BOOK PREVIEW: MUD, BLOOD & STUDS BY JAMES BROWN

[Note: Here, below, my good friend James Brown provides a synopsis of his newly published book, Mud, Blood and Studs, One Family's Legacy in Soccer and Rugby Across Three Continents. Primarily a story about his grandfather and fathers footballing legacy its much more than that. Its an ode to an extraordinary family of sporting talent.

I've been collaborating with James for a few years now and he gives me some credit in helping him with his research for his book, specifically around the 1930 US team but its perhaps more credit than I deserve but thats James for you, very kind and humble and one of the most generous people I have ever met. - Dean Lockyer, World Cup 1930 Project]

 

 

I embarked on this adventure some 6 long years ago. At year 5, I met my good friend Dean, and he was already deep entrenched by the mystique of the 1930 World Cup since years. I was eager to find out about the careers that I grew up hearing stories about. I needed to see photos, articles, programmes. Whatever I could. I had just jumped in with both feet, searching worldwide everywhere I could to find out information on every member of my sporting family over 3 different generations of football and rugby players: libraries in Bayonne and Plainfield, New Jersey; online archives & British Newspaper sources; English & Scottish Premiership & other league clubs like Plainfield Soccer Club, Bayonne Rovers, Newark Skeeters, NY Giants, Brooklyn Wanderers, Newark Americans, Newark City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, Brentford, Guildford City, Clyde, Ipswich Town, Glenburn Rovers, Shawfield, Clyde, Hibernian, Dundee, Dreghorn Juniors, Kilmarnock, Troon Athletic, Partick Thistle, Chester, Swindon Town, Lovell's Athletic, Distillery (N. Ireland) and national junior and senior team sides in the United States, England and Scotland. Then over to the rugby side of the Brown and Lambie families with Jonsson College Rovers, West of Scotland, Natal, Sharks, Guy's, Kings and St. Thomas' Rugby Football Club, Sharks, Racing 92, Gala, Western Province, Marr College FP, Glasgow District, England, Scotland, South Africa Springboks, British and Irish Lions…That’s an extensive and proud list. 

6 years-worth - a mountain of research articles, documents, photos, books, etc. 

Family letters, photos and albums, interviews, memories and recollections were essential to collect, arrange and weave into this story that I spent 6 fantastic years working on. Along the way, I’ve made wonderful friendships throughout the world on all continents with soccer geeks, kindred spirit,  passionate men and women for all walks of life – but all linked to association foot-ball, soccer, football, etc – to The Beautiful Game. While I went on a search for any online references or through collections, online sales – I stumbled upon a podcast where a roundtable was taking place, talking about early US soccer and that’s when I first heard Tom McCabe and David Kilpatrick, both professors at the time in the NY/NJ area. David was talking about players’ rights and that he had a paper somewhere in his neatly organized mess of an office! And that is was about the NY Giants in 1930 having gone on strike because of pay concerns and that a young lad by the name of James Brown was the only player on the team who didn’t agree with the settled amount.  

To learn more about America’s rich soccer history, go to The Society for American Soccer History

I quickly made contact with both of them and from there, learned more about The Society for American Soccer History (S.A.S.H) and their efforts to revitalize, correct, do more research and help to educate those who wanted to know about US soccer’s rich history dating back to the 1880s. The other major reason for diving into US soccer history was coming across SASH member, Zach Bigalke’s PhD thesis called, “Anything but Ringers”, a deep analysis about the soccer lanscape in the 1920s building up to the 1930 World Cup and the US Men’s National Team with my grandfather being one of those players. The thought was that since the US was not a big player on the recent international stage (2 dismal showing at the Olympic Games 1924 and 1928) and not getting out of the pool rounds. Their run in the 1930 World Cup that got them out of the pool stage at the top of the table with 2 cleansheet wins against Belgium and Paraguay to the semis and ending with a crushing, unjust loss to Argentina, was acccentuated with suspicions because of USMNT’s drastic change in performance and british accents. Hence, federations and reporters thought the US bought their way to 3rd place, when in fact, the US players with Scottish and English origins had actually lived in the US since their teens, with my grandfather being the last immigrant to join the team when he moved to the US in 1927. Their accents always remained. You can take a man out of Scotland but you can never take Scotland out of the man!   

