The issues facing the early World Cup tournaments were the difficulties of intercontinental travel, and war. Few South American teams were willing to travel to Europe for the 1934 and 1938 tournaments, with Brazil the only South American team to compete in both. The 1942 and 1946 competitions were cancelled due to World War II and its aftermath.The 1950 World Cup was the first to include British participants. British teams withdrew from FIFA in 1920, partly out of unwillingness to play against the countries they had been at war with, and partly as a protest against a foreign influence on football, but rejoined in 1946 following FIFA's invitation. The tournament also saw the return of 1930 champions Uruguay, who had boycotted the previous two World Cups. Uruguay won the tournament again in one of the most famous matches in World Cup history, which was later called the "Maracanazo". In the tournaments between 1934 and 1978, 16 teams competed for each finals tournament, except in 1938, when Austria were absorbed into Germany after qualifying, leaving the tournament with 15 teams, and in 1950, when India, Scotland and Turkey withdrew, leaving the tournament with 13 teams. Most of the participating nations were from Europe and South America, with a small minority from North America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. These teams were usually defeated easily by the European and South American teams. Until 1982, the only teams from outside Europe and South America to advance out of the first round were: USA, semi-finalists in 1930; Cuba, quarter-finalists in 1938; Korea DPR, quarter-finalists in 1966; and Mexico, quarter-finalists in 1970.The finals were expanded to 24 teams in 1982, then to 32 in 1998, allowing more teams from Africa, Asia and North America to take part. The one exception is Oceania, who have never had a guaranteed spot in the finals. In recent years, teams from these regions have enjoyed more success, and those who have reached the quarter-finals include: Mexico, quarter-finalists in 1986; Cameroon, quarter-finalists in 1990; Korea Republic, finishing in fourth place in 2002; and Senegal and USA, both quarter-finalists in 2002. However, European and South American teams have remained the stronger forces. For example, the quarter-finalists in 2006 were all from Europe or South America.198 nations attempted to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, and a record 204 will attempt to qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Monday, December 8, 2008
First World Cup
The 1932 Summer Olympics, held in Los Angeles, did not plan to include football as part of the schedule due to the low popularity of football in the United States, as American football had been growing in popularity. FIFA and the IOC also disagreed over the status of amateur players, and so football was dropped from the Games. FIFA president Jules Rimet thus planned the inaugural World Cup tournament to be held in Uruguay in 1930. The national associations of selected nations were invited to send a team, but the choice of Uruguay as a venue for the competition meant a long and costly trip across the Atlantic Ocean for European sides. Indeed, no European country pledged to send a team until two months before the start of the competition. Rimet eventually persuaded teams from Belgium, France, Romania, and Yugoslavia to make the trip. In total thirteen nations took part—seven from South America, four from Europe and two from North America.The first two World Cup matches took place simultaneously, and were won by France and USA, who beat Mexico 4–1 and Belgium 3–0 respectively. The first goal in World Cup history was scored by Lucien Laurent of France. In the final, Uruguay defeated Argentina 4–2 in front of a crowd of 93,000 people in Montevideo, and became the first nation to win a World Cup.
History
Previous international competitions
After FIFA was founded in 1904, there was an attempt made by FIFA to arrange an international football tournament between nations outside of the Olympic framework in Switzerland in 1906. These were very early days for international football, and the official history of FIFA describes the competition as having been a failure.
With the Olympic event continuing to be contested only between amateur teams, Sir Thomas Lipton organized the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy tournament in Turin in 1909. The Lipton tournament was a championship between individual clubs (not national teams) from different nations, each one of which represented an entire nation. The competition is sometimes described as The First World Cup, and featured the most prestigious professional club sides from Italy, Germany and Switzerland, but The Football Association of England refused to be associated with the competition and declined the offer to send a professional team. Lipton invited West Auckland, an amateur side from County Durham, to represent England instead. West Auckland won the tournament and returned in 1911 to successfully defend their title, and were given the trophy to keep forever, as per the rules of the competition.In 1914, FIFA agreed to recognise the Olympic tournament as a "world football championship for amateurs", and took responsibility for managing the event. This paved the way for the world's first intercontinental football competition, at the 1920 Summer Olympics, contested by Egypt and thirteen European teams. The gold medals were won by Belgium. Uruguay won the Olympic football tournaments in 1924 and 1928. In 1928 FIFA made the decision to stage their own international tournament outside of the Olympics. With Uruguay now two-time official football world champions (as 1924 was the start of FIFA's professional era) and to celebrate their centenary of independence in 1930, FIFA named Uruguay as the host country.
FIFA World Cup
Monday, November 3, 2008
The History of Football
The contemporary history of the world's favourite game spans more than 100 years. It all began in 1863 in England, when rugby football and association football branched off on their different courses and the Football Association in England was formed - becoming the sport's first governing body.Both codes stemmed from a common root and both have a long and intricately branched ancestral tree. A search down the centuries reveals at least half a dozen different games, varying to different degrees, and to which the historical development of football has been traced back. Whether this can be justified in some instances is disputable. Nevertheless, the fact remains that people have enjoyed kicking a ball about for thousands of years and there is absolutely no reason to consider it an aberration of the more 'natural' form of playing a ball with the hands.On the contrary, apart from the need to employ the legs and feet in tough tussles for the ball, often without any laws for protection, it was recognised right at the outset that the art of controlling the ball with the feet was not easy and, as such, required no small measure of skill. The very earliest form of the game for which there is scientific evidence was an exercise from a military manual dating back to the second and third centuries BC in China. This Han Dynasty forebear of football was called Tsu' Chu and it consisted of kicking a leather ball filled with feathers and hair through an opening, measuring only 30-40cm in width, into a small net fixed onto long bamboo canes. According to one variation of this exercise, the player was not permitted to aim at his target unimpeded, but had to use his feet, chest, back and shoulders while trying to withstand the attacks of his opponents. Use of the hands was not permitted. Another form of the game, also originating from the Far East, was the Japanese Kemari, which began some 500-600 years later and is still played today. This is a sport lacking the competitive element of Tsu' Chu with no struggle for possession involved. Standing in a circle, the players had to pass the ball to each other, in a relatively small space, trying not to let it touch the ground.The Greek 'Episkyros' - of which few concrete details survive - was much livelier, as was the Roman 'Harpastum'. The latter was played out with a smaller ball by two teams on a rectangular field marked by boundary lines and a centre line. The objective was to get the ball over the opposition's boundary lines and as players passed it between themselves, trickery was the order of the day. The game remained popular for 700-800 years, but, although the Romans took it to Britain with them, the use of feet was so small as to scarcely be of consequence.
Roots of American Football
The birth date of football in the United States is generally regarded by football historians as November 6, 1869, when teams from Rutgers and Princeton Universities met for the first intercollegiate football game. In those early games, there were 20 players to a team and football still more closely resembled rugby than modern football.
