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A turn of the century Scottish-American footballer's life ends too early
Posted on Aug. 29, 2025, 8:48 a.m. | Categories: NAFL New JerseyOn the morning of 4 July, 1912, a rear-end train collision occurred three miles east of Corning, N.Y. The wreck caused the deaths of 39 people and injured 88 others. Among those killed was John Tait, who was traveling from his home in Brooklyn to join his wife and young son in Niagara Falls. At the time of his death, Tait was known as one of the most dangerous soccer forwards in the Eastern United States.
John Beveridge Tait was born in 1882 in Scotland. He immigrated to the United States in early July of 1904. A carpenter by trade, Tait would find work in the construction industry of New York City.
John Tait became a member of the Caledonian Club of Manhattan and quickly became a prominent fixture on the Caledonian soccer team. Formed in the decade prior to the American Civil War, the Caledonian Club was an organization created to serve the Scottish community of New York City and served as a beacon to immigrants for decades after.
The Caledonians joined the newly-organized Metropolitan Association Football League for its inaugural cup competition in the spring of 1905. The Metro League was launched as a top competition for the better teams in the burgeoning New York City soccer scene.
The New York Caledonians would win that first Metropolitan League tournament. The final was held on 6 May 1905 at Cosmopolitan Park in Newark, N.J. John Tait scord a brace for the Caledonians who edged Hollywood Inn F.C. of Yonkers, N.Y. 4-3 to win the title.Ref 1
The Metropolitan League would return in the fall and play its first full league competition during the 1905-06 soccer season. The New York Caledonians, with John Tait playing on the right wing, would end in a respectable fourth place.
But, Tait’s most important game of the 1905-06 soccer season would actually take place early on. The Pilgrims, a team of English amateur players, toured Canada and the United States during the fall of 1905. The Metropolitan League sponsored the Pilgrims’ match in New York City and held an exhibition match between two teams of players from the league as a way to select a roster to face off against the Pilgrims.Ref 2
The try out match took place on 15 October, 1905 at Cosmopolitan Park in Newark. John Tait was placed on Team B. He scored two goals as Team B easily handled Team A 7-2. Tait’s performance during the match impressed the Executive Committee of the league enough for them to place hime on the picked roster.
On the following Saturday, October 21, the over 5,000 in attendance at the Polo Grounds in Manhattan saw the Pilgrims of England easily defeat the Metropolitan League team 7-1. The Metro League squad actually went up 1-0 after 10 minutes when Tommy Gorman of the West Hudson F.C. scored on the Englishmen. But, just five minutes later, the Pilgrims evened the match and then put six more goals in the net for good measure. Even in defeat, John Tait was one of a handful of Metropolitan League players lauded for their play.Ref 3
Immediately following the end of the 1905-06 Metropolitan League season, John Tait was signed by the West Hudson F.C. to help them in their American Football Association Cup run. Initially held in the 1884-85 season, the American Cup had gone dormant from 1899 through 1905. The competition was relaunched in the spring of 1906 between 13 teams from the New York City and Newark areas.
Because the New York Caledonians had not entered the tournament, Tait was not cup-tied and was available to join the West Hudsons following the Metro League season. Located in Harrison, N.J., West Hudson F.C. had won the 1905-06 Metro League by two points over Hollywood Inn.
John Tait’s initial game for West Hudson was a charity match arranged by the AFA to benefit two players injured during that season. The game was held in front of a crowd of 2,200 at Cosmopolitan Park on 13 May 1906 between West Hudson and a picked All-American squad. West Hudson blanked the All-Americans 2-0 with Tait scoring one of the goals.
Tait played on his regular right wing position in the AFA semifinal replay between West Hudson and the Scottish-Americans on 20 May, 1906. Two weeks prior, before Tait had signed with West Hudson, those two teams had tied 4-4 at Cosmopolitan Park in a classic. The match ended 1-1 but the teams each scored three more goals in the added extra time. Held at Morris Park in Newark, the replay would not be as close. A crowd of 4,000 saw West Hudson beat the Scottish Americans of Newark by a 3-1 score.
The AFA Cup final was held a week later at the same venue. A smaller crowd of 1,000 saw a tight match which ended in a 1-1 draw between West Hudson and the True Blue F.C. of Paterson, N.J. A replay was held on 2 June and again at Morris Park. John Tait played his third straight American Cup match at right wing. After two scoreless games, Tait would be the difference maker in the replay.
The True Blues went ahead by scoring in the 35th minute. That goal held through half time and the early part of the second half. But, Tait proved his worth in front of the 3,500 soccer fans by tying the score in the 55th minute. West Hudson would go ahead off a goal in the 65th and Tait would put it away by scoring in the 85th minute.Ref 4
John Tait would become a naturalized U.S. citizen in the summer of 1906 and would rejoin West Hudson F.C. for the beginning of the 1906-07 soccer season. The West Hudsons were knocked out of that season’s American Cup in a Second Round 4-0 loss to Clark A.A. of East Newark, N.J. Following that loss, Tait returned to the New York Caledonians for the remainder of the 1906-07 Metropolitan Association Football League season.
The Caledonians would win that year’s Metropolitan League title. Tait scored two goals at the league’s championship match held on 20 April, 1907. The game was held at Ontario Field in Manhattan where the assembled crowd watched the Caledonians defeat the New York Thistles 5-2.Ref 5
The shifting sands of the U.S. soccer system in the first decade of the 20th century saw the Metropolitan Association Football League fold following that season. A number of Metro League teams would join the professional ranks of the National Association Football League while the New York Caledonians would be without a league during the 1907-08 season.
John Tait would continue to star for the Caledonians in the 1907-08 and 1908-09 seasons. The Caledonian Club was an independent member of the American Football Association for the former season and joined the New York State Amateur Association Football League for the latter season. Tait himself would leave the Caledonians after the 1908-09 season and move to the Critchleys for the 1909-10 season.
