AFA: American Football Association

[Gass3268]

I posted this over at AlternativeHistory.com, but didn't get much feedback. Interested to know what you guys think. I think this would be the correct board to post this. While it is a What-If/Timeline, it has nothing to do with elections.

Would love to get some feedback.

[Gass3268]

Chapter 1: Death of a Sport

Teddy Roosevelt loved American football. Even though he never played the game himself, President Roosevelt wanted to save the game. He would not only need to save the game from the likes of Charles W. Eliot, the President of Harvard University, but he would also need to save it from itself. By 1905 the game had essentially turned into a glorified bar fight. The game had few rules and the ones they had were routinely ignored. In 1905 alone 18 college and amateur players died playing the game. Something needed to change to help save the sport and President Roosevelt felt like he could bring about that change.

On October 9th, 1905, the President held a meeting with football representatives from Harvard, Princeton and Yale. He lectured the men in attendance that eliminating deaths and reducing injuries was essential for the future of the game. After some resistance, rule changes were made at a meeting of the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States which took place in New York City on December 28th, 1905. This included the outlawing of gang tackling and rugby-style mass tackling, increasing the distance to 10 yards to get a first down, the establishment of a neutral zone at the line of scrimmage and the introduction of the forward pass.

President Roosevelt helped arranged that one of the first games of the upcoming season would be between Harvard University and the United States Military Academy in Washington D.C on September 22nd, 1906. The goal was to show that the new rules would work in making the game less violent. In attendance was the President, many members of Congress and many officials from both schools. Theodore Roosevelt III was a member of the Harvard squad. The game started with marvelous results and at halftime the score was 3-0 Harvard. However in the middle of the 3rd quarter, disaster struck. All-American Daniel Hurley, a halfback for Harvard, had broken free and had a great 15 yard run. The Army defensive player that finally got to him launched at Hurley, hitting him square in the chest which resulted in Hurley being thrown back. His head whiplashed as it hit the ground which instantly snapped his neck and killed him.

The game was immediately called off. President Roosevelt realized that type of injury could happen to anyone playing the game, including his own son. The following Monday he made a public declaration that rule changes could not go far enough to clean up the game and he advocated ending the game. This gave Charles W. Eliot and his allies all the ammunition they needed. The Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States had an emergency later that week. Under a large amount of public pressure, they canceled the rest of the season and discontented the sport at the Varsity collegiate level. Rapidly many states began banning the sport and in 1907 Congress passed and President Roosevelt signed a bill that banned the game across the nation.

It took a couple years, but American Football was essentially dead by 1910. However, many former players wanted to continue to participate in sports, especially one with some physical contact. Many of these former American footballers found exactly that when they discovered another game that was called football.

Chapter 2: Genesis of the AFA

Association Football, called both football and soccer depending on who you talk to, was a distant cousin to the recently banned American football. Before Walter Camp’s rule changes that established a line of scrimmage and down regulations during the 1880’s, American football was really a hodgepodge of both association football and rugby. In fact, the first official collegiate football game between Princeton and Rutgers in 1869 involved a game where 25 men per team tried to kick a ball into an opposing team’s goal. Carrying and throwing the ball was illegal, but there was tons of tackling.

Football as we know it today officially took form in England in 1863. In a series of meetings at the end of that year, The Football Association (FA) published the “Laws of Football.” These rules included a prohibition of carrying the ball and kicking an opposing player in the shin. This resulted in a formal split with many clubs that wished to play a more physical game that we know now as rugby. The rules took off in England throughout the decade. By the 1870’s, there was first international game between England and Scotland with the first professional league formed in 1888.

Association football in the United States really took off in the 1870’s. There was no governing body overseeing the regional leagues that were being formed or the rules that these leagues were using. Established in 1884, the American Football Association (AFA) was formed with the goal of standardizing the rules for leagues in northern New Jersey and southern New York. These efforts were successful and by 1888 there jurisdiction expanded into both Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. In 1887 the AFA organized the American Cup, which was the first non-league cup in United States football history. Internal conflicts lead to the suspension of the cup between 1899 and 1906.