The game of football has a history of constant rule changes. Rule changes have been implemented to bolster the excitement of the game of football and to increase the game's safety.In 1873, representatives from Columbia, Rutgers, Princeton, and Yale Universities met in New York City to formulate the first intercollegiate football rules for the increasingly popular game. These four teams established the Intercollegiate Football Association (IFA) and set 15 as the number of players allowed on each team. Walter Camp, the coach at Yale and a dissenter from the IFA over his desire for an eleven man team, helped begin the final step in the evolution from rugby-style play to the modern game of American football. The IFA’s rules committee, led by Camp, soon cut the number of players from fifteen to eleven, and also instituted the size of the playing field, at one hundred ten yards. In 1882 Camp also introduced the system of downs. After first allowing three attempts to advance the ball five yards, in 1906 the distance was changed to ten yards. The fourth down was added in 1912. Within a decade, concern over the increasing brutality of the game led to its ban by some colleges. Nearly 180 players had suffered serious injuries, and eighteen deaths had been reported from the brutal mass plays that had become common practice. So in 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt called upon Harvard, Princeton, and Yale to help save the sport from demise. At a meeting between the schools, reform was agreed upon, and at a second meeting, attended by more than sixty other schools, the group appointed a seven member Rules Committee and set up what would later become known as the National Collegiate Athletic Association, or the NCAA.From this committee came the legalization of the forward pass, which resulted in a redesign of the ball and a more open style of play on the field. The committee prohibited the rough mass plays, which once caused so many serious injuries. Also prohibited was the locking of arms by teammates in an effort to clear the way for their ball carriers. The length of the game was shortened, from seventy to sixty minutes, and the neutral zone, which separates the teams by the length of the ball before each play begins, was also established.
Evolution and the Beginnings of Standardization
Football didn’t really begin to take on any consistency of rules and boundaries until it was picked up as a sport in the seven major public schools of England in the early 1800’s. Six of the seven schools were largely playing the same game (including Eton, Harrow and Winchester) - while the seventh, Rugby School (founded in 1567) was playing a markedly different version of football. The other schools moved ahead refining their rules and eventually their game became known as "association football" - or soccer, which was played back then much as it is today.Rugby School went in a different direction. How and why the game developed differently at Rugby School appears to have been lost in history, but what is known is that by the 1830's, running with the ball at Rugby School was in common use and 18 foot goal posts had been added with a cross-bar at 10 feet above the ground.
The inclusion of the cross-bar was accompanied by a rule that a goal could only be scored by the ball passing over the bar from a place kick or drop kick. Apparently this was done to make scoring easier from further out and also to avoid the horde of defenders standing in and blocking the mouth of the goal.Players who were able to "touch down" the ball behind the opponents goal line were awarded a "try-at-goal" - the player would make a mark on the goal line and then walk back onto the field of play to a point where a place kick at the goal was possible (a conversion). There was also an "off-your-side" rule used to keep the teams apart. Passing the ball forward was not allowed.By the mid-1860s British schools and universities had taken up Rugby's game and honored the school by giving the "new football" the name of rugby.The game soon went trans-Atlantic to America and landed on fertile soil.
Football’s Early Beginnings
Football (as well as rugby and soccer) are believed to have descended from the ancient Greek game of harpaston. Harpaston is mentioned frequently in classical literature, where it is often referred to as a “very rough and brutal game“. The rules of this ancient sport were quite simple: Points were awarded when a player would cross a goal line by either kicking the ball, running with it across the goal line, or throwing it across the line to another player. The other team’s objective was simply to stop them by any means possible. There was no specific field length, no side line boundaries, no specified number of players per team, only a glaring lack of rules Most modern versions of football are believed to have originated from England in the twelfth century. The game became so popular in England that the kings of that time (Henry II and Henry IV) actually banned football. They believed that football was taking away interest from the traditional sports of England, such as fencing and archery.
Football
The History of Football Games
he story of sports gaming is the story of football gaming. Ever since the console and computer games industries got off the ground in the later 1970s, developers have been trying to build a better football title. No other sport was given the attention granted to the gridiron game. Even baseball, the national pastime for nearly a century and an apparent natural to be reenacted on a TV screen or computer monitor, lacked the prestige of its younger brother.Part of this was due to the way that the National Football League surged in popularity at the same time as the video game era dawned. Thanks to the efforts of commissioner Pete Rozelle and innovations like ABC TV executive Roone Arledge's Monday Night Football, the NFL was enjoying an unprecedented explosion in public support. So when the Atari 2600/Video Computer System (VCS) and Mattel's Intellivision brought video games to our living rooms in 1977 and 1979, respectively, there was really only one sport that people wanted to play on them. The idea that those little black boxes would be able to drag Sunday afternoon and Monday evening through the rest of the week was a huge selling point for the console systems. Of course, reality didn't quite match expectations. Gameplay was generally very crude, even by the lowered standards of the time. In 1978, Atari's Football for the 2600 employed three-man teams consisting of players who looked like washing machines and a field that filled a single screen. You could call plays on both sides of the ball, but only basic ones that shifted receivers and backs from one side of the field to the other. Intellivision's NFL Football arrived a little more than a year later with more sophistication, boasting five-man squads with players who had moving arms and legs and the ability to use elaborate formations. There were serious drawbacks, however, most notably molasses-slow animation and the complete absence of artificial intelligence that made two players a necessity. When the Commodore 64 became fashionable as a gaming machine in 1984, football game development kicked into high gear. These early computer football efforts were generally more complex than their console cousins, even simplistic fare like Gamestar's On-Field Football. Some could still be categorized as rather advanced simulations. 4th and Inches from Accolade was published in 1987, yet it remains playable today as an arcade experience with a little bit of depth. Design evolutions, along with advancements in technology and programming skill (a lot more could be jammed into an Atari 2600 cartridge in 1984 than in 1980), were increasingly seen through the end of the decade on both consoles and computer systems. Tecmo released Tecmo Bowl for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1988, kicking off a sensation that lingers to this day. The smart, fun gameplay spawned a sequel, Tecmo Super Bowl, that is now 10 years old but is still being played in online leagues. A pinnacle was reached in 1989 with Cinemaware's TV Sports Football. It was jammed with more features than any of its predecessors. Full season play, coaching mode, and playbooks that varied from team to team made it the template for everyone else to copy. Good or bad, football games were popular in the 1970s and 1980s. Even though they were simplistic in comparison with the real thing, football titles asked more of the gamer than those depicting the other big three North American sports. Being required to outwit your opponent as well as outplay him provided football gaming with an added strategic element that couldn't be matched by baseball, basketball, or hockey. Playcalling may have been rudimentary, but it was still there, and it gave players an extra dimension that was more interesting than the simplistic arcade challenge of hitting a ball, sinking a basket, or scoring a goal. It may be strange to think of a small playbook and stick-figure players as being representative of any great depth, but they seemed almost unbelievably refined in comparison with their rivals. Over the following pages, we look back at those early days, tracing the evolution of football as console video game and computer simulation. This piece concentrates on the major football titles of the past, although reference can be found to lesser-known works. For example, all of the football games produced for the Atari 2600 can be found under the main heading of Atari's original Football. Regardless of status, most of the games themselves are now no more than nostalgia pieces. Some can still be entertaining diversions--something that was proven during the extensive research that went into this article--and all serve to show how far we have come since 1978. Those too young to have experienced these games firsthand would do well to read on before they complain too much about comparatively minor problems with today's games.
