Clark ONT

The Clark Company, founded in Paisley Scotland, expanded into East Newark in 1875. The company became famous for its thread, which was specifically developed to work well with then-new sewing machines. Along with the new 'thread technology' this new factory brought many scottish immigrants to the area creating a large Scottish population. And this new population brought soccer to the area.

It is not surprising that the first great soccer team in Kearny history, arguably the United States' first national soccer champion, was sponsored by the Clark Thread Company. That team was ONT, initials that stood for Our New Thread, a product whose name was a cornerstone of Clark's marketing efforts far into the 20th century.

ONT played its home games on the east side of the Passaic river at Clark Field, an open area about a block from the river that is now the site of Tops Diner but was still in use for various athletic activities as recently as the 1960s. The field was located in what has since 1895 been the borough of East Newark. In the 1880s, it was still part of Kearny, although the neighborhood was already known as East Newark.

In 1885, the United States played Canada at Clark Field in the first full international game ever played outside the British Isles. This game, on Nov. 28, 1885, is not today recognized by the United States Soccer Federation has having been a full international, because it was played before the formation of the USSF (originally called the United States Football Association) in 1913.  

Celebrate this history with this shirt featuring the ONT logo on a comfort-fitting black tee.