I must confess that once soccer moved into color from a photography perspective, I kind of stopped being interested, so from 1960 onwards! My main focus is from 1920s to the end of the 1950s. It was a period where sandlots were the main recruiting terraces and strong waves of immigration helped bolster leagues, especially on the East Coast. Balls were made of heavy leather and laced up causing a bump and often inflicting damage when heading, even-more-so when it rained the ball became a medicine ball waiting to send you to the emergency room or asylum for an early retirement – just ask Wee Willie! Boots were tough, heavy and felt like today’s security steel-toed boots.  You had to be tough, determined and ready to win at all costs back then. With S.A.S.H, I find so much joy in helping individuals or historical soccer societies find out more about their past players or relatives who played in the 1920s, ‘30s, etc or journalists who need some help gathering more info for a story.  

I’ve worked with people from North and South America to EU (Western & Eastern Europe), UK, South Africa and North Africa I’ve found my stride in researching backgrounds of players and I get such a rush from unraveling that little bit of info, photo etc that completes the puzzle of one’s career back in the day. Roger Alaway, the foremost US soccer historian recently referred to me as the Sherlock Holmes of Soccer! That’s a compliment that I can run with and I feel so fortunate to have kindred spirit in the soccer history world. Dean does some of the most in-depth analysis of the 1930 World Cup overall, and I’m astounded by what he finds and posts every week on Twitter and on his blog. I owe so much of what I know today because of him and it’s great to collaborate with him.  Whenever I send him an email with an item or tidbit I’ve come across, I always start off saying “you probably already have this…” and 9 times out of 10 he already had it!  

James with son, Aidan, in Paris, 2019

So, what started off as a pure family tree set of papers that I wanted to assemble for my son, Aidan so that he knew where he came from, from a sporting perspective, turned into something bigger, better and gave me a new focus in life. He now has a definitive look at the paternal side of the Brown. Soccer has always been in my blood and I’m just so happy to be able to share my love for the the Beautiful Game with you all and collaborate, exchange ideas and help resolve those mysteries from early periods of soccer. The main challenge in the US is finding family’s of former players to see what was passed down; see the state of preservation and help the family understand what their options are for the collection and then organize with museums, private collectors, universities, etc. 

In any event, I look forward working on 2 more books about the USMNT for 2026 and am so happy to be able to give back to a sport that I cherish so! 

You can buy the book in hardcover or Ebook - Kindle - through the following distribution points

UK – delivery already started since Sept. 1

https://www.pitchpublishing.co.uk/shop/mud-blood-and-studs

North & South America – Amazon.com (Delivery starts Dec. 1, 2022) 

Amazon.com

If you need any research help about soccer teams, clubs, players, federations – don’t hesitate to contact me on Twitter @ 1930WorldCup or by email at robyburns@hotmail.com. Of course, Dean is always keen as well digging for 1930 World Cup research, especially when relatives of players from that World Cup contact us. 

Five Facts You May Not Know About The 1930 World Cup - Part 9

 @WC1930blogger

1. The Romanian team formed a choir among the players while on their travels to Montevideo. During the train journey through Italy they impressed the Italian passengers with a rendition of 'Giovinezza' the official anthem of Mussolini's National Fascist Party.

2. During Brazil's first training session at the Pocitos stadium one of their footballs was kicked over the wire fence and had fallen into the wasteland, where some local boys grabbed it and disappeared, before any them could reach it. Given that the ball was of little value, and the difficulty of identification in a working class neighborhood, delegation chief Afranio Costa resigned himself to the loss. As there were, however, a lot of people around the camp, he was very upset that no one helped. Days later, to the Brazilians great surprise, the ball appeared at their Hotel, sent by the chief of police, who in an attentive letter told us that he had learned of the fact by people who attended the incident, had ordered a rigorous search in the immediate vicinity, where they seized the ball for its return.

