|
 Jukey
Nanoski started playing soccer when he was 12 years old,
only the soccer ball he used back in the 1930’s looked a lot
different than the soccer balls of today - it was smaller,
thicker, and brown - resembling a handball.
After playing for Stetson High
School, Jukey went on to play for the Kensington Blue Bells, one
of the top amateur teams in the Philadelphia area, and then
played in Brooklyn for the St. Mary’s Celtic of the American
Soccer League. Jukey says that his
best moment in soccer came in 1939 when Celtic played Chicago
for the National Open Cup and he had three of the five goals in
the two-game final series. Today, Jukey still lives outside of
Philadelphia and works
 in landscaping. He was inducted into the
Hall of Fame in the same year as Pelé, a man who, according to
Jukey, “likes a couple glasses of wine … ”
The title of this series is
“Where Are They Now,” so that’s where we’ll begin today. Where
are you living and what are you doing now?
I live on Richton Road in
Philadelphia, in a suburb called Parkwood. I’m retired now, but
I do a lot of landscaping. Yesterday I worked down at my
granddaughter’s house.
Do you still get out to play or
watch any soccer? How involved are you in the game nowadays?
I go regularly to the girls and boys
games in the youth leagues. I also watch the Philadelphia Soccer
Club, they’re an amateur team in Philly. They have a field over
on the Boulevard. If I get a chance, I like to watch pro soccer
for something to do. I like it, but they’re too fast for me
sometimes.
Back in your playing days, could
you ever have imagined you’d one day be inducted into the Soccer
Hall of Fame? Can you describe your career?
 Well, I started kicking the ball
when I was 12 or 13 years old. I went to Stetson High School,
and kicked a wooden ball around with my friends. I belonged to
the Philadelphia Athletic Club, and from there I got onto the
playground at the recreation centers and played some soccer. I
played at 5th and Westmoreland, it was called the Westmoreland
Rec Center. I played on a U-16 team for one year, and we won the
division. After that, I made a third-division amateur team, the
Kensington Quoit club. I played there, and we won the third and
second division. Then I got asked to play with the
Kensington Blue Bells, the best team in the city. I got three
bucks a game. Well, if you won, you got three dollars. A tie was
two dollars and a loss was one dollar (laughs). In 1938, we won
the Pennsylvania league championship. After the game, we were at
the club and after a couple of beers someone asked me if I would
like to play for Brooklyn. I played on the Brooklyn Celtics
and did pretty well there. I led the ASL in goals. We won the
National Championship in 1938 and 1939. I played all over the
country with them. I was the leading goal scorer in 1942 and
1947. Oh, and with the Blue Bells, I had 54 goals in one year. I
had a lot of good friends making a lot of good passes for that
to happen. I also belong to the Philadelphia
Soccer Hall of Fame. I’ve lived in Philadelphia ever since. I
was inducted into the National Hall the same year as Pele. He’s
a good guy. He liked to drink a couple of wines. It was fun.
How are your friends and family
members involved in soccer, if at all?
My son used to play, but he passed
away. He also umpired for baseball and softball, and he was a
soccer ref. His name was Michael. My grandson played soccer but
he’s working now. He played with a team called the Lighthouse.
What were some of your greatest
moments while playing soccer?
The greatest thrill I ever got was
when we played Chicago in Sparta Stadium for the 1939
Championship. Back then, we had a two game final, one in each
hometown stadium. We were lucky to beat them 1-0 in Chicago, and
I scored the goal. Back in New York, we played in Starlight
Park, and we beat them 4-1. I got two goals in that game. So I
had three of our five goals in the Cup that year. I also belong to the Old Timer’s
Hall of Fame. The group helps out young kids. We make big
donations to the associations and leagues all of the time.
- June 2004 -
Where
Are They Now
Jill Beauchesne of the the U.S.
National Soccer Team Player Association and the on-line journal
Round Not Oval reports her conversation with Hall of Famers in
our newest feature. |
