Abstract From 1924 to 1930, Detroit's Holley Carburetor Company sponsored an amateur, and later a professional, soccer team in Detroit and the Midwest Professional Soccer League. The Holleys maintained an impressive roster of regional and international talent who relocated to Detroit to work in the factory and play with the club. The Holleys frequently captured league titles and successfully competed in regional and national tournaments. Despite the club's achievements, it became a casualty of the Great Depression's political and economic battles that rocked Detroit and the nation. A rival communist league developed a competing soccer presence in the city. Conversely, the avowed anti-communist United States Football Association (USFA) leadership barred the communist teams from competing with any USFA team. The Holleys crossed the USFA when it leased its soccer grounds for a communist tournament. The USFA permanently suspended the Holleys for “aiding and abetting the enemy.” This terminated one of Detroit's finest soccer teams and arguably hindered Detroit's soccer potential for decades.
Gabe Logan (Thu,) studied this question.