3. On the outskirts of the city of Montevideo after 6 pm stood many store fronts where could be found queues of men awaiting their turn outside the brothels in what was considered controlled prostitution. To the surprise of the leaders of the Yugoslav delegation they witnessed some of their players in the queue. Not wanting to cause a scene they waited until the next day to warn the team about the dangers of such proclivities.

4. During the Brazil vs. Bolivia match, French referee Georges Balvay stopped the game in the 8th minute unable to distinguish between the white shirts that both teams wore. The Bolivians changed into the sky blue jerseys of the Uruguayan national team. However, the talents of the Olympic champions did not rub off on the men from the Andean nation as they lost 4-0.

5. In the 77th minute of the Paraguay vs Belgium game, Lino Nessi, forward for the South American team clashed with the goal post when he tried to go for a rebound ball after a save from Belgian keeper Badjou. Knocked unconscious there were grave concerns for his health as he was led to the infirmary.

Five Facts You May Not Know About The 1930 World Cup - Part 8

1. Liverpool-born George Moorhouse, US left-back, attempted to sign England & Everton star forward Dixie Dean for his club the New York Giants while on a trip back home in 1928.

2.  Bolivian player Lieutenant Luis Reyes Penaranda was denied entry to Uruguay at the port of Buenos Aires on July 10th, due to issues regarding his visa. His four days travel by train from Bolivia had all been in vain. Denied playing for his country he brought honour to his homeland by fighting bravely during the Chaco War with Paraguay.

3. Several members of the Paraguayan squad arrived in Uruguay on the 13th July, the opening day of the World Cup. They had been on tour in  Peru and Chile with their club Olimpia. Paraguay would play their first game on 17 July, a 3-0 loss to the USA.

4. Brazil arrived in Uruguay with a team almost entirely made of Rio based players. This was due to a dispute with the Sao Paulo Federation who refused to send their players. After Brazil lost to Yugoslavia, it was reported in a Rio newspaper that the citizens of Sao Paulo rejoiced in their nation's defeat. This had been witnessed by the coach of Argentine team Huracan which was touring the city.

5. During the semi-final Uruguay were awarded a controversial goal against Yugoslavia. The Brazilian referee Rego had failed to see that a Police officer had kicked the ball back in to play from which the host proceeded to score. Yugoslav player Milorad Arsenijević assailed the gendarme and shook him by the throat. Later he was surrounded by police who tried to obtain his arrest.

Match Report - Brazil vs Bolivia; Paraguay vs Belgium (English translation from La Nacion)

@WC1930blogger

This match report covers the two games that were played one after the other on the 20th July between Brazil-Bolivia and Paraguay-Belgium at the Estadio Centenario.

Written by an anonymous reporter (most likely South American) working for cable news agency this clipping was published in the Madrid based La Nacion (21 July 1930). You can the read original report here.

All contributions are welcome to help improve the translation of this report which was interpreted via google.

Note: There are discrepancies with the spelling with some of the players' names and the identity of the goalscorers.

FutRetrô da Copa

Foi em 20 de Julho de 1930, que o Brasil conseguiu a sua primeira vitória em Copas do Mundo. Venceu a Bolívia por 4 a 0 no Estádio Centenário.

Os gols foram de Moderato 27,73, Preguinho 58 e 83... pic.twitter.com/fY7lQM9ZNH

— Luiz Otavio Oliveira📝⚽📷 (@lotaviooliveira) July 20, 2018

Brazil and Paraguay were the winners yesterday

MONTEVIDEO 21.-Yesterday, Sunday, two games were played for the world soccer championship, between the teams of Brazil and Bolivia and those of Paraguay and Belgium.

