Three generations of Northeast Philadelphia’s Sullivans have made soccer history in the U.S. Open Cup

Larry Sullivan, dean of Bridesburg’s famed soccer clan, recalled playing in the U.S. Open Cup in the 1970s. He even was in a final once, he said, in 1977 with the United German-Hungarians.

His equally rooted son, Brendan, recalled his own Open Cup outings in a five-year journey across American minor leagues. In 1998, his Worcester Wildfire faced the Tampa Bay Mutiny, amid their short life as one of MLS’s original teams. Across the field stood Frankie Hejduk and Roy Wegerle, just back from playing for the United States at the World Cup.

Brendan’s wife, Heike, had memories of her own, too. Though there’s never been a women’s Open Cup — hopefully there will be someday as the sport expands — she recalled playing in the U.S. Adult Soccer Association’s women’s National Amateur Cup for the German-Hungarians.

Though the Open Cup has existed since 1914, American soccer hasn’t always done right by its history. Certainly not compared to baseball, where record-keeping is as much in the lifeblood as curveballs and Cracker Jack.

Because of that, efforts to prove who played when and where long ago often prove fruitless. Especially for the national championship, a yearlong knockout tournament for teams from every level — amateurs to pros.

Still, a journalist’s instinct says it’s worth trying.

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In Brendan’s case, the facts were found after a few rounds of online searches. Here was a year’s worth of Mutiny lineups, there was a year of Worcester’s, and his role emerged. In a third-round contest, the Wolves took Tampa Bay to penalty kicks before falling, 5-4, in the shootout.

The box score said it was a fractious game. Worcester drew six yellow cards and two reds, with Sullivan earning the first yellow in just the 12th minute. The Wolves scored twice early, but Tampa rallied with its man advantage, and Hejduk equalized in the 72nd.

How about Larry’s memories? The 1977 final’s score was easy to find: Maccabee Los Angeles 5, the German-Hungarians 1, for the Californians’ third championship. They later tied the record for the most titles of any team, set by Bethlehem Steel in the 1920s.

But lineups? Not so much. The game mostly drew short mentions in newspapers there and here, with just one real story in a suburban L.A. outlet. Naturally, it didn’t say much about the Philadelphia side.

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So a few calls went out to soccer historians to see what they knew. Alas, they came up empty.

What to do, with the latest Sullivans a few days away from the Union’s first Open Cup home game in seven years?

The answer might make you think the soccer gods really do exist.

While this reporter was at the National Soccer Hall of Fame over the weekend for Carli Lloyd’s induction, there was a reception in a room dedicated to Open Cup history. The rafters are hung with banners for every champion, including Philadelphia’s Ukrainian Nationals — four-time winners and the last local team to lift the Cup, in 1966.

At one side of the room, near the bar and the Tex-Mex buffet (fitting for the Dallas-area locale), there was a case with some historical artifacts. A placard introduced a theme: Bethlehem and Maccabee, the tournament’s historic powers.

Among the artifacts was a program from the 1977 final, with the U.S. Soccer Federation’s logo at the top and the participating teams’ players toward the bottom.

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There was Casey Bahr — listed by his formal name, Walter, same as his legendary father — followed by his brother, Chris. Below them, Jim and Kenny Startzell, whose brother, Stan, starred for the Philadelphia Atoms’ 1973 NASL title-winners. Dave MacWilliams was there too, years before joining the Philadelphia Fever and Fury, and long before he coached the Kixx and Temple.

And then, at the end, in the same block type as the rest: LARRY SULLIVAN.

This was the proof, found by a lucky twist of fate. Had Lloyd not been among this year’s inductees, the sight would have gone unseen by the eyes that sought it.

How many families can say three of their generations have played in the Open Cup? We’ll never know. But the Sullivans have achieved it, and that’s enough on its own.

Quinn, Brendan and Heike’s oldest child, debuted in the tournament with the Union two years ago in the round of 32, a 2-1 loss at eventual champion Orlando City. Cavan, the youngest sibling, might make his debut on Wednesday when the Union host Indy Eleven of the second-tier USL Championship at Subaru Park (7:30 p.m., Paramount+).

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One can, of course, write about the game’s matchups, tactics, and all that. Indy’s squad has two players with Union ties, academy product Ben Ofeimu at centerback and 2014 third-round draft pick Aodhan Quinn in midfield.

But the story of the Sullivans is too good not to spotlight. And though neither Quinn nor Cavan was alive when their father hung up his cleats, history matters to them.

“That’s pretty cool to know,” Quinn said. He admitted he hadn’t heard much about Brendan and Larry competing in the Open Cup before but was happy to learn of it. He was more familiar with his cousin, Chris Albright, who played in five Open Cups and won one with the Los Angeles Galaxy in 2005.

More important for the present, he recalled watching the Union’s loss in the 2015 Open Cup final from the stands at Subaru Park.

“Obviously, we know what the competition holds,” Sullivan said. “It’s another chance at a trophy, and something that the fans get behind and want to win just as much as we do.”

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Though Cavan Sullivan is just 15, he appreciates soccer history and the scale of the family’s Open Cup tradition.

“It is pretty cool to see that my dad and his father, my grandpa, played in the tournament,” he said. “It just means I’m carrying the tradition down. Hopefully, my future kids will play in it, and, yeah, I want to be successful. … Just making that run is pretty special for the family, and hopefully my generation can be the one that wins it.”

So much of the buzz around Sullivan relates to the future, for him and American soccer as a whole. But history is his favorite subject in school, helped by Brendan being a history teacher at the Union’s high school.

One of Cavan’s history teachers there, Mark Franek, is writing a book on American soccer history. The young Sullivan and goalkeeping legend Tim Howard will add forewords before publication next May.

“History has always been appealing to me,” Cavan said. “It’s interesting seeing how far we’ve come. The future is pretty exciting for this country — we do talk about it on social media a lot — but I think we can really show that the stigma of U.S. soccer being behind other countries can finally go away in the future.”

Teaching the sport’s history to fans also helps break that stigma. And after 111 years, spotlighting the U.S. Open Cup remains one of the best ways to do it.