These internal conflicts in the AFA subsided once the officials in the league realized they had the opportunity in the wake of the Daniel Hurley tragedy. They realized that the American public and sportsmen across the country would be hungry for a sport to take the place of the now banned American football. Also there were rival associations that were beginning to pop up. The AFA dreamed of being the official football association in the United States of America, with all of American football leagues under their supervision. They needed legitimacy and they got that when they met with President Roosevelt on July 18th, 1907.

President Roosevelt too realized that the United States needed a new sport to replace American Football. While he was not as big of a fan of Association football as he was of the American variety, he did recognize its strengths. During the meeting, President Roosevelt agreed to give his support to AFA in their goal to put all of the nation’s leagues under one umbrella.

This Presidential endorsement allowed the AFA to go about and expand its influence. By the end of the decade, the AFA was the main governing body for all major football leagues in the United States from Boston to St. Louis. It also gave them the legitimacy they needed internationally. At the end of 1908 they allied with the FA in England and in 1912 they joined Argentina and Chile as the first nations from the Americas to join the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA).

The popularity of the sport slowly grew during the early teens. The game took off in American universities as schools like Harvard, Princeton, St. Louis and the US Military Academy. Yet most sports historians view America’s entry into the First World War in 1917 as the main catalyst for football becoming the nation’s 2nd largest sport by the end of the 1920’s.

[Gass3268]

Chapter 3: Early League Play (1890-1917)

The early days of league play in the United States was a jumbled mess. Each region in the United States had their own leagues and before 1910 the rules would differ in each league. Some leagues would play the official FA rules while others played a hybrid game of Association football and ruby. Also the clubs in each league would vary in their classification. Early on most were amateur teams with some being semi-professional. The early 1900’s saw the rise of fully professional clubs such as St. Leo’s in St. Louis, Missouri. Getting the full picture at this time was extremely difficult, but it is clear that there were essentially 2 top leagues at the time. They were the National Association Football League and the St. Louis Soccer League.

National Association Football League (NAFBL)

The oldest league was the National Association Football League (NAFBL) which was formed in 1895. The league originally consisted of teams primarily from northern New Jersey and New York City. They started affiliated with the American Football Association (AFA), the first top league to do so. The league was forced to fold 1899 due to the Spanish-American War and an economic depression, however the league was revived 7 years later in 1906. By America’s entry into World War I the NAFBL had grown into a 12 team league, had expanded into Eastern Pennsylvania and had established themselves as the premier football league in America.

League Champions 
1895: Centreville A.C.
1895-1896: No Standings Available
1896-1897: Scottish Americans
1897-1898: Paterson True Blues
1898-1899: Paterson True Blues
1900-1905: League Folded
1906-1907: West Hudson A.A.
1907-1908: Newark F.C.
1908-1909: East Newark Clark A.A. / West Hudson A.A.
1909-1910: West Hudson A.A. 
1910-1911: Jersey A.C.
1911-1912: West Hudson A.A.
1912-1913: West Hudson A.A.
1913-1914: Brooklyn F.C.
1914-1915: West Hudson A.A.
1915-1916: Harrison Alley Boys
1916-1917: Jersey A.C.

League Teams for the start of the 1917-1918 Season:
Bethlehem Steel F.C., Brooklyn F.C., Bronx United, Harrison Alley Boys, Jersey  F.C., Kearney Scots, New York F.C. Newark Ironsides, Paterson Rangers, Paterson True Blues, Philadelphia Merchant Ships and West Hudson A.A.



St. Louis Soccer League (SLSL)

In the Midwest the top league was the St. Louis Soccer League (SLSL). Formed in 1907 and merged with the rival Association Foot Ball League in 1908, the SLSL illustrates the best example of issues that were present due to leagues mixed with amateur and professional teams. St. Leo’s moved over to the SLSL after the merger and at the time was the only professional team in the league. They came to dominate the league, winning every championship between 1908 and 1913. This caused the league to split into two leagues, one professional and one amateur. After only two years after the split the league merged back together and all of the amateur teams folded, making the SLSL the first fully professional league in the United States.