History of Chelsea Football Club
Chelsea was founded, like Liverpool FC, to fill a stadium that was empty. Gus Mears had an old athletics ground at Stamford Bridge in west London, which he decided to redevelop as a football stadium. After a number of unforeseen problems he received a very lucrative offer for the land and very nearly sold it. This was after failing to persuade Fulham to move to the ground from Craven Cottage. A colleague, who was a supporter of the football stadium project, attempted to dissuade him from selling up one Sunday morning. As the pair walked Mears dog attacked Parker and bit him, drawing blood but only an amused reaction from Parker.Mears was so impressed with how well Parker took the bite he told him he would now trust his judgement and he threw his weight back behind the football team idea. On 14th March 1905 a meeting was held in a pub opposite the stadium, at this meeting the club was named Chelsea FC after a number of other names, London FC amongst them, were rejected.Their first manager was a player manager, he was a Scottish international called John Tait Robertson, they also signed a squad or well-respected players - conditional on finding a league to compete in. Their application to join the Southern League was rejected so Chelsea applied to join the, then northern dominated, Football League. On 29th May 1905 at the Football League AGM Chelsea were elected to the 2nd Division, the first club ever to make the league without kicking a ball. Chelsea’s first ever-competitive game was a 1-0 defeat away to Stockport County on the 2nd September 1905. Despite this early setback crowds were good (67,000 against Manchester United on Good Friday of 1906) and in their second season they won promotion to Division One.Even back then Chelsea signed star names, which probably went a long way to explaining the high attendances. Their first goalkeeper was an England international called Willie Foulkes, he was nicknamed ‘Fatty’ and weighed over 22 stones. The following season they signed a striker called George ‘Gatling Gun’ Hilsdon who scored 107 goals in 6 seasons for the Blues. There is a weather vane at the ground which was modelled on him.They suffered relegation, closely followed by promotion to Division One over the next few years but by the time of the First World War the best they had managed was eighth place in Division One. In 1915 they reached the FA Cup final, held that year at Old Trafford, where they were soundly beaten, 3-0, by Sheffield United, in what was to become known as ‘The Khaki Final’ due to the number of military uniforms present among the crowd. Mears had passed away in 1912 so missed the joy of seeing his stadium host the FA Cup final in the final 3 seasons prior to the opening of Wembley in 1923. In October 1935 Stamford Bridge witnessed the highest ever crowd recorded for an English league football match when 82905 crammed in to witness the visit of Arsenal. With Arsenal winning four out of five championships in the early 1930s Chelsea began to spend money in an attempt to compete. They splashed out, for the time, huge sums on three Scottish international forwards, including one of the biggest names in the game, Hughie Gallacher for a club record fee of £10000 from Newcastle United. After the Second World War Stamford Bridge played host to Moscow Dynamo’s first match on their tour of Britain. The turnstiles were shut at 74,496 spectators but thousands more gained entry, estimates suggest over 100,000 people watched as Chelsea with new forward Tommy Lawton scoring their 3rd goal were held to a 3-3 draw. He scored a club record 26 goals in 34 League matches in his first full season but left after just two years for a British record £20,000. In May 1952 Ted Drake was appointed manager, he removed the Chelsea Pensioner from the club badge and banished the nickname ‘The Pensioners’. He became the club’s first tracksuit manager getting himself involved in training and also improved the youth and scouting programme.Drake led the club to its first Championship in 1955, but the following year the club struggled and they could only finish 16th. The next few years saw Chelsea struggle in the lower half of the table, this despite the emergence of Jimmy Greaves from the youth team. He reached the 100 goal mark before the age of 21 and by the time of his sale to AC Milan in 1961 he had scored 132 times in 169 appearances. The following season Chelsea were relegated after finishing bottom in Division One, Drake paying with his job a couple of months into the season. A 33 year old Tommy Docherty took over and he ruthlessly overhauled the playing stuff, bringing through a large number of youth team players such as Peter Bonetti, Ron Harris and Terry Venables. The average age of the squad dropped to just 21. The club soon won promotion back to the top flight and managed to produce some top 5 finishes and three consecutive FA Cup semi-finals. n 1965 Chelsea won their first major cup, defeating Leicester City 3-2 on aggregate in the Leagu Cup final (in those days it was played over two legs). In 1967 they reached the FA Cup final where they played Tottenham Hotspur in the first ever all London affair. A Spurs side boasting Greaves and Venables deservedly won 2-1. Not long after this Chelsea’s all-time leading goalscorer (202 goals in 370 matches) Bobby Tambling left the club.
In 1970 Chelsea again reached the FA Cup final this time playing Leeds United which ended in a 2-2 draw with Leeds twice taking the lead. The replay was played at Old Trafford and in a often brutal game Chelsea triumphed in extra time despite Leeds again taking the lead in normal time.This lead to qualification for the European Cup Winners’ Cup where the Blues reached the final in Greece against Real Madrid, beating Manchester City in the semi final to get there. After extra time the two sides couldnt be separated and they held a replay two days later where Chelsea won 2-1 to win their first European trophy. The club entered a new era of debt when they began work to turn the ground into a brand new 60,000 capacity stadium. A new East Stand was the first stage, but this was beset with problems and was eventually finished a year late and a huge, for the times, sum over budget: £1.3 million. Just four years after their European CWC triumph, Chelsea were again relegated to Division Two, debts had now reached £3 million. Chelsea bounced back to Division One within a couple of seasons, no longer able to afford the big stars Chelsea relied on youngsters, led by new 18 year old captain, and darling of the Bridge, Ray Wilkins. But the club failed to agree personal terms with the manager and he walked out - the club finished 16th that season and went on to finish bottom and get relegated the following season. To stave off financial crisis Ray Wilkins was sold to Manchester United. Finances continued to get worse, until with the players unpaid and the bank refusing to accept Chelsea’s cheques, Ken bates was approached to invest in the club. He bought the club, and its debts, for just £1, the stadium remained as a separate company. He was appalled at what he found describing it as ‘a social club with a little football played on a Saturday’ (though how many people these days can still remember when football was played on a Saturday!!), even the clubs ‘fund-raising’ lottery was losing money. The club narrowly avoided going down to Division Three that season, then the following season, 1983-4, they won the Second Division Championship, with players such as Pat Nevin, Kerry Dixon and David Speedie. Dixon went on to become the clubs second highest scorer of all time with 193 goals, even sharing the Golden Boot in Chelsea’s first season back in the top flight with 24 League goals (36 in all competitions). After four years in the top flight they were once again relegated, the losing of their manager, this time through ill health, again contributing. The following season they easily won Division Two, again, with 99 points and a club record unbeaten league run.Problems beset the club off the pitch as former directors allowed ownership of the ground to be transferred to property developers and Ken Bates was forced to use millions on legal fees to keep the club at Stamford Bridge. Luckily a collapse in the property market ended the battle with the speculators.
