Fred Pepper

Becoming captain for the 1918 and 1919 campaigns, success continued until his abrupt departure in 1920. Pepper's career became somewhat volatile, signing for four amateur teams within the space of four years; all of which failed to match his record at Bethlehem.

Retirement saw him remain prominent in local sporting and steel-working culture in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, in-time becoming a corn merchant until his death in 1950.

Frederick Pepper was born in 1887, one of nine children in Netherfield, Nottinghamshire, a small town prospering from the instalment of the Ambergate, Nottingham, Boston and Eastern Junction Railway.

Playing for club Hamilton Lancashire, Pepper became Canada's Western Football Association League's leading scorer and helped secure the team's victory of the 1913 Ontario Cup alongside recurring teammate Sam Fletcher.

[10] The 1917–18 National Challenge Cup against the Fall River Rovers was subsequently won by Bethlehem Steel on 19 May after an initial match ran out of extra time at 2–2 on the 4th of that month; Pepper scored the second goal of a 3–0 victory.

[5] Moving to Brooklyn, New York in December 1920, Pepper joined amateur Tebo Yacht Basin F.C., where his successful reputation quickly earned him the captaincy of the team.

[21] Alike his time in England, Frederick was also involved in trade union business, becoming a leading member of the Steel Workers Organizing Committee (SWOC) by at least 1937; he is known to have recruited successfully, given that Bethlehem suffered particular economic depravity during the Great Depression, an event that affected public attendance to matches throughout the 1920s.