In the first game, the Brazilians won by four goals to one. Paraguay was the winner over Belgium, by a little to zero. (Associated Press.)

The superiority of Brazil

MONTEVIDEO 21.-In the first half of the game played between the teams of Brazil and Bolivia passed without great interest, although the Brazilians showed from the first moment to have a greater technique than their enemies.

Minutes after the game started, it was noted that the public was confused about the players that belonged to each team, because of the equality of the shirts, which were white for all players. In view of this, the match was interrupted, so that the Bolivians could change their uniforms. When they returned to the field they wore the blue jersey of the Uruguayan teams. The public, seeing the Bolivians appear dressed in such fashion, burst into a standing ovation.

Resumed the game, the game continued to develop without plays of great interest. Twenty-seven minutes into the first half, the Brazilian player Reco scored the first goal of the match.

The first half ended with a goal by the Brazilians, against their opponents.

🇧🇷 Moderato (1930)

Marcó sus 2 únicos goles a Bolívia en la fase grupos. Nacido en Alegrete y fallecido en Pelotas (al revés que el resto de humanos) jugó con el Flamengo días después de ser operado de apendicitis. Todavía llevaba los puntos puestos. Ahí nació su leyenda. pic.twitter.com/2Ax5efVhmc

— Cascarino (@cascarinos_) July 12, 2018

The Brazilians showed more dominance and technique throughout the game than the Bolivians, a domain that grew as the game went on, despite the enthusiasm shown by the Bolivian players. Coelhonetto played magnificently, proving to be the most effective striker of the Brazilian team, marking the second and third goal in favour of his team. The fourth goal of the Brazilians was marked by Wisintainer. The match ended with the victory of the Brazilian team, by four goals to one.

The match was attended by some fifteen thousand people. The weather (*) somewhat tarnished the game, it was dishevelled and cold .- (Associated Press.)

*Thank you to Ken Knight for this correction. See comments below.

Paraguayans and Belgians, bored.

MONTEVIDEO 21.-The second match of the afternoon was held between the teams of Paraguay and Belgium. The Paraguayan team lined up in the following way: Benítez; Flores, Olmedo; Benítez, Diaz, Garcete; Nessi, Romero González, Benítez Cáceres and Vargas Peña.

The Belgian team was composed of Badjón; Hoydonck, Dedecken; Braine, Hallemans, Moesenbal; Versyp, Delbeque, Nowens, Adams and Diden.

The Belgians started the first half with repeated attacks against the Paraguayan goal, whose defence acted well. However, shortly thereafter, midway through the second half, the forces remained balanced, after which a reaction was observed by the Paraguayan team, which twice put the Belgian gate in imminent danger.

The right wing of the Paraguayan team Nessi, at the moment of trying to score a goal, was given, driven by the impulse, a violent blow to the head against the post, falling to the ground vanished. The Paraguayans continued the game with only ten players on the field.

The public showed little interest in the game, withdrawing much of the competition before the end. The match ended with the victory of the Paraguayans by a goal against zero.

The only goal of the match was scored by Benítez Cáceres, thirty-seven minutes after the first half had started.

Although the Paraguay-Belgium party aroused little enthusiasm, it has been considered as a technical demonstration .- (Associated Press.)

#MundialesFIFA Belgica vs Paraguay en #Uruguay1930 / Ese dia los guaraníes ganaron 1-0. (Montevideo 20-07-1930). pic.twitter.com/fAdxX0Ln7Y

— Andrés Barinas (@AndresBarinas18) October 22, 2013

Match Report - United States vs Paraguay (English translation from El Sol)

@WC1930blogger

This is the English translation of the match report that appeared in the 18th July issue of Spanish newspaper, El Sol, from 1930 of the United States vs Paraguay game that was played at the Estadio Gran Parque Central, home of Montevideo based team, Club Nacional, that was played after the Yugoslav-Bolivia game on the 17th July.

The author of the article is anonymous but was written by a journalist working for Associated Press and is most likely a South American reporter on location in Uruguay.