The Brooklyn-based Critchleys were formed in 1905 by Nat Agar who had also been a moving force behind the formation of the NYSAAFL in 1906. After the Critchleys folded in 1913, Agar would go on to take over the Brooklyn F.C. and then later own and manage the Brooklyn Wanderers during the Golden Age of the American Soccer League.
Tait married his wife, Anna, also an immigrant from Scotland, during the summer of 1909. The Taits lived in Brooklyn so it is possible that John’s move to the Critchleys was at least partially done so he would be closer to home during the soccer season.
Tait would spend just one season with the Critchleys before being called up to the professional ranks. Located in Jersey City, N.J., Jersey A.C. signed John Tait prior to the 1910-11 National Association Football League season.
Having most of its teams based in New Jersey, the NAFL was a truly professional league. The West Hudson F.C. was the cream of the crop of the NAFL teams and had won three titles in the league’s first four seasons.
Jersey A.C. came in second to the West Hudsons during the 1909-10 NAFL season. John Tait’s signing by Jersey A.C. would be enough to push them over the top as he helped the team win the 1910-11 NAFL title by one point over Wilberforce F.C. of Paterson, N.J.Ref 6
In mid-May following the NAFL season, the Jersey A.C. soccer team was honored at a banquet attended by dignitaries from across the NAFL, the New York State League, and the American Football Association. During the celebration, the Jersey A.C. players were awarded gold medals and the team itself was presented a large pennant measuring 9 by 27 feet.Ref 7
Just a month later, Anna would give birth to the Taits’ first child. Charles Scott Tait was born in late June of 1911.
While Jersey A.C. was riding high, the 1910-11 season was the worst one for the powerful West Hudson F.C. The Harrison-based team ended up tied for fourth on the NAFL’s table. The team wanted to get back into contention and Tait was signed to help them with that.
Tait’s transfer to West Hudson for the 1911-12 soccer season had a drastic effect on both that team and Jersey A.C. The latter dropped all they way down to fifth on the league table, while West Hudson F.C., which moved Tait to center forward, went on to win their fourth NAFL title.
West Hudson wasn’t satisfied with just league accolades and John Tait was also an integral part of their run to a third American Cup title. Tait scored six goals over the team’s first three cup matches. And, while he didn’t score in West Hudson’s next cup match, the squad was able to grind out a 1-0 result over a tough Paterson Rangers squad in front of 5,000 at Morris Park on 14 April, 1912 to win the final and lift the cup. It was the first American Cup-NAFL “double” for any of the league’s teams.
Less than three months later, John Tait boarded a train on the Lackawanna Railroad heading from New York City to Niagara Falls. He was on his way to meet his wife and year-old son for a vacation in that resort town. He never made it.
The Corning train wreck was so devastating that it was difficult to identify all of the deceased. Initially 21 people were identified in the immediate aftermath of the wreck. But, a good number were only later identified due to possessions found on their bodies.
John B. Tait of 818 54th Street, Brooklyn, was identified by a medal he was carrying with him that fateful morning train ride. The medal found on his body simply stated, “Champions of America, won by John B. Tait, 1911.“Ref 8, Ref 9, Ref 10
Footnotes
Ref 1 "Great Interest in Closing Game of League—Caledonians Win. New-York Daily Tribune, Vol. LXV, No. 21,357, May 07, 1905, page 12. https://www.newspapers.com/image/78901037/. Accessed 21 May 2025.
Ref 2 “To Meet English Team.” The New York Times, Vol. LV, No. 17,431, Oct 15, 1905, page 13. https://www.newspapers.com/image/20528229/. Accessed 21 May 2025.
Ref 3 “Pilgrims Easy Victors at ‘Socker’ Football.” The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Vol. 66, No. 293, Oct 22, 1905, page 8. https://www.newspapers.com/image/53937230/. Accessed 21 May 2025.
Ref 4 “True Blues Defeated Lost American Cup.” The Evening News [Paterson, NJ], Vol. LXIX, No. 53, Jun 1, 1906, page 9. https://www.newspapers.com/image/524702501. Accessed 21 May 2025.
Ref 5 “Association Football.” New-York Daily Tribune, Vol. LXVI, No. 22,071, Apr 21, 1907, page 12. https://www.newspapers.com/image/208347119/. Accessed 21 May 2025.
Ref 6 “Jersey A.C. Football Club, 1910-11 Champions of the National League.” The Jersey Journal [Jersey City, NJ], Vol. XLV, No. 123, Sept 25, 1911, page 10. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1189200223/. Accessed 21 May 2025.
Ref 7 “Jersey A.C. Get Pennant at Banquet.” The Jersey Journal [Jersey City, NJ], Vol. XLV, No. 13, May 16, 1911, page 9. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1188953108/. Accessed 21 May 2025.
Ref 8 “41 Die in D., L. & W. Wreck at Corning.” Binghamton Press, Vol. 35, No. 72, Last Edition, Jul 5, 1912, page 1. https://www.newspapers.com/image/252488855/. Accessed 21 May 2025.
Ref 9 “Jack Tait, Soccer Star, Killed in Railroad Wreck.” The Jersey Journal [Jersey City, NJ], Vol. XLVI, No. 55, Jul 5, 1912, page 7. https://www.newspapers.com/image/912620819/. Accessed 21 May 2025.
Ref 10 “Football Player Killed.” Fall River Daily Globe, Vol. LV, No. 60, Jul 8, 1912, page 4. https://www.newspapers.com/image/603836239/. Accessed 21 May 2025. This article erroneously states that Anna Tait was also killed in the train crash.
Last modified on Aug. 29, 2025, 11:37 a.m.