League Champions 
1907-1908: Innisfails 
1908-1909: St. Leo’s
1909-1910: St. Leo’s
1910-1911: St. Leo’s
1911-1912: St. Leo’s
1912-1913: St. Leo’s
1913-1914: St. Leo’s / Columbus Club
1914-1915: St. Leo’s / Innisfail 
1915-1916: Ben Millers
1916-1917: Ben Millers

League Teams for the start of the 1917-1918 Season:
Ben Miller, Innisfails, Naval Reserves and St. Leo’s

Chapter 4: Football Goes To War (1917-1920)

The United States joined the Great War on April 6th, 1917 after finally having enough of German U-boats sinking U.S. merchant ships. With the passage of the Selective Service Act, it drafted over 2.8 million men to fight and by the summer of 1918 it was sending 10,000 fresh solders every day. The American troops were greeted enthusiastically by the Allied armies in France as they realized that Germany would not be able to match this influx of manpower. The Americans took part in the final Allied offensive, Hundred Days Offensive, which finally ended the war on November 11th, 1918.

World War One was also a pivotal moment for the development of football in the United States. Association football was almost unheard of in the South and it was just starting to develop on the West Coast. The War exposed the game to thousands. One has to remember that for many Americans this was the first time they had ever left their hometown, let alone the country. When troops were far from the lines during R&R they would participate in football matches against other solders from all over the United States and Allied nations.

When the G.I.’s began to return in 1919 they brought back their love for the sport. Universities that did not sponsor the game began to do so. New clubs and leagues began to spring up all across the nation. Most were not even close to the level of the top clubs in the Northeast and St. Louis, but they assisted in generating interest in the game in new areas.  By 1920 there were over 100 clubs in the United States and the top leagues realized they needed to strike when the iron was hot.

[Bacon King]

plz continue

[Napoleon]

plz continue

[Arturo Belano]

plz continue

[Gass3268]

Anybody who's good with photoshop want to help me make logo's/shields? I would really appreciate it!

[Gass3268]

Chapter 5: Expansion and Growth

Tom Cahill knew that the Great War would be a blessing to the game of football. Cahill had become the
 President of the American Football Association in 1913 and he helped guide the game during the early growth after the death of American Football. At first it seemed that the First World War was going to kill the game while it was still in its infancy. The best league in the country, the National Association Foot Ball League (NAFBL), saw two teams fold (Jersey AC and Harrison Alley Boys) and two teams had to  merge in order to survive (Paterson Ranges and Paterson True Blues became the Paterson True Blue Ranges). Yet, when the soldiers came the game experienced a popularity boom and Cahill wanted to take full advantage of it.

He realized that he needed the top football leagues in America to grow into new and larger markets.
The National Association Football League (NAFBL) was primarily centered around Northern New Jersey while the St. Louis Soccer League (SLSL) was exclusively in the city of St. Louis. There was also the issue that the NAFBL was still a semiprofessional league, which resulted in some imbalances and inequities in the league. Cahill desired to have it become fully professional like the SLSL. Through some work and backroom deals, Cahill was able to get two of his allies as commissioners of the two respective leagues in 1920. Andrew Brown, a Scotsman who had previously played for a precursor to Philadelphia City, became the commissioner of the NAFBL and Robert Miller, also a Scotsman who previously played in the St. Louis Soccer League during a break from Bethlehem Steel, became the commissioner of the SLSL. Together the three men helped men did more than anyone in the growth of football in America.

Birth of The Football League of America (FLA)

Robert Miller at first met some resistance in St. Louis to the idea of expanding the league outside the city. This resistance lasted three years until finally Miller, with the help of Cahill, convinced them that their league would fall behind if they did not continue to grow. Even still the league had to take baby steps at the beginning when they asked East St. Louis SC and Sporting Kansas City to join for the 1923-1924 season. The first two teams added to the league were very familiar to those in St Louis, as many exhibition games had taken place between the six clubs.

The next year saw even more change as four new clubs joined the league. They were the Chicago Bears, Chicago Spartans, Southside SC and the SV Milwaukee Badgers. This firmly moved the SLSL out of their comfort zone as many of these teams where foreign to the 4 original St. Louis clubs. Miller, realizing that non-St. Louis teams made up the majority of league, pushed through a vote that renamed the league The Football League of America (FLA). The St. Louis teams felt that their league was being taken away from them and some threatened to leave, but they were convinced by Miller that leaving would only result in them being left behind in the growing game.