The club made its first £1 million+ purchases in the form of midfielders Andy Townsend and Dennis Wise but the club never rose out of mid-table and struggled in the cup competitions (‘giant-killed’ on no less than 13 occasions in just 12 seasons!). In 1993 Chelsea appointed Glenn Hoddle, who was then at Swindon Town, manager and he led the club to the FA Cup final at the end of his first season. While Chelsea were beaten 4-0 by Manchester United it still pointed to a brighter future for the club. With Manchester United already having qualified for Europe through their league position Chelsea gained entry to the European Cup Winners Cup and reached the semi-finals the following season. Now the club was again able to attract the big names, Hoddle persuading Holland legend and ex-World Player of the Year Ruud Gullit to swap italy for London. Mark Hughes joining from Manchester United and Romanian international Dan Petrescu also arriving as Hoddle got the club playing flowing passing football once again. Hoddle left to take over the England reins in the summer of 1996, following the end of ex-Chelsea star Terry Venables rein. Gullit, who was already being talked of as the club’s best player ever after just one season, was handed control of the club as player/manager. Gullit returned to Italy to sign a top italian trio: striker Gianluca Vialli, midfielder Roberto Di Matteo and the magnificent Gianfranco Zola. The club again reached the FA Cup final but this time, thanks partly to a goal scored in just 43 seconds by Di Matteo (a Wembley Cup final record), Chelsea triumphed over Middlesbrough 2-0. Sadly lifelong supporter and vice-chairman, Matthew Harding, died a few months earlier and failed to see a victory which owed a lot to his money and hard work. The north stand at Stamford Bridge now bears his name, fittingly as he provided most of the finances for its construction.Gullit strengthened again signing Gustavo Poyet, Graeme Le Saux and Ed de Goey, among others, before the new season. But part way through the new seaon contract talks between Chelsea and Gullit broke down (early 1998) and he was replaced, again by a current player, this time it was Gianluca Vialli. He led the club to two trophies at the end of the season, the League Cup (Coca-Cola Cup as it was then) and the European Cup Winners Cup for a second time. Middlesbrough again the victims in the League Cup and Stuttgart beaten in the CWC final.In the summer Marcel Desailly was signed, and along with Frank Lebeouf, who was already at the club, went onto win that summers World Cup. The European Super Cup was added to the trophy cabinet with a victory over Real Madrid. The following season another FA Cup was added to the trophy cabinet in the last final to be played at the old Wembley Stadium, with a 1-0 win over Aston Villa. That summer the club paid out £15 million, equalling the British transfer record paid by Newcastle United for Alan Shearer, for forward Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink. He scored on his debut to give the club yet another trophy, the Charity Shield.Italian manager Claudio Ranieri was now brought to the club as problems between Vialli and his players surfaced. He brought in the likes of defender William Gallas and midfielder Frank Lampard. With the Stamford bridge rebuilding finished for the start of the 2001/2 season the club was on the rise. That season the club again reached the FA Cup final, now at Cardiff’s Millenium Stadium, where Arsenal beat them 2-0. But debts were again starting to build as the club spent money rebuilding the squad and constructing the stadium and adjoining hotel and leisure complex.On 2nd July 2003 Roman Abramovich ushered in a new era in football as he bought Chelsea, lock, stock and barrel. Just 36 he was a Russian multi-billionaire who, at the time, was completely unknown in England. This led to uncertainty as to his intentions, with many city commentators suggesting he was looking to asset strip the club. Luckily for the club’s fans (though not so for the fans of the rest of the world’s clubs!) Roman was looking to win things, the club was given almost unlimited money to spend, transforming overnight from a team just trying to stay aflost to a team able to afford any player it wanted. His first action was to try and persuade a 37 year old Gianfranco Zola to sign a new contract, the problem was with the club having told Zola, just before Abramovich bought it, that it could not afford to give him a new contract, Zola had given his word to hometown club Cagliari that he would sign for them. Even though Abramovich negotiated a release from Cagliari and asked Zola to name his price to stay the little Sardinian refused to go back on his word and the club’s most popular player left. This was just a blip as the club embarked on a spending spree unparrelled in world football, youngsters Glen Johnson, Wayne Bridge and Joe Cole were brought in, Geremi, Juan Sebastian Veron and Damien Duff were also acquired, the latter for a club record £17 million. Also brought in were Hernan Crespo, Adrian Mutu and key player Claude Makelele. Over £100 million was spent on players that summer and off the pitch the club was taken into private ownership by Roman. At the end of that season the club had reached the European Champions League semi-finals and come second in the league but despite this Claudio Ranieri left as manager and Jose Mourinho, manager of the current Champions League winners Porto, was given the post. Brimming with self-confidence (some would say arrogance!) the self-proclaimed ‘Special One’ set about spending yet more money, buying three Portugese internationals, Petr Cech, Arjen Robben, Mateja Kezman and Didier Drogba for a new club record fee of £21 million. Mourinho handed the captain’s armband to youth product John Terry and oversaw a League Cup final win (over Liverpool), European Champions League semi-final ( a loss to Liverpool this time) and a League Championship. The London club achieved the best points total and defensive record in English top-flight history and John Terry became the first Chelsea player to win the PFA Player of the Year award. Frank Lampard making it a double with the Footballer of the Year award. But Mourinho and Chelsea havent finished there and they again broke their transfer record with the £24.4 million purchase of Michael Essien in the summer of 2005. With the club on top of the EPL once again and money no object they are beginning to look almost unbeatable, can they be stopped?
British Football History
It was a violent game, where injury and death were not uncommon, but it was popular nevertheless. In fact, it was so violent, that in 1331, King Edward III passed laws to try to stop the playing of the game. It did not work, however, and the sport carried on.
There are even stories of football games that involved hundreds upon hundreds of players. In these games, there were many deaths, some resulting in the hundreds. It wasn't until 1815 when Eton College set up a series of rules for the game that it became less violent and more of a true sport.At this time, other colleges and universities took up the banner and began to play under similar rules. Later, the rules were evaluated and judged, and the Cambridge rules were created as a result in 1848. In the Cambridge rules, shin-kicking, carrying the ball and tripping were all forbidden. Rugby rules allowed these aspects, and the two varieties of football, or football, split to form their own followings. On 26 October 1863, London schools and sports club sent representatives to the Freemason's Tavern, where the Football Association was formed. Rugby supporters left this association to form the Rugby Association. This is where the birth of modern football began. In 1969, the Football Association finalized the modern game of football by forbidding the use of hands in the game. The term "Soccer" was coined when someone was asked if he was a Rugger, which is a Rugby player. The -er signified that the person participated in a particular sport. The individual, Charles Wreford Brown, replied with "Soccer!", taking the phrase from Association, SOC, and adding the -er. The term stuck. While British individuals still call the game Football, Americans and other countries call it Soccer, especially if they have heavy support in American Football present. Ever since the foundation of the Association, Football has risen in popularity, becoming one the best loved games in the known history of the Earth. Now, hundreds of thousands play the sport, although it lacks the initial violence present at its creation.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Greek/Roman Football History
In the end, after the Roman conquering of Greece, the game Harpastum is what modern football would be based from. This game, probably a modified version of the Greek's "Harpaston", which translates roughly to handball. While grossly misnamed, this game is what is considered to be one of the precursors to modern football.