Google was used to translate this document and is, therefore, subject to possible errors that would be better crafted by a professional translator. Spanish speakers are welcome to offer their opinions to help improve the text. You can read the original report here.

This game is regarded by Fifa as the match where Bert Patenaude scored the first World Cup hattrick. However, this article lists the American goalscorers as Goncalves (2 goals) and Florie. But there are many reasons to believe this is incorrect. For instance, the players did not wear numbered shirts and many of these players were unfamiliar to the South American press corp. Mistaken identity was common.

For further reading on the Bert Patenaude hattrick and the evidence to support it check out these previous articles:

Bert Patenaude and the First World Cup Hat-trick

Bert Patenaude and the First World Cup Hat-trick - Part Two

Bert Patenaude and the First World Cup Hat-trick - Part Three 

The Paraguay team prior to their World Cup match v the USA at the 1930 World Cup. ©Getty Images pic.twitter.com/mC2IfzTicO

— The Antique Football (@AntiqueFootball) June 5, 2014

How the Americans won.

MONTEVIDEO 17 (12 n.). In the match between Paraguayans and North Americans, the latter begins by opening an intense offensive and rejecting the counter-attacks carried out by the Paraguayan vanguard. In this first half, the American interior right Goncalves manages to score two goals for his team, without the Paraguayan goalkeeper can do anything to stop them.

Young fans watch US @ussoccer beat Paraguay @Albirroja 3-0 at the Parque Central @clubnacional on 17 July 1930 @FIFAWorldCup @1930WorldCup pic.twitter.com/8LOKgavqhF

— worldcup1930project (@WC1930blogger) September 10, 2017

In the second half, the dominance of the North American team is complete, except on rare occasions when the Paraguayan players manage to take the game to the ground of their opponents. The superiority of the North American team is accentuated more and more and in many occasions it manages to overflow the Paraguayan defence, developing a brilliant game and scoring a third goal, executed by Florie.

⚽️ #HistoriaMundiales #Rusia2018 #DatoGEB

URUGUAY 1930

El estadounidense Bert Patenaude se convirtió en el primer jugador que anota 3 goles en un mismo encuentro, se los hizo a Paraguay a los minutos 10, 15 y 50, en juego que terminó 3-0. pic.twitter.com/NrrWrOuH9s

— GEBDeportes (@GEBDeportes) May 27, 2018

Throughout the match, the Paraguayans have been powerless to contain the rapid attacks of the Americans, who have played with an admirable cohesion. As in the previous performances of this team, the public has been favorable to their opponents; but it is especially in this case that today's defeat eliminates the Paraguayans from the fight for the title of world champion, and also because the Paraguayan players have defeated the previous Uruguayan team in the South American championship, which constitutes a forecast unfavorable for the picture of Uruguay. (Associated Press.)

1er partido en la historia Paraguay-EEUU, Mundial 1930. Derrota de Py 3-0, dirigidos por Durand Laguna y capitaneado por Luis Vargas Peña. pic.twitter.com/gb1EEX8yLz

— Gianlucca Barni (@LucasBarni) March 27, 2018

The American role, on the rise

MONTEVIDEO 17 (12 n.). The victory obtained by the Americans over the Paraguayans, after an easy match, increases the impression existing in the public regarding the Yankees' chances in this world competition. (Associated Press.)

Soccernostalgia Podcast Part 2 - Peru, Paraguay, Romania, France & Brazil

@WC1930blogger

This is part two of a three-part podcast I did with Shahan Petrossian from the Soccernostalgia blog on the subject of the first World Cup. You can get a summary and link to part one here. In this episode, we discuss the national teams of Peru, Paraguay, Romania, France and Brazil.

Summary

Beginning with Peru, we discuss the career of their Spanish coach, Francisco ‘Paco’ Bru, as well as his demands to have control of the selection process. We then move onto the team's training and travelling itinerary to Uruguay before a larger discussion of the role of race and class in Peruvian football in this period. We conclude with a discussion and analysis of the team performances against Romania and Uruguay.