League growth continued the next year as the Cincinnati Kicks, Ford Wolverines FC, Minneapolis Vikings FK and Western Reserve FC joined for the 1925-1926 season. Ford Wolverines FC, located in Detroit, prompted General Motors to form Chevy Coups FC as a rival competitor in the Motor City for the 1926-1927 season. The same happened in St Paul, Minnesota where the locals were not happy that Minneapolis got a team and they did not. This led to the creation of the St. Paul Swedes FF for the 1226-1927 season, effectively dividing the region by city and ethnicity. Also the Indianapolis Hoosiers FC and Louisville Colonels were added to bring the league up to 18 teams, which is the number they stuck to for the rest of the decade. They were generally considered the second best league in the United States.

League Teams for the start of the 1926-1927 Season:
Ben Millers, Chevrolet Coups FC, Chicago Bears, Chicago Spartans, Cincinnati Kicks, Ford Wolverines FC, East St. Louis SC, Indianapolis Hoosiers FC, Innisfails, Louisville Colonels, Naval Reserves, Minneapolis Vikings FK, St. Louis Screw (formerly St. Leo’s), St. Paul Swedes FF, Southside FC, Sporting Kansas City, SV Milwaukee Badgers and Western Reserve FC.

Changes in the NAFBL

The best league in the United States at the time was generally regarded to be the National Association Football League (NAFBL). This is not to say that the league did not have issues. One such issue was that the league was still semi-professional.  Andrew Brown and many of the top teams in the league were able to change the league charter to require that all teams were fully professional by the 1921-1922 season. The other issue was that the league centered too much on Northern New Jersey.

This started when the league added the Fall River Marksmen, New Bedford Whalers and the Pawtucket Rangers for the 1921-1922 season. They were three of the better teams from  the Southern New England Soccer League, which at the times was one of the better second tier leagues. The league was forced to fold after the next year after losing three of the best teams. The NAFBL continued expanding north into New England the next year when they added the Boston Minutemen and the Providence Patriots.

The next two years the league focused exclusively in the state of New York. For the 1924-1925 season they added two more teams in New York City, with Richmond 1898 (Staten Island) and Long Island City FC (Queens). The following year they added 4 teams to Upstate New York. The 4 teams were AC Albany, Buffalo Lakers, FC Rochester and Sporting Syracuse.

NAFBL concluded their expansion spree by moving to the south and to the west for the 1926-1927. They did this by adding the Baltimore Lords FC, Cleveland Comets, Pittsburgh Steelers and Washington Warriors FC. Yet by adding a club in Cleveland, they put themselves in direct competition with The Football League of America. This competition would define football in America for the remained of the decade.      

League Teams for the start of the 1926-1927 Season:
AC Albany, Baltimore Lords SC, Bethlehem Steel FC, Boston Minutemen, Brooklyn FC, Bronx United, Buffalo Lakers, Cleveland Comets, Fall River Marksmen, FC Rochester, Kearney Scots, Long Island City FC, New Bedford Whalers, New York FC, Newark Ironsides, Paterson True Blue Rangers, Pawtucket Rangers, Philadelphia City (formerly Philadelphia Merchant Ships), Pittsburgh Steelers, Providence Patriots, Richmond 1898, Sporting Syracuse, Washington Warriors FC and West Hudson AA.

Map of Both Leagues (NAFBL=Green / FLA = Purple

[Gass3268]

Chapter 6: Professional Football’s First Stars

The Kicking Indian

Charles Stoneham, the owner of the New York Giants baseball team, realized that big money was to be made in association football. After winning the 1921 World Series, he chose to celebrate by purchasing New York FC. Originally wanting to rename after his baseball Giants, but Commissioner Andrew Brown convinced him to keep the current name. He told Stoneham that the name invoked a sense of power and prestige. However, Stoneham did redesign the club’s logo and kit to match his Giants.

The only thing missing was winning. Every single championship in the National Association Football League (NAFBL) had come from a New Jersey team, except for Brooklyn FC in the 1913-1914. Stoneham wanted his club to be pinnacle of football in America. The hiring of Jim Thorpe as a player/manager in 1922 did just that.

Jim Thorpe began his athletic career in 1907, the year American Football was banned. He was a track and field star at Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Thorpe also competed in many other sports including baseball, lacrosse, ballroom dancing and association football. Pop Warner, the track and former American football coach, suggested that Thorpe try soccer now that he couldn’t play American Football. Thorpe was a natural and with very little practice was already the best player on the team. In 1911 he almost singlehandedly upset Harvard with a hat trick as Carlisle won 3-2 and went on to go 22-2 for the season. The next year the team went undefeated and won the collegiate national championship, with Thorpe scoring 32 goals in the 24 game season.