Japanese Football History
Kemari was normally played with two to twelve players. Established in roughly 1004 B.C., it vies for position of the oldest game with China's Tsu Chu. In fact, China's Tsu Chu players and Japan's Kemari players were the first to have an "International" game of their versions of Football, which is dated to have occurred in roughly 50 B.C., although a definite date of 611 A.D. is known. Regardless, this game stands with China as a sister sport to Football, while it never affected the modern version of the game.
History of Football
This is a short history on some of the main known varieties of football, for instance it misses out the Native Americans who had their own variety mostly because of a lack of documentation on its origins.
Chinese Football History
To many, this is the oldest version of football to exist. However, there is quite a lot of controversy of whether or not this is the oldest, or Japan's version is the elder. The likelihood is that as this version was much more organised it would of evolved from an older form of the game such as the Japanese version. The Chinese version of the game, originally named "Tsu Chu", involved players on a field that had to hit a leather ball stuffed with fur into a small hole. Like Football, no hands were permitted during the play of the game, and it was considered an honour to be a member of a team.
The Emperor of the Han Dynasty, when the game was developed, was an avid player and fan, and spread the popularity of this game all over China during his reign. This roughly dates back to 300 B.C., although there is controversy on the subject of dating, which could result in the origins of the game being as far back as 5000 B.C. Regardless, this version of Football is extremely old. Despite that, there is still a version of Tsu Chu played today.
The History of Football Spin-Offs
In 1981, a man watching an indoor soccer game got the idea for Arena Football. In 1987, the first game was played. The sport is much faster paced and higher scoring than traditional football.
In 2001, there was a spring league formed called the XFL (Extreme Football League) with ties to professional wrestling. The games were very low-rated on TV and the league only lasted one disastrous season.
Whether it’s high school football on Friday nights, College Football on Saturdays, or NFL games on Sundays and Monday nights, football is one of the most popular sports in the United States (as well as Canada and Australia). It will no doubt continue to be played, perfected, and loved for many decades to come.
Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football began as an idea that the NFL tried to sell to CBS or NBC. Both networks declined. CBS had the successful "Laugh In" on that night, and NBC had the "Doris Day Show." ABC was the last to be offered the deal, and they jumped on it. In September of 1970, Monday Night Football made it’s debut. It, of course, was wildly successful, and is still on today.
Incidentally, one of the main arguments against prime time, weekday football was that women would never watch, which might keep households from watching. In 2003, women made up a little over 40% of the Monday Night Football audience.
Professional Football
In 1893, the PAC wised up. They made a smarter decision than their rivals did, and signed the first player to a professional paid contract. The player had to play for Pittsburgh for the entire year. Not to be outdone, in 1896, the AAA decided to have the first completely pro team, but only played two games that season.
In 1897, the Latrobe Athletic Association team also went to a completely paid team, and they were the first to play a full season as professionals. The history of football now goes pro.
In 1899, the longest running pro team began. On the south side of Chicago, the Morgan Athletic Club was formed. After going through a handful of name changes, they are now (since 1994) the Arizona Cardinals.
For the next twenty years, chaos grew. Salaries were rising, and the players were abandoning teams and contracts and running to the highest bidder. College players were playing both college and pro, teams were disbanding and forming throughout every season, and the sport lacked organization. In 1920, the American Professional Football Association was formed.
In 1922, the association officially changed their name to the National Football League. The first American Football League came and went in 1926, lasting only the one season. There were several other leagues, including the AAFC, USFL (a spring league), and many reincarnations of the AFL. All finally merged with the NFL..
The first NFL draft took place in 1936. The first drafted player was Jay Berwanger, a halfback for Chicago. He chose not to play.
On September 7, 1963, the Pro Football Hall of Fame opened in Canton, Ohio, where the NFL was first formed as the APFA. That same year, NFL Properties, Inc., was formed to deal with the licensing of merchandise including replica jerseys.
Birth of the Super Bowl
1966 was the most contentious year between the NFL and the AFL. Both leagues spent a record amount of money recruiting the best players. They finally agreed to merge, but not until 1970. At the end of the 1966 season, the first AFL - NFL World Championship Game was played. The Green Bay Packers beat the Kansas City Chiefs 35 to 10. The third AFL-NFL World Championship was called the "Super Bowl" in 1969 (after the 1968 season). The name stuck, and the 1967 World Championship became the first Super Bowl. After the two leagues combined in 1970, the Super Bowl became a game played between the two best NFL teams, which were now divided into conferences.
Ever wonders when the Super Bowl commercials started to become big business? In 1984, a British director named Ridley Scott directed a commercial for Apple Computers where they announced the upcoming availability of Macintosh Computers. The rest is history - Scott became a famous director (Black Hawk Down, Gladiator), and Super Bowl commercials are definitely the most expensive, and usually the most entertaining, on television.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
The Father of Football
Teams and fans liked it, but it was still confusing. In 1876, Walter Camp started attending Yale to study medicine and business. He played in the first Yale vs. Harvard rugby game that year. He was a smart man who had always been incredibly athletic. He is an important player in the history of football. He was instrumental in coming up with the rules for American football, which were written at the Massasoit Convention later that year. That convention paved the way for the NCAA.
Walter Camp played Varsity for Yale from 1877 to 1882 (the last two years in graduate school), and he was captain of the team for three of those years. He’s credited with a lot of the football rules and scoring still used today. While he didn’t invent football – it came about more by evolution – he is widely credited as “the Father of Football.”
Camp created the quarterback position, the idea that one team should have undisputed possession of the ball at a time, strategic plays, the number of players, and other key positions. He was the first Yale football coach, and he was involved in every rulemaking convention and committee until his death in 1925.
By 1885, modern American football was pretty much what it is now, with a few minor exceptions. Obviously, a lot more pads are worn now, and football helmets are required. For those of you who love to watch the most brutal tackles at the end of every year, you’ll be glad to know that Camp was the first to fight for tackles as low as the knee. In 1905, there were almost 20 deaths and well over 100 serious injuries. The public (no doubt led by players’ mothers) was outraged, and there was even a White House conference. Soon after, the NCAA was formed. There were more safety precautions and equipment after this point.
The History of Football – Are You Ready for Some Football?
