New York Olympic Athletic Club football team

Last updated

The New York Olympic Athletic Club football team was an early semi-professional football team based in New York City. The team was founded by club owner, Roderick McMahon and is best remembered for playing in the 1903 World Series of Football. During the series, the Olympic A.C. defeated the Knickerbocker Athletic Club by a hard-fought score of 6-0 at Madison Square Garden.

Related Research Articles

Below is a list of professional football Championship Games in the United States, involving:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olympic Club</span> Athletic club and golf club in San Francisco

The Olympic Club is an athletic club and private social club in San Francisco, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Warner (American football)</span> American football player and coach (1881–1944)

William Jay Warner was an American football player and coach. Warner graduated from Cornell University in 1903 and was a member of the Sphinx Head Society. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1971.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">R. R. Brown</span>

Robert Roswell "Buster" Brown was an American football player, coach of football, basketball, and baseball, and college athletics administrator. After playing college football at Dartmouth College, he coached football teams at Virginia Tech, North Carolina, Washington and Lee, and Tulane. In 1910, he moved to Roswell, New Mexico, where he served for more than 25 years as the football coach and athletic director at the New Mexico Military Institute.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank "Buck" O'Neill</span> American football player and coach

Frank J. "Buck" O'Neill was an American football player and coach. He served as head football coach at Colgate University, Williams College (1903), Syracuse University, and Columbia University (1920–1922), compiling a career college football coaching record of 87–45–9. O’Neill was a two-sport athlete at Williams College where he played football and ran track. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1951.

The Latrobe Athletic Association was a professional football team located in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, from 1895 until 1909. A member of the unofficial Western Pennsylvania Professional Football Circuit, the team is best known for being the first football club to play a full season while composed entirely of professional players. In 1895, team's quarterback, John Brallier, also became the first football player to openly turn professional, by accepting $10 and expenses to play for Latrobe against the Jeannette Athletic Club.

The Philadelphia Phillies were a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1902. The team was a member of what was referred to as the National Football League—not to be confused with the National Football League of today. The whole league was a curious mixture of football players as well as baseball players who adapted to playing football. The Phillies were owned and financed by baseball's Philadelphia Phillies just as the owners of the Philadelphia Athletics financed their team, the Philadelphia Athletics. The Pittsburgh Stars made up the third team and was suspected of being financed by the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team.

The World Series of Football was a series of football games played indoors at New York City's Madison Square Garden in 1902 and 1903. It originally comprised five teams, four from the state of New York and one from New Jersey. While none of the teams were really considered the best in the country, historians refer to the affair as a "World Series". However, it was hardly a series in the sense of two strong teams playing each other over several games. In fact, no team played another more than once and the team pairings were also considered odd. Under the 1902 system, the anticipated second-place team was automatically swept into the championship game without even playing a down while the expected first-place finisher had to fight its way through the brackets, effectively creating a cross between a traditional tournament and a "gauntlet-style" tournament for the first-place team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blondy Wallace</span> American football player and coach

Charles Edgar "Blondy" Wallace was an early professional football player and later convicted criminal during the Prohibition Era. He was a 240-pound, former Walter Camp second-team All-American tackle from the University of Pennsylvania. He also played two years at Peddie Institute, in New Jersey, winning state championships in 1896 and 1897. During his professional playing career he was involved in almost every major event in professional football between 1902 and 1907. Over that timespan he played for the independent Philadelphia Athletic Club, the Philadelphia Athletics of the first National Football League, the "New York" team and the Syracuse Athletic Club in the 1902 World Series of Football, the Franklin Athletic Club and the Canton Bulldogs of the Ohio League. In 2022, he was named one of the 10 inaugural members for the Football Learning Academy's Hall of Honor, which looks to acknowledge deserving icons that are not currently inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The Franklin Athletic Club was an early professional football team based in Franklin, Pennsylvania. It was considered the top team in professional football in 1903, by becoming the US Football Champions and winning the 1903 World Series of Football, held after the 1903 season, at New York's Madison Square Garden. The team was also the rivals to the nearby Oil City Athletic Club.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madison Square Garden (1890)</span> Former arena in Manhattan, New York

Madison Square Garden (1890–1926) was an indoor arena in New York City, the second by that name, and the second and last to be located at 26th Street and Madison Avenue in Manhattan. Opened in 1890 at the cost of about $500,000, it replaced the first Madison Square Garden, and hosted numerous events, including boxing matches, orchestral performances, light operas and romantic comedies, the annual French Ball, both the Barnum and the Ringling circuses, and the 1924 Democratic National Convention, which nominated John W. Davis after 103 ballots. The building closed in 1925, and was replaced by the third Madison Square Garden at Eighth Avenue and 50th Street, which was the first to be located away from Madison Square.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Roller</span> American football player, professional wrestler and physician (1876 – 1933)

Benjamin Franklin Roller was an American physician, a professional wrestler and a football player.