Also in 1912, Thorpe participated in the Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden winning goals in both the Decathlon and Pentathlon. Yet later it was found that Thorpe had participated in professional minor league baseball between 1909 and 1910. The International Olympic Committee in turn striped his medals, which were not returned until 1983. After this Thorpe played professional baseball for a variety of teams including the New York Giants and Cincinnati Reds. Yet it was football were Thorpe shined.

Thorpe first played for Western Reserve FC in Cleveland, which was at the time a minor league team, for two seasons between 1913 and 1915. The club won their league title both years. For the 1915-1916 season, Thorpe signed with West Hudson AA. They were one of the powerhouse teams in the NAFBL having won 5 titles, the most of any club. It took some time for Thorpe to get used to the much faster and technical game in the NAFBL, but by the 1917-1918 season he was the undisputable best player in the league. West Hudson AA went on to win the next two titles and in 1921-1922.

After being signed to play and manage New York FC, the club went on to win three straight titles. They lost the 1925-1926 title by a single point to the Fall River Marksmen. They had become the top club in America, just as owner Charles Stoneham had desired. Thorpe announced that he was going to retire as a player after the 1926-1927 season to focus on managing the club. He ended his storied carrier has a champion.

NAFBL League Champions 
1917-1918: West Hudson AA
1918-1919: West Hudson AA
1919-1920: Bethlehem Steel FC
1920-1921: Bethlehem Steel FC
1921-1922: West Hudson AA
1922-1923: New York FC
1923-1924: New York FC
1924-1925: New York FC
1925-1926: Fall River Marksmen
1926-1927: New York FC

Papa Bear and The Galloping Ghost

There were many men pivotal to growing the game of association football in the Midwest, but no one arguably was as important as George Halas. As a player for the Decatur Stanley’s, Halas was given control of the team in 1921 by their owner and namesake Augustus Stanley. The previous season had been successful on the field, but at a financial loss. Halas moved his team to Chicago and in 1922 he renamed the team the Bears. The Chicago Cubs baseball club had allowed Halas’ team to play at Wrigley Field, so the team was renamed to honor the Cubs. Two years later he was able to get his Bears moved into St. Louis Soccer League and he was instrumental in assisting Commissioner Robert Miller in many of this league reforms. This included renaming the league the Football League of America (FLA) and further league growth. Most importantly, it was his signing of Red Grange in 1925 that helped establish the FLA as near equals to the NAFBL.

Red Grange was a star footballer at the University of Illinois, scoring over 100 goals in his 4 year collegiate career and winning the 1923-1924 national championship. Grange was courted by every major professional football team in the country, including Jim Thorpe and the powerhouse New York FC. Yet he turned down them all to play with the Chicago Bears for the 1925-1926 season, which was close to his home in Wheaton. The Bears greatly improved that season, finishing only 3 points behind the champion St. Louis Screw. Not only did the play of the Bears improve, but ticket sales across the FLA exploded whenever the Bears were in town. Everyone wanted to see the Galloping Ghost. The Bears went on to win the title the next year and in so help establish the start of a dynasty which would last past the merger.

FLA League Champions 
1917-1918: Ben Millers
1918-1919: St. Louis Screw
1919-1920: St. Louis Screw
1920-1921: Innisfails 
1921-1922: St. Louis Screw
1922-1923: Naval Reserve
1923-1924: Ben Millers
1924-1925: Sporting Kansas City
1925-1926: St. Louis Screw
1926-1927: Chicago Bears

[Gass3268]

I was going to wait until they are all done, but these are too good not to be seen now. Thanks to Rubberduck3y6 from AlternativeHistory.com for his work on these, they are amazing!

AC Albany


Baltimore Lords SC


Bethlehem Steel FC


Boston Minutemen


Brooklyn FC


Bronx United


Buffalo Lakers


Cleveland Comets


New York FC

[Hatman 🍁]

What happens to Canadian football in this timeline? I'd imagine it would have a diluted talent pool without American football players to draw on. But, it could still be successful since it developed independently of American football.

[Gass3268]

What happens to Canadian football in this timeline? I'd imagine it would have a diluted talent pool without American football players to draw on. But, it could still be successful since it developed independently of American football.