Despite the manly football men who like to think soccer is a sissy sport, it is the first cousin of football. Soccer was the first of the three sports to be played. In 1823, during a game of football (soccer), a guy named William Ellis at Rugby School in Rugby, England, picked up the ball and ran with it to the goal. No account of the story mentions if he had gone insane or if the move was planned. Apparently, someone else also thought that was a great idea, so the game of rugby football was born. They made the ball oval shaped so it was easier to carry, but it would still bounce and be easily kicked. In 1871, the English Rugby Union came into being and gave everyone standard rules. Before this, teams would just decide on the rules before the game.
The Last Season 1960
On Jan. 3, 1961 the University of Scranton discontinued the football program. The program had been losing money for more than a decade primarily due to poor attendance at the games. University President the Very Rev. John J. Long, S. J. stated: "attendance at this sport, following a national pattern, continues to dwindle while the cost of fielding a team steadily increases. This can be attributed in part to the influence of television in changing the habits of sports fans who now prefer to watch top college and professional teams in the comfort of their homes instead of attending the games of their home college teams."
According to the Aquinas the University decided to use the money that had been supporting the football program for other purposes. "The main factor is the rapid expansion of the University. The need of bigger and better buildings, and the necessity to acquire more professors to cope with the rapidly increasing student body, enhance the discontinuation decree."
While some members of the University community complained about the discontinuation of football program, the University of Scranton hung onto its program longer than many other Jesuit schools. Georgetown, Marquette, and former rivals Fordham, St. Joseph's, and Canisius had all dropped football earlier than the University of Scranton.
Pete Carlesimo remained as athletic director. He finished his career as football coach with a record of 80-60-4.
The team, counting since Jack Harding arrived, had accumulated a 164-110-19 record.
Although the varsity football team would no longer compete, the sport continue to be played at the University. An intramural team had been in existence during the 1950s and that team continued to play football into the early 1970s.
A Decade of Struggle the 1950s
In 1951, as the conflict in Korea heated up, conscription returned to American college campuses. Once again freshman would be eligible for varsity competition. Seventy men turned out to try for a place on the Royals squad but only 13 of these men were returning letterman. Nonetheless, the team roared out of the gate winning their first four in convincing fashion. In fact the first three games were shutouts. But the season went downhill as the team tied its fifth game and then lost the next three before beating Waynesboro 12-0 in the finale for a 5-3-1 record.
While the team had put in three successful seasons, and had won The Middle Atlantic conference title for the past three years, game attendance was dropping. The Aquinas blamed the growing popularity of television. Many football fans were staying home or spending the afternoon in the neighborhood tavern watching big-name college teams play on television. The Aquinas suggested that the University start playing its football games on Sunday afternoon. In the mid-1950s professional football was not yet a major television sport.
Carlesimo was not optimistic about the 1952 season. The squad was slow, inexperienced, and had little depth. "We have only one full back, two guards and one center with varsity experience." Carlesimo also was concerned that the team did not have enough experienced players to field a two-platoon squad. The use of separate offensive and defensive teams had become a trend in college football. The Aquinas noted that some fans were complaining that the schedule was too easy. The team did have an easy time with its first three opponents winning by a total score of 98-19, including a 33-7 victory over Bloomsburg who came into the game with a 12 game winning streak. As a result school spirit and game attendance picked up. But for the rest of the season the team faced competitive opponents and lost two games, ending the season 6-2-0. During the season halfback Jim Lavery set the school record for rushing piling up 1094 yards in 114 carries; he also led the East in rushing. He would graduate in 1955 as the all-time leading rusher at the University with 2346 yards and an average of 7.14 yards per carry.
Carlesimo characterized the 1953 squad as a "representative team." The team started with a loss before winning the next two convincingly. After that it was a win one, lose one, tie one kind of a season. The team finished 5-3-1 which was, more or less, a representative year. The high point of the season was a 32-7 victory over St. Vincent's, a team that had defeated the Royals the previous two years. The low point was a 19-0 loss to Albright, a team the Royals had defeated the previous two years.
Although the team had been having successful seasons, game attendance was low. The May 20, 1954 Aquinas featured an article titled Must Football Sing Its Swan Song so Soon? "They tell us that next year football must practically pack the park or else pack and depart." The columnist, Joe DiNicola, suggested that the University team up with Marywood ROTC to stage "spectacular half-time shows." He also suggested constant citywide pep rallies and that the school dump the the "sissified name of Royals and officially re-adopt the name Tommies." Finally, he recognized that Scranton may be a "ghost town" what came to sports. But he wanted football to go down fighting.
Carlesimo was optimistic going into the 1954 season. "Our prospects for '54 look bright, with a veteran backfield and a good line, though weak in spots." He qualified his optimism by saying that the team was playing a "enterprising" schedule and he would consider this a successful season if they could better last year's 5-3-1 record. The season opened with a loss to Hofstra but the Royals followed with four consecutive wins including a 40-12 route of Franklin & Marshall. Unfortunately, the "Carlesimomen" were then shut out by Temple 20-0 before finishing the season with a victory over King's to finish the season 5-2-0.
Although 16 letterman had returned for the 1955 season, 16 letterman had also graduated. Carlesimo said "... the situation isn't too bright." Among the graduating players was Jim Lavery who was called the "the greatest offensive star in the history of the school." To make things even worse the team faced Temple in its first game; (the scheduled opener against Hofstra had been canceled due to Hurricane Diane) and Temple had shut out the Royals 20-0 late in the 1954 season. But the team's spirits were lifted by a good scrimmage against Cornell. They went into Philadelphia with fire in their eyes and came out with the 20-6 victory over Temple. A 14-13 victory over St. Vincent's followed but the Royals then lost to Upsala 24-6 in the deluge of a tropical storm. After that the Royals won the rest of their games finishing the season 6-1-0.
Once again Carlesimo was concerned about the loss of letterman and the overall lack of depth and experience in the numerically small squad. "It'll be tough to match last year's record. In fact, we'll be lucky to win more than we lose." The coach was right to be concerned. The 1956 season was a disaster at the worst possible time. Football revenues had been declining and attendance dropping even though the team had been achieving winning seasons. The Royals were trounced 31-0 by American International in the opening game. And it was all downhill from there. The team lost its first six games before beating Pennsylvania Military College 34-21. The Purple and White then lost the final game to Albright ending with a 1-7-0 record. Game attendance started small and dwindled. The first game drew 2593 fans, the second, 1020. By the time of the Royals fifth loss, a 14-0 defeat in by Muhlenberg, only 263 fans attended the game.
"If we break even this season, we'll consider it successful." Carlesimo was very cautious about the chances for his team in 1957 after the debacle of the 1956 season. As usual the team was inexperienced and numerically small. When asked what he thought the chances were that the team would better last season's 1-7 record Carlesimo responded "Good, if injuries are kept to a minimum." The team started well with a 20-0 victory over Albright. Unfortunately the team was quickly riddled by injuries and dropped the next two games. The team recovered with the 34-0 victory over King's College, but lost two more before ending the season with a victory over Wilkes for a 3-4-0 record.
