912 to 1924. In 1916 he became the first coach of the
United States men's national soccer team, taking a team for a tour of
Scandinavia. The United States played its first official international match under the auspices of
U.S. Soccer on August 20, 1916, against
Sweden in Stockholm, which the U.S. won 3–2, with goals from
Dick Spalding,
Charles Ellis and
Harry Cooper. In 1921 Cahill was instrumental in forming the
American Soccer League, which was the first serious attempt to establish a professional league in the United States. He served as the organization's secretary from 1921 to 1926. The American Soccer League was established in 1921 by the merger of teams from the
National Association Football League and the
Southern New England Soccer League. For several years The ASL's popularity rivaled the popularity of the National Football League. Disputes with the
United States Football Association and the onset of the
Great Depression in 1929 led to the league's collapse in spring 1933. Cahill's star faded, however. He was passed over for manager of the U.S. national team at the 1928 Olympics and the 1930 World Cup. Cahill died in 1951 in
South Orange, New Jersey. == Works ==