Bahr, a native of
Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, began playing soccer at the age of 11 and joined the
Philadelphia Nationals of the professional
American Soccer League as an amateur player. He was paid a great compliment during the
Scottish national team tour of the U.S. in 1949 by former Scottish international
Tommy Muirhead, who wrote in the
Glasgow Daily Mail, "Bahr is good enough to play for any First Division team in the United Kingdom." After participating in the
1948 Summer Olympics, Bahr turned professional and helped his club win ASL titles in 1950, 1951, 1953, and 1955. In the summer of 1953, he helped Montréal Hakoah FC reach the
Canadian final. He then switched to the Uhrik Truckers, another team in the Philadelphia area, and won the ASL title in 1956. He then joined
Montreal Sparta in late August where he won the 1956 Quebec Cup. As professional soccer players at that time made relatively little money, Bahr also was a high school Phys. Ed. teacher during his playing years and led Frankford HS to several Public League and City Titles in his native Philadelphia. He coached the Philadelphia Spartans of the American Soccer League from 1969 to 1970. He moved to the college ranks to coach Temple University from 1970 to 1973. He then coached Penn State to 12 NCAA tournament appearances from 1974 to 1988, including taking the Nittany Lions to the 1979 semifinals, when he was named College Coach of the Year. ==National team==