Canadian football thrives in this timeline. At some point in the 50's/60's the Supreme Court will rule that you can't ban a game and American Football will slowly come back, but it will be somewhat more popular then  ruby and lacrosse is now in the US. I might have Canadian Football expand into the Northern US sometime after the ruling (New York, Chicago, Detroit, Boston, etc) with American rules Football more popular in the South.

Btw, do you see any future expansion for the CFL in real life? I've always felt that leagues with an odd number of teams always feels weird.   

[Hatman 🍁]

Halifax is trying to get a team. Quebec City would be a better market in my opinion (football is very popular in Quebec in general believe it or not, and their university team is the best in Canada, and regularly gets the best crowds in university football), but the CFL is more interested in Halifax.

[Gass3268]

Halifax is trying to get a team. Quebec City would be a better market in my opinion (football is very popular in Quebec in general believe it or not, and their university team is the best in Canada, and regularly gets the best crowds in university football), but the CFL is more interested in Halifax.

I guess Halifax makes more sense geographically, but I agree that Quebec would make more sense economically and in terms of support.

[Gass3268]

Hopefully I can produce an update over the weekend. To hold things over, here are some more logos and kits!

FC Rochester


Kearny Scots


Long Island City FC (Queens, NY)


Newark Ironsiders


Paterson True Blue Rangers


Pittsburgh Steelers


Philadelphia City


Richmond 1898 (Staten Island, NY)


Again, big thanks to Rubberduck3y6!

[Hatman 🍁]

Great stuff, Gass. One of my other interests is sports logos and sports geography, so this thread is right up my ally.

[Gass3268]

Great stuff, Gass. One of my other interests is sports logos and sports geography, so this thread is right up my ally.

Thanks Earl!

[DC Al Fine]

Excellent job Gass. Usually when someone doeso ne of these, there's some blatant bs in there, but your's looks really good.

[Gass3268]

Excellent job Gass. Usually when someone doeso ne of these, there's some blatant bs in there, but your's looks really good.

Thanks!

[Edu]

I'm really enjoying this. Are you making those logos and kits? because they are awesome.

[Gass3268]

Chapter 7: A Growing World Power

The history of the United States men’s national football team goes back to 1885 when they constructed a team to take on Canada in Newark, New Jersey. Canada won the game 1-0, but the United States won in a rematch the following year 1-0 also in Newark. Neither game is officially recognized by FIFA, but they were the first international matches held outside of the United Kingdom. The US also won both the silver and bronze medals in the 1904 Summer Olympics with club teams Christian Brothers College and St. Rose Parish representing the country.

The United States did not participate in football at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, but by 1912 there was enough support to send a team to the games being played in Stockholm. In the first round they defeated Russia 1-0, which was their first official international match as recognized by FIFA. In the second round they lost a very close game to Finland, 2-1 in extra time.

The 1916 Summer Olympics, due to be held in Berlin, were canceled due to World War One. This meant that the next Olympic football tournament would be held in Antwerp, Belgium in 1920. Unfortunately the United States got matched up with the Czechoslovakian juggernaut in the first round and lost 3-0. In 1924 the Olympic Games were in Paris, France. The United States defeated Estonia 3-0 in the First Round, but then played Uruguay in the Second Round. Uruguay was a rising world power, but the United States gave them match. Uruguay won 3-2. In 1928 the games were in Amsterdam, Netherlands and unfortunately they were matched up against Argentina in the first round. The Americans were again competitive, but lost 5-3. It was becoming a trend for the United States to be matched up 

The 1932 Summer Olympics was to be held in Los Angeles and the American Football Association was planning on holding the largest football tournament ever. However this would not come to pass, due to a disagreement between FIFA and the IOC on the status of armatures in the Olympics. This resulted in the IOC employing a very strict rule on the status of the players. Only those that were amateurs or state-sponsored professional players would be allowed to participate in the tournament. The United States would continue to participate and at times dominate the Olympic football tournament as they had some of the best amateur players in the world who played at the collegiate level. It was American participation that allowed the Olympic tournament to keep some of its prestige with the rise of the World Cup. 