Carlesimo was a little more hopeful concerning the 1958 season due to the return of 15 letterman. Unfortunately, the team started off with two shut out losses to Boston College and Juniata College. The team reversed direction with a 26-0 route of King's College and a 7-0 defeat of Temple in a mud bowl. Two more victories followed including a 21-0 victory over Waynesburg College that featured halfback Joe Belucci filling in as quarterback. Starting quarterback Ed Zelinski was injured in the game and the second and third string quarterbacks were both already out of action. The Royals end of the season by defeating Wilkes but losing to Albright in their final game for a 5-3-0 record.
Information on the football team during its last couple years is difficult to come by. The athletic department records for the football team in 1959 and 60 consist mainly of game contracts, financial reports, and advertising solicitations. The team was barely surviving and apparently much of Carlesimo's energy went into fund-raising. In an effort get people into the football stadium Carlesimo tried some innovative scheduling. Since national broadcasts of college football kept people home on Saturday afternoons, Carlesimo scheduled some games for Saturday morning. According to the Aquinas, Scranton was the first college or university to "try such a stunt."
The Purple and White suffered a homecoming and opening game defeat to Muhlenberg as a kickoff to the 1959 season. The team also lost sophomore halfback Nick Volpetti when he broke his ankle in the second half after gaining 58 yards in eight carries earlier in the game. In the next game the Royals managed to upset Temple and then went on to defeat Drexel before suffering an unexpected loss to King's. But the Royals rebounded with a 19-6 defeat of heavily favored Albright. The Royals split the last four games losing to Juniata and Hofstra then beating American International and Wilkes to end the season with a 5-4-0 record. Center and linebacker Leo Broadhurst was named to be Pennsylvania All-State squad for the second year in a row and was also named to the Williamson Little All-American Team. A proposal was made to retire Broadhurst's number, 52.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
War and Change the 1940s
The five-week spring 1940 training season was quite busy attempting to fill gaps left by the previous year's graduates. Jones also selected new assistant coaches including recent graduate Les Dickman to serve as a backfield coach. Finally the team was planning to play in the new Scranton stadium.
The Tomcats started promisingly with a 13-0 victory over Davis-Elkins followed by a 20-19 victory over St. Ansel. Old rival St. Bonaventure beat the Tommies 10-7 but the Purple and White came back the next week to beat Toledo. After that disaster struck. The Tomcats were routed by Marshall 50-6 in one of the worst defeats they had ever suffered. The team would not win another game that season losing two more and tying two and ending the season with a 3-4-2 record. Once again school spirit was also a problem. An early season pep rally held by the Chamber Of Commerce attracted only five students.
Initially the team thought that it would take the field having lost seven graduating seniors. But as the war in Europe got hotter and conscription started in the United States, the team lost two players to the National Guard. On top of that the team also lost a couple of men to injuries before the season started. Nonetheless the team started well, winning its first three games but then the season fell apart as more injuries hurt the squad. The Tommies lost two in a row, beat LaSalle, tied Niagara, and lost the final game of the season. They finished with a 4-3-1 record.
After America entered the war many colleges began dropping sports. Frank O'Hara stated "If opponents can be booked there will definitely be a football team." Three teams on the 1942 schedule, Lasalle Niagara and St. Francis, dropped football during the spring of 1942 leaving the University trying to set up games with military camps. Colleges that did not drop sports allowed freshmen to compete on varsity teams in order to make up the manpower shortage. The football team suffered another problem when a flood that swept through the Lackawanna Valley flooded Athletic Park where the University's football equipment was stored.
In spite of all these problems the Tommies were optimistic at the beginning of the season. They defeated Canisius in the opener (the first of two victorious meetings with their old rival) but then lost to the Army team of Fort Monmouth. Among their new military opponents, the Purple and White tied the Lakehurst Naval Station and beat Fort Totten ending the season 5-4-1. There is a mystery concerning the end of the 1942 season. The summary sheet in the athletic department records for 1942 lists the season record as 5-4-1 but only shows nine games. Furthermore the last game it shows is a November 21 victory over Marshall 34-7 in a game played in Huntington WV. The Aquinas and the Scranton Times show the Tommies having lost 27-0 to the Manhattan Beach Coast Guard team on Nov. 22 and then finishing the season with a 34-7 victory over Camp Kilmer on Nov. 28. Lt. Jack Dempsey, former heavyweight boxing champion and Manhattan Coast Guard director of physical education, had been scheduled to appear at the Nov. 22 game and to speak at halftime. This expected appearance had taken on the aura of a public celebration with an official welcome planned. Dempsey's failure to show without warning disappointed fans as much as the loss did. According to the Coast Guard he had been transferred to the West Coast and members of the team said it was a "naval secret." The 10th game of the season, a victory over Camp Joyce Kilmer on a muddy snow covered field, was an unofficial post-season game to support a war relief fund promoted by the West Side Lions Club of Wilkes-Barre.
In March 1943 football coach Robert "Pops" Jones resigned his position to accept a job on the YMCA recreational staff. He departed with an 11-11-4 record and a reputation for having been a hard driver with a brusque manner. Pete Carlesimo became head coach. He had been hired the previous year as assistant coach. Carlesimo, who would become the University's longest lasting head coach, had graduated from Fordham in 1940. He had played guard at Fordham and had served as replacement for captain Mike Kochel on the "seven blocks of granite."
Carlesimo was unable to field a varsity team in 1943 and the season was canceled. They did however play an unofficial season. The team lost to Wyoming Seminary 7-6, defeated St. John's of Pittston 7-6, beat St. Dominic's 13-0, and lost again to Wyoming Seminary 20-6.
Football returned to the University of Scranton in 1944. Carlesimo fielded a 29 man squad, including Tommy Flanagan, possibly the University's first African-American athlete, who was the star of the season. Carlesimo brought the "T" formation to Scranton in 1944. The season started with a 6-0 upset victory over Franklin and Marshall. Besides only fielding fewer than 30 players against Franklin Marshall's 55 players, the Scranton team was also one of the few all civilian football squads playing in college football that year. Most teams were a combination of civilians and military inductees. The Tomcats then lost to Villanova 13-7 and to Michigan state 40-12. The team rebounded with a 39-0 trouncing of the Bloomsburg Naval Unit but then lost to the Atlantic City Naval Air Base squad 21-7 and to the Naval Academy Plebes 18-6. Although the Tomcats lost to the Naval Academy, they were the first team to score on the Plebes in Annapolis in five years. Unfortunately the Tomcats were then trounced by the Sampson Naval Training Unit 39-0. Although the team lost in a landslide, Tom Flanagan provided much of the Tomcats offense and prevented the rout from getting any worse by single-handedly preventing three touchdowns. The team finished the season with a 32-6 victory over the Bloomsburg Naval Unit for a 3-5-0 record.