We then briefly talk about Paraguay, and like Bolivia, there is very little contemporary documentation about the teams' preparation and secondary sources are also scarce. We touch upon the career of their Argentinian coach, Jose Duran Laguna, and discuss their performance at the 1929 Copa America which raised expectation upon the team in Uruguay. We then discuss their disappointing defeat against the United States as well as their narrow win over the Belgians.

We then turn our attention to Romania as we try to determine exactly the role played by the country’s monarch, King Carol, who is largely credited with the Balkan country’s participation in the first World Cup. How much of it is actually true as their appears different variations of the story? We then briefly analyse their performances against Peru and Uruguay, as some of it had been previously covered in the Peru section of this episode.

Next, we focus on the French and how Jules Rimet struggled to convince the French Football Federation to make the trip to Uruguay. There are references to some anecdotal stories from members of the delegation in their reports home. We learn how they performed admirably in their three matches and how perhaps the tournament schedule took a toll on the fitness of the team. Then there is a focus on the life and times of the French captain, Alex Villaplane, and his ultimate decline into criminality and collaboration with Nazi’s and his eventual execution by the French resistance in 1944.

In concluding this episode we focus on the Brazilians. We take a look at the controversy around the selection process which manifested in the rivalry among the footballing authorities of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. This resulted in the withdrawal of the Paulistas players from the squad. There are then some anecdotal stories around the teams travels to Uruguay before we take a look at the fall out from their shock 2-1 defeat to the Yugoslavians and their subsequent elimination from the tournament.

1930 World Cup Group 4 Paraguay - Belgium (Joefa's World Cup History)

This is a youtube video of Paraguay v Belgium by Joefa's World Cup History. This blogger helped provide photographic material for his project. Special thanks also to JC Blanc for providing material.
Go like, share and subscribe to his Youtube channel.

Read a Match Report in Spanish below:
La Nacion

1930 World Cup Group 4 USA - Paraguay (Joefa's World Cup History)

This is a youtube video of USA v Paraguay by Joefa's World Cup History. This blogger helped provide photographic material for his project. Special thanks also to JC Blanc for providing material.
Go like, share and subscribe to his Youtube channel.

Read two Match Reports, in Spanish and Portuguese below:
El Sol
A Batalha

Further reading;

Bert Patenaude and the First World Cup Hat-trick

Bert Patenaude and the First World Cup Hat-trick - Part Two

20 July 1930 - (World Cup Group 2) Brazil v Bolivia; (World Cup Group 4) Paraguay v Belgium (Match Reports in La Nacion/Madrid)

La Nacion, 21 July 1930

This article includes two match reports of Brazil v Bolivia and Paraguay v Belgium, both played on the 20th July 1930 and published in the 21st July edition of Spanish language Madrid based newspaper La Nacion.

17 July 1930 - (World Cup Group 4) USA v Paraguay (Match Report in El Sol)

El Sol, 18 July 1930

The USA versus Paraguay match report (played on the 17th July) published in the Spanish language Madrid based newspaper El Sol on the 18th July 1930.

17 July 1930 - (World Cup Group 4) USA v Paraguay (Match Report in A Batalha)

A Batalha, 18 July 1930

This article is the match report for the USA v Paraguay game played on the 17 July 1930 and published in the 18th July edition of Brazilian newspaper A Batalha.