FIFA President Jules Rimet set about to organize the first World Cup tournament as a response to their dispute with the IOC. It would be held in Uruguay, as they were the two time defending football world champions and it would be their 100th year of independence. All games would take place in the capital city of Montevideo. This was the only World Cup without qualification. Every FIFA affiliated nation was invited to take part. Yet buy the acceptance deadline, no European nations had agreed to participate. President Jules Rimet had to intervene and he was able to convince Belgium, France, Romania and Yugoslavia to take part in the tournament. The draw took place once all the teams arrived with Argentina, Brazil, United States and Uruguay as seeded teams, kept apart for group play. The winners of each group would then matchup in a 4 team single elimination tournament.

Group 1 was the only group with 4 teams. Argentina won the group with 6 points. Chile got 4 points, France got 2 and Mexico finished with none. Yugoslavia won Group 2 with 4, upsetting the group favorite Brazil who only 2 points. Bolivia ended the tournament with no points. Group 3 saw the hosts Uruguay on top with 4 points while Romania got 2 and Peru ended with no points.

The United States was the seeded team in Group 4 and they had matches against Belgium and Paraguay. The American side, managed by the great Jim Thorpe, was too much for the other teams in their group. On July 13th the United States defeated Belgium 5-0. The star of the match was Red Grange as he was able to put away two goals early in the match. The second game against Paraguay on July 17th saw history be made as Bert Patenaude, a forward for the Fall River Marksmen, scored the first hat-trick in World Cup history. The United States won the game 4-1. The United States won the group with 4 points with Paraguay gaining 2 and Belgium none.

In the semi-finals the United States had the chance to revenge their 1928 Olympic loss to Argentina. The US went down 1-0 early but held that score into halftime. Argentina quickly pushed the lead out to 2-0 after the break, but Jim Brown was able to sink a shot for the Americans only 2 minutes later to make the score 2-1. The score remained that way until the 89th minute when Red Grange was able to tie the game with a header. The game went to extra time and the US had their chances, but Guillermo Stábile, the tournament’s leading scorer, got the winning goal at 115th minute. Argentina won the match 3-2.

In the other semi-finale Uruguay destroyed Yugoslavia 6-1. They would then go on to capture the first World Cup title against Argentina 5-1. It is widely accepted that Argentina was still feeling the effects of exhaustion from their match against the United States to have any viable chance against the dominate Uruguayans. This fact became a sense of pride for the football community in the United States. They were beginning to get the sense that they could compete at the highest level on the world stage. This became a rallying point when it looked like professional football could die during the early parts of the Great Depression.

[Gass3268]

I'm really enjoying this. Are you making those logos and kits? because they are awesome.

Unfortunately I am not that talented. Rubberduck3y6, who I met over at the Alternate History Discussion Board is making them for me. He's done an amazing job.

[Gass3268]

Here are a few more logos and kits:

Sporting Syracuse


Washington Warriors FC


Chevrolet Coups FC (Detroit, MI)


Chicago Bears


Chicago Spartans


Cincinnati Kicks


Ford Wolverines FC (Detroit, MI)


Indianapolis Hoosiers


Louisville Colonels


Southside FC (Chicago, IL)


Another big thanks to Rubberduck3y6!

[Gass3268]

Chapter 7: The College Game (1907-1929)

After the Daniel Hurley tragedy, universities and colleges across the United States were forced to disband their most popular varsity sport on campus. In the place of American football, many schools turned to association football to fill the vacuum. The sport was already a sporting staple on many campuses across the United States, especially in the prestigious schools of the Northeast and in some Midwestern schools like the University of St. Louis and Washington University in St. Louis when American football was banned in 1907. Yet it was in the 1910’s and 1920’s when the game really began to take off when conferences began sponsoring the sport. Before this all of the schools that had association football were independents.

The Western Conference (WC), as the oldest Division I collegiate athletic in the United States, became the first conference to sponsor association football in 1910. At the time the Western Conference consisted of the universities of Chicago, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Northwestern, Purdue and Wisconsin. Ohio State joined the conference in 1912 and Michigan rejoined in 1917 after leaving in 1907. This brought the conference to an even 10 teams. Between 1910 and 1929 no one team was overly dominate in the conference as every school won the conference at least once over the 20 year period.  If forced to pick one top school during this time period, it would have to be Minnesota as they won 5 titles.

