Plaque, Award
Object number2008.142.12
Date1974
Mediumwood; various metals; paint; paper
Credit LineGift of Diane Rafle
DescriptionBrown wooden award plaque. Carved soccer ball, painted black and white, protruding out of upper front center. Engraved gold metal name plate below ball has award information. Silver metal hanging loop on back, top center. Dimensions6.875 x 4.875 x 2.125 in. (17.5 x 12.4 x 5.4 cm)InscriptionsEngraved gold metal name plate below ball: "1974 / NICK DIORIO / U.S. SOCCER NATIONAL HALL OF FAME".
Historical NotesU.S. Soccer National Hall of Fame plaque awarded to Nicholas DiOrio in 1974. Nicholas DiOrio grew up in Morgan, Pennsylvania, a coal mining town near Bridgeville in southern Allegheny County. He played basketball at South Fayette High School, from where he graduated in 1939, and supposedly scored 50 points in a game. After high school he worked as a laborer at factories in Bridgeville. Later he worked for the county road maintenance department. But for 22 years, he devoted his spare time to soccer. He played for the 1939 Avella Juniors that won the national junior championship, and with a series of clubs, like Morgan Strasser, Harmarville Soccer Club, and Beadling. In the late 1940s, he played for the Pittsburgh Indians and Chicago Vikings in the short-lived North American Professional Soccer League. As member of the U.S. soccer team, he competed in the 1950 World Cup in Brazil when he was 29 years old. The U.S. team was matched against England in an early round and won in one of the biggest upsets in international soccer. He retired as a player in 1959 but continued as a player-manager, a manager, and president of the West Penn Soccer Association. Mr. DiOrio was named to the National Soccer Hall of Fame, Oneonta, New York, in 1974, and to state and regional halls of fame. He died in 2003 at the age of 82.
Previous owner
Nicholas DiOrio
(died 2003)
Related institution
Pittsburgh Indians
Related institution
South Fayette High School
Related institution
Avella Juniors
Related institution
Morgan F.C.
Related institution
Harmarville Hurricanes Soccer Club
Related institution
Beadling Soccer Club
Related institution
Chicago Vikings
Related institution
North American Professional Soccer League
Related institution
National Soccer Hall of Fame
Related institution
West Penn Soccer Association
On View
Not on view
1960
1963
1965
1963
1997
1984
1992
after 1943