The 1945 season saw the team back up to normal strength, fielding 40 players. Once again the University played a mix of colleges and military service teams. Once again the young Purple and White team played to mixed results ending the season with a 4-4-1 record. The low point came with a 42-0 trouncing by Detroit University but the Tommies did manage to beat the City College of New York 27-0. The team also featured the services of Anthony Capone who weighed in at 315 pounds and played tackle. Bob Streeter of Bucknell University wrote to the department of athletics at the University of Scranton inquiring about Capone "Am I seeing things, or does your reserve tackle, Capone, actually weigh 315 pounds?...If he actually is that big, would you please send me a collect wire confirming that fact." Team captain Len Modzelesky, left tackle, was named to the Associated Press All Pennsylvania College Eleven.
The team struggled again in 1946 as it slowly returned to an all college schedule. One major change occurred. Even though the school had been the University of Scranton for almost a decade, the team was still being called the Tomcats as they had been during the days of St. Thomas College. Rev. John J. Conif, S J. Director of Athletics announced that the team would now be called the Royals. A contest had been held to solicit new names for the team but none of the submissions were approved by the administration. Consequently the new team name was picked by a University official. The nearest runners up, who all received a five dollar prize, were Royal Purple, Pioneers, Knights, Laurels, and Warriors. Most were rejected because other teams already had the name.
The season started on a good note with a 26-6 drubbing of Lock Haven State Teachers College. This however was followed by a 32-13 defeat at the hands of Detroit University and a 33-7 defeat to St. Bonaventure. The team rebounded with a rout of Fort Monmouth and a solid defeat of Albright. Unfortunately the Royals lost all but one of the remaining games, a 13-13 tie with Canisius. They ended the season with a 4-5-1 record.
As had often been the case, fan turnout and school spirit was low throughout the season. An Aquinas column chastised the student body for its low turnout and condemned fans who spent the game berating coach Carlesimo.
One wonders whether the 1947 schedule, which only featured three home games as opposed to six away games, was a response to the negative fan reaction of the previous year. The Royals lost their first away game convincingly to Dayton University 28-6. But then Scranton team turned the season around quickly. They routed American International 54-6 and Niagara 39-6 and defeated the next two opponents, Youngstown University at home and Canisius away. The next home game featured a 43-0 rout of Albright. Unfortunately the team had a letdown near the end of the season losing two of their last three and ending the season 6-3-0.
But school spirit had picked up. The Youngstown victory helped turn the school's Homecoming Celebration into "the greatest display of college spirit ever witnessed at the University of Scranton" according to the Aquinas. And a large pep rally preceded the Royals destruction of Albright. Although the season ended with two losses in their last three games the Royals had four players nominated for All-American honors on the American Football Coaches Association squad.
While the 1948 team put in another good 6-3-0 season, the team didn't catch fire until the middle of the season. They only won two of the first five games before finishing 4-0. This season started with a victory over Moravian but that game was followed by a 13-0 defeat at the hands of Boston University and an 18-14 defeat by Muhlenberg. The team rebounded against Lebanon Valley but lost to Canisius before finishing the season with four consecutive wins including shutouts of St. Vincent's and Albright. Team captain Len Modzelesky was nominated as a first string tackle on Pennsylvania's All-State eleven. Even more impressive, Modzelesky and quarterback Mike DeNoia signed contracts with the San Francisco 49ers.
Spring training season in 1949 offered something new for Royals fans. The team played full-fledged scrimmages against other college opponents. The Royals traveled to Colgate where they played to a 32-32 tie. Syracuse visited Scranton and played a three and a half hour, seven period, scrimmage which resulted in a 24-18 Syracuse victory.
The 1949 season was a so-so affair. The team ended the season with a 5-5-0 record and was outscored by its opponents 211-150. Perhaps the biggest disappointment of the season was a 33-13 loss to Fordham, Carlesimo's first game against his alma mater, on homecoming day. The only highlights of the season were convincing victories against Niagara, Lebanon Valley, and perennial punching bag Albright. The team suffered its most lopsided loss in recorded memory a 54-0 defeat at the hands of Dayton. But the school also inaugurated a "Dad's Day" game which fortunately turned out to be a 33-6 defeat of Albright. Guard Al Applegate was selected as a number of the Associated Press All-Pennsylvania Second Team. Halfback Tony Orsini and tackle Jim McHale were given honorable mentions. Fullback Pete Mondati was drafted by the Chicago Bears but then traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Unfortunately, he was not happy at being turned into a blocking back by the Steelers and left the team
The Glory Years the 1930s
The 1931 season proved to be quite disappointing as the team only managed two wins against six losses and one tie. The team suffered quite a few injuries during the season including the loss of star tackle Cyril Gallagher who sustained three broken ribs during the St. Bonaventure game. He was elected captain for the '32 season. The season also saw the debut of the St. Thomas College marching band during a pre-Thanksgiving day game parade. As usual, the team lost the Thanksgiving day game to Canisius.
The 1932 season started with two losses. But then St. Thomas turned it around and won all but one of the next eight games for a 7-3-0 record. St. Thomas routed the Notre Dame "B" squad 24-6. The team also routed La Salle and the University of Baltimore. But the sweetest victory came on Thanksgiving day when St. Thomas defeated Canisius 26-0 snapping a six-year jinx whose bright spot had been a tie in 1927. The students celebrated by parading a Canisius casket through town. The successful season was capped by the selection of tackle Lea Ratomess to play in the North-South game under coach Jock Sutherland of Pitt. This was the first St. Thomas player to be selected for an all-star team.
Nineteen thirty-three turned out to be Jack Harding's best year as coach. The team had a 7-1 record losing only to Davis-Elkins in their last game by one point. The team only allowed 21 points in the entire season and 13 of those points were scored by Davis-Elkins on Thanksgiving day. Canisius had been dropped from the schedule and Davis-Elkins took over the Thanksgiving slot. The West Virginia team came into the game undefeated but was out-played by the Tomcats. Nonetheless the visitors squeaked by with a one point victory.
Harding began the 1934 season stating that he was fielding a tough squad but that he doubted it could match the record of the previous year. The team had lost too many starting players to maintain the same high quality of performance on the field. Harding was right and team struggled to a 3-4-1 record with a notable romp over Brooklyn City College 42-0 and a Thanksgiving day 14-0 victory over Davis-Elkins providing the season's only highlights. The most unusual game of the season was a 2-0 loss to North Dakota at home. North Dakota may have been the most distant opponent St. Thomas ever faced.
A .500 season was all the Tomcats could manage in 1935 during an injury plagued season. Another Western opponent appeared. This year the University of San Antonio handed the Tomcats a 7-6 defeat. The Aquinas complained about poor student turnout for home games and encouraged the cheerleaders to come up with some new cheers that might rev up the student body.
The 1936 squad started slowly with a sluggish victory then a scoreless tie and two losses, the last coming to San Antonio. The Aquinas published a somewhat critical editorial on the team's