"New York" was a professional football team formed by promoter Tom O'Rouke for the World Series of Football in 1902. The event was held in New York City at Madison Square Garden. It featured five football teams from New York and New Jersey: the Syracuse Athletic Club, Orange Athletic Club, Knickerbocker Athletic Club, Warslow Athletic Club and "New York". The "New York" team was designed and heavily favored to win the tournament. However, they were defeated in the opening game by Syracuse.

Hawley Pierce was an early professional football player for the Philadelphia Athletics of the first National Football League and later for the Syracuse Athletic Club during the 1902 and 1903 World Series of Football. In 1901, he began his professional career playing on the 1901 Homestead Library & Athletic Club football team. Prior to his professional career, Pierce, a Seneca Native American, played for the Carlisle Indian School, located in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He was the brother of college and professional football's Bemus Pierce.

The Knickerbocker Athletic Club was an early amateur and later professional football team based in Manhattan, New York City from around 1897 until 1902. The team is best known for participating in the 1902 World Series of Football. During the event, the Knickerbockers defeated the Warslow Athletic Club from Long Island by a score of 11-6. However, the Knickerbockers were defeated by the Syracuse Athletic Club, 36-0, on New Year's Eve. During the 1903 World Series of Football, the Olympic Athletic Club defeated Knickerbockers 6-0, on December 14, 1903.

The Oreos Athletic Club or Ashbury Oreos were an early professional American football team, established in 1903, and based in Asbury Park, New Jersey. The team is best remembered for playing in the 1903 World Series of Football at Madison Square Garden. During the Series, the Oreos played against the Watertown Red & Black in a hard-fought 5–0 loss. The team lost another game during the event to the Orange Athletic Club by a score of 22–0. According to reports, Watertown won the game on a controversial touchdown call, by the referee, in the second half of the game. Fighting and rioting soon broke out between the Oreos and Watertown fans, before being contained by the New York Police Department.

The Watertown Red & Black is a semi-professional American football team based in Watertown, New York. The team is the oldest active semi-pro football team in the United States, and can trace its history to 1896, although the Professional Football Researchers Association (PFRA) claimed it was founded as an Athletic Club in 1899. Because of this, the team has the most wins (565), losses (268), ties (43) and games played (876) of any semi-professional team; their overall win percentage is .670.

American football in Western Pennsylvania, featuring the city of Pittsburgh and surrounding areas, has had a long and storied history, dating back to the early days of the sport. All levels of football, including high school football and college football, are followed passionately, and the area's National Football League (NFL) team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, is consistently one of the sport's most popular teams. Many of the NFL's top stars have come from the region as well, especially those that play quarterback, earning Western Pennsylvania the nickname "Cradle of Quarterbacks".

H. A.BullDavidson was an early professional American football player for Philadelphia Football Athletics of the 1902 National Football League. He later played in the World Series of Football in 1902 and 1903, held both times at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In 1902, he played for a team simply known as "New York", which comprised ex-players from the recently defunct Philadelphia Football Phillies and Philadelphia Football Athletics of the 1902 National Football League. The following year, he played for the Franklin Athletic Club, which was considered the top team in professional football in 1903 by becoming the unofficial "US Football Champions". Franklin then went on to play in the 1903 World Series of Football, winning the event.

The Western Pennsylvania Professional Football Circuit was a loose association of American football clubs that operated from 1890 to approximately 1940. Originally amateur, professionalism was introduced to the circuit in 1892; cost pressures pushed the circuit to semi-professional status from about 1920 through the rest of its existence. Existing in some form for 48 years, it was one of the longest-lived paying football loops to operate outside the auspices of the National Football League.

References