The National Association Football League (also spelled National Association Foot Ball League) (NAFBL) was a semi-professional U.S. soccer league which operated between 1895 and 1898. The league was reconstituted in 1906 and continued to operate until 1921.
In April 1895, the NAFBL began operation as the third significant U.S. soccer league. It drew its teams primarily from northern New Jersey and New York City. Few records exist for the league, but the teams and standings for four of the five seasons do exist. After its first spring-summer season in 1895, the NAFBL moved to a winter schedule in the fall of 1895.On December 16, 1895, the NAFBL opened its second season with a game pitting the Kearny Scottish-Americans and the International Athletic Club.[1] In 1899, a deep recession, accompanied by the Spanish-American War led to the collapse of several athletic leagues and teams, among them the NAFBL. In 1906 the league was revived and continued in operation until 1921. That year, several of the top NAFBL teams, frustrated by the amateur/semi-professional nature of the league, joined with other top North Atlantic U.S. teams to form the first fully professional U.S. soccer league, the American Soccer League.
| Year | Winner | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|
| 1895 | Centreville A.C. | Kearny Scots |
| 1895-1896 | No Records | |
| 1896-1897 | Centreville A.C. | Brooklyn Wanderers |
| 1897-1898 | Paterson True Blues | Kearny Scots |
| 1898-1899 | Paterson True Blues | Kearny Arlington |
| Year | Winner | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|
| 1906-1907 | West Hudson A.A. | Kearny Scots |
| 1907-1908 | Newark F.C. | Paterson Rangers |
| 1908-1909 | East Newark Clark A.A. West Hudson A.A. | |
| 1909-1910 | West Hudson A.A. | Jersey A.C. |
| 1910-1911 | Jersey A.C. | Paterson Wilberforce |
| 1911-1912 | West Hudson A.A. | Paterson Wilberforce |
| 1912-1913 | West Hudson A.A. | Paterson True Blues |
| 1913-1914 | Brooklyn Field Club | West Hudson A.A. |
| 1914-1915 | West Hudson A.A. | Jersey A.C. |
| 1915-1916 | Harrison Alley Boys | Kearny Scots |
| 1916-1917 | Jersey A.C. | Kearny Scots |
| 1917-1918 | Paterson F.C. | Bethlehem Steel F.C. |
| 1918-1919 | Bethlehem Steel F.C. | Philadelphia Merchant Ship |
| 1919-1920 | Bethlehem Steel F.C. | Kearny Erie |
| 1920-1921 | Bethlehem Steel F.C. | New York F.C. |