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AN AMERICAN GAME

Author: SOCCERTOWN MEDIA

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Some say that soccer is an American game. Okay, Tom McCabe and Kirk Rudell say that, and it might sound weird if you’re an American soccer fan, and you’ve spent your whole life defending your love for the game to people who say the US has no soccer history.


But: soccer was in New Jersey before it was in Brazil. The US had a pro league before Italy or Spain. We were the first country to register for the first World Cup. In this series, the former teammates tell stories from the 150 years of American soccer history that even die-hard fans may not know. Tom is one of the pre-eminent historians of American soccer, and Kirk is a veteran Hollywood screenwriter, so it’s real history that’s fun to listen to. 

With a World Cup coming this year, we want to give American fans a reason to stand a little prouder, cheer a little louder, and celebrate the generations of immigrants who brought their dreams, and the game, with them. Because it’s our game, too.

12 Episodes
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In 2028, when USL Premier launches, the United States will have a Division One pro soccer league at the top of a promotion-relegation pyramid. Sexy! But we're in 2026, when a potential players' strike threatens the entire USL season. Not sexy! Tom and Kirk look at USL's place in the US soccer landscape--at the intersection of small town dreams and big business--and, with the help of a wooden duck, explore how that tension makes it the most "American" pro soccer league. For better and, possibl...
In 2018, when the United States, Mexico, and Canada were selected to co-host this year’s World Cup, it sounded like fun: three friendly democracies throwing the world's biggest soccer party. LOL. LMAO, even. To kick off Season 2 of AAG, Tom and Kirk take a look at our (longer than you think) soccer history with our northern and southern neighbors and put some color back on what’s become a pretty crude, black-and-white picture. Because despite all the recent division, we’re actually more...
If towns make a nation, we think our soccertowns make us a soccer nation. That’s kind of, like, our whole thing–it’s literally the name of the show. In our final episode of Season 1, we play a full 90 minutes (plus added time!) and dig into the deep roots of the game across the United States, from sea to shining sea. If you think we got our lineup wrong, let us know at: soccertownmedia@gmail.com Or hit us up on Instagram @SoccertownMedia Or on Bluesky @soccertownmedia.bsky.social Or wri...
The US victory in the 1999 Women’s World Cup has been called “a tsunami hitting the shore” for women’s soccer in the United States. But the seismic activity that started that wave goes way back to the 19th century. (Surprised? You must be new here.) Tom and Kirk track the long line of women’s soccer that led to an under-appreciated quake: the formation of the very first US Women’s National Team, the 85ers, whose wild week at a tournament in Italy 40 years ago laid the foundation for one of th...
Some of our greatest writers have been goalkeepers. Unfortunately, none were available for this episode, so Tom and Kirk dug out their Goalkeepers’ Union cards to celebrate the one position where the United States has produced world class soccer talent for 140 years–and will continue to if US Soccer listens to this episode. So stop asking, “What if our best athletes played soccer?” and get to know legends like Briana Scurry and Stan “The International Man” Chesney.
What has steamships, chloroform, and the King of Romania? This episode of An American Game, about the US National Team's incredible performance in the first World Cup, hosted by Uruguay in 1930. Tom and Kirk take us back to that tough and talented team, who wore the Stars and Stripes and showed the world that diversity is our strength--and that the United States is not afraid to change hotels if the first one doesn't feel right. Also, we use the word "worsted" for the third straight show. Tha...
Quick: what's the oldest trophy in American sports? Wrong. In Episode 2 of An American Game, Tom and Kirk tell the story of the AFA Cup, first given out 140 years ago (before the Stanley Cup) and, for decades, the top prize in American soccer. But then the Tiffany-designed trophy disappeared -- dropped out of the historical record, along with so much of US soccer. Fortunately, like Indiana Jones in an SUV, Tom tracked it down. If you want to see some of what we’re talking about (and what acto...
How did a bullet change the course of American soccer? In the first of a new series about the long, colorful, and mostly-forgotten history of US soccer, Tom McCabe and Kirk Rudell--old friends, college teammates, soccer obsessives--join forces to tell the story of Thomas "Bullets" Cahill, the 'Father of American Soccer.' They follow Cahill from his tough St. Louis childhood in a patch of Irish immigrants; to wheeling and dealing across the country, sometimes at knifepoint, building what we no...
We’re back! Sort of. Season Two of AN AMERICAN GAME will be coming your way in February 2026, and we’ve got so many new stories to share about US soccer history that we’re burning one now. Hahaha that can’t possibly come back to bite us, right? Anyway, think of this as a holiday gift, because it’s about one of our favorite holiday films: the movie that influenced some of our greatest players, coaches...and podcasters. We’re talking, of course, about the Stallone/Caine/Pelé classic, VICTORY, a...
Water Break

Water Break

2025-09-1014:58

Look, if it were up to Tom and Kirk they'd just play through but, you know, Wet-Bulb Temperature, FIFPRO Players' Union mandates, blah blah blah. So while the team guzzles [ENERGY DRINK SPONSOR TK], enjoy this mini-episode where they follow up on some earlier stories, make a few (small) corrections, and chat a bit about a recurring character on AN AMERICAN GAME: Alexi Lalas. Back next week to finish the game- er, season!
Peep! It's halftime at AN AMERICAN GAME, and we’re in the locker room making "tactical adjustments" (getting ice packs strapped to our bodies while guzzling ibuprofen and Gatorade.) So let's go over to the studio where Alexi- haha, no, where Tom and Kirk give a quick preview of next week's episode, a fun fact about themselves, and a very dignified request to like and/or subscribe to the show if you like and/or don't want to miss it. It's one click. You can do it. See you next week!
A new series from the makers of the documentary SOCCERTOWN, USA about the long and colorful history of American soccer. Tom and Kirk are old friends and former teammates who share a belief that the United States is a soccer nation, and they're going to prove it, one story at a time. Fortunately, Tom is a leading scholar of American soccer and Kirk is a veteran Hollywood screenwriter, so it’s real history that’s fun to listen to.
Comments (1)

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