1930 World Cup Newspapers and Magazines

Argentina's La Prensa reports the United States 3-0 victory over Paraguay. 18 July 1930

Argentina's La Nacion reports on the World Cup final, 31 July 1930

Belgrade newspaper reports on Yugoslavia's 2-1 victory against Brazil, Politika, 15 July 1930

Scenes from the World Cup, La Revista, Ano II, Number 83

A Noite, July 1930

Goal diagrams World Cup 1930

Luis Souza Ferreyra scores in Peru's 3-1 defeat to Romania, 14 July 1930

US v Paraguay, 17 July 1930

Santos Iriarte scores Uruguay's third in the World Cup final

Bert Patenaude and the First World Cup Hat-trick

World Cup 1930 - Primer Campeonato Mundial de Futbol - Copa del Mundo 1930

Recently, the The Guardian posted an article on its website telling the story of the first World Cup hat-trick scored by American Bert Patenaude. The article explains how it took many decades before Fifa gave credit to the US forward, having previously listing Argentine forward, Guillermo Stabile, as the record holder, who scored three goals against Mexico in a 6-3 victory on the 19th July 1930. It was the work of Canadian historian and journalist, Colin Jose, whose research finally convinced Fifa to correct its records.

The article is one of many that can be found online that explains the story and I will post the links below. Patenaude scored his three goals against Paraguay on 17th July 1930 two days before Stabile scored his hat-trick. The research by Colin Jose revealed that the World Cup report written by team manager, Wilfred Cummings, noted that Patenaude gathered ''three markers that crashed against the rigging.'' It was also revealed that three team-mates of Patenaude (Billy Gonsalves, Arnie Oliver and James Brown) all credited him with all three goals. Jose also found match reports in Argentina's La Prensa (18 July 1930) and a United Press report published in Brazil's O Estado de Sao Paulo (18 July 1930) that supported the eye-witness accounts.

When Patenaude scored his three goals against Paraguay in their 3-0 victory, he had scored a total of fours goals having got of the mark in the Americans 3-0 victory over Belgium on the opening day of the tournament (13th July 1930). The Americans would reach the semi-finals, losing 6-1 to Argentina with James Brown getting the sole American goal.

So why have I written this blog when so much has been written about the first World Cup hat-trick. Firstly, there can never be enough written about Patenaude, especially when he didn't receive the credit in his own lifetime. And secondly, there is more evidence to support the claim.

Rony J Almeida's book, Where the Legend Began (2006), provides a review of the contemporary  match reports in the Uruguayan press. While Almeida never gave Patenaude credit for the hat-trick in his 2006 edition, he nonetheless provides evidence to support it. He lists La Tribuna Popular giving Patenaude three goals in its report of the match. The book notes that the scoring charts published in the July 22nd, 28th and 31st (1930) editions of El Diario list the American forward with four goals to his name. Four goals are also credited to the Fall River native in the scoring charts of the July 24th and 29th publications of Montevideo's El Bien Publico.

The official report, Primer Campeonato Mundial de Football, published by the Asociacion  Uruguaya de Futbol (AUF), list the scorers as McGhee (2) and Florie, on page 53, in its match report but on its final list of scorers (page 105), Patenaude is credited with four.

If further evidenced is required, the match report in Argentina's El Litoral (17 July 1930) describes Patenaude scoring his three goals in the 9th, 14th and 51st minute of the game. In the scoring charts of another Argentinian newspaper (El Orden, 29 July 1930) four goals are marked down by the American forwards name.

And finally, in the Argentina versus Mexico match reports found in Argentina's El Litoral (19 July 1930), Brazil's Diario de Noticias (20 July 1930), Folha da Mahna (20 July 1930), O Estado de Sao Paulo (20 July 1930) and Madrid's ABC (20 July 1930), none of them mention that Stabile's hat-trick was the first of the tournament. Indeed, they don't make much fuss of him scoring three goals at all.

Maybe it wasn't considered such an achievement at the time. Perhaps thats why it took so long for Patenaude to be honoured with the prestige as the first.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.documentcloud.org/documents/2168109/usa-goal-1930.pdf

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/jul/18/bert-patenaude-usa-world-cup-hat-trick

http://www.fifa.com/world-match-centre/news/newsid/107/499/

http://www.rsssf.com/tables/30f-hattrick.html

http://www.si.com/longform/soccer-goals/goal10.html

http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/columns/story?id=5370416

http://www.heraldnews.com/article/20100709/NEWS/307099337