The second conference to sponsor association football was the Big Midwest Conference (BMC) in 1914. Originally called the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association, the conference took their current name in The conference consisted of the universities of Drake, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Nebraska and Washington University of St. Louis. In 1919 Grinnell College joined, followed by Oklahoma in 1920 and Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State) in 1925. St. Louis applied for membership in 1919 but, even with their powerful football program, they were declined due to deficient management of their other athletic programs. There are some claims and rumors that Washington University blocked their admission into the conference as the two schools were big crosstown rivals. This perceived snub only intensified the local derby and helped transform it into one of the fiercest derbies worldwide. Washington University was the dominate school during this time period, winning the conference title 10 times. Nebraska had the second most championships with 3.

The next conference to sponsor association football was the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) in 1915. The conference original members were the universities of California, Oregon, Oregon Agricultural College (now Oregon State) and Washington. Washington State joined the next year and they were followed by Stanford in 1918. The conference later expanded to 10 members as Idaho and USC joined in 1922, Montana joined in 1924 and UCLA joined in 1928. The powerhouse school of this era was California as they won 8 conference titles. Stanford was also competitive, winning 5 championships.

The fourth major conference to sponsor association football was the Southwest Conference (SWC) in 1921. Texas was one of the regions were American football held on the longest. While the game was banned officially at all schools across the state, the game still survived underground and in some cases out in the open. Local law enforcement just ignored what was going on as most loved the game. However when GI’s returned to schools after the Great War, they brought back their new found love for association football. The members of the Southwest Conference when association football gained official sponsorship was Arkansas, Baylor, Rice, Oklahoma A&M, Texas, Texas A&M and SMU. TCU joined the conference in 1923 and Oklahoma A&M left to join the Big Midwest Conference in 1925 to give the conference.  Texas was the dominate team during this era as they won 5 titles.

The final major conference to sponsor association football was the Southern Conference (SC) in 1922. Like in Texas, American football remained a very popular underground sport in the South after being banned in 1907. Yet even the South became association football crazy at the end of the Great War. The Southern Conference has always been a massive conference and when they started to sponsor soccer it consisted of the universities of Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Florida, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Louisiana State, Maryland, Mississippi, Mississippi State, North Carolina, North Carolina State, South Carolina, Tennessee, Tulane, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Washington & Lee. Sewanee joined in 1923, Virginia, Virginia Military Institute in 1924 and Duke in 1928. It is hard to tell who were really the dominate teams of this era in the Southern Conference as there was no consistency in scheduling, but Alabama, North Carolina State and Vanderbilt were particularly strong in most matches.   

In Northeast there were no major conferences since 1910. There had been the Intercollegiate Soccer Football League, but it dissolved when the game took off after the banning of American football. It could not keep up with all of the new teams adding the sport and many of the top teams like did not want to be in a conference with what they considered to be lesser teams and schools. This included powerhouse teams like Harvard, Penn Princeton, US Military Academy and Yale. Also at this time there was no official process by which a national champion was named. Most teams that ended their season undefeated or even a few with losses and ties would declare themselves the champion of collegiate association football. Controversially, the NCAA in 1980 later went back and officially declared national champions. Fortunately this ambiguity only lasted until 1935.

College Association Football National Champions (NCAA Declared):    
1907-1908: Yale
1908-1909: Harvard
1909-1910: Harvard
1910-1911: Haverford
1911-1912: Yale
1912-1913: St. Louis
1913-1914: Harvard
1914-1915: Washington University
1915-1916: Penn
1916-1917: Washington University
1917-1918: St. Louis
1918-1919: U.S. Military Academy (Army)
1919-1920: St. Louis
1920-1921: Princeton
1921-1922: Yale
1922-1923: Penn
1923-1924: U.S. Military Academy (Army)
1924-1925: U.S. Military Academy (Army)
1925-1926: Penn State
1926-1927: Minnesota
1927-1928: Texas
1928-1929: Harvard
1929-1930: Alabama

[Gass3268]

Also, because I was so late in getting out another update, I'll post the last set of logos/kits:

Minneapolis Vikings FK


St Louis Screws


St Paul Swedes FF


Sporting Kansas City


SV Milwaukee Badgers


Western Reserve FC


Providence Patriots


These two will make more sense after the next update. You might be able to guess what happens.

St Louis United


New Bedford Marksmen


Another big thanks to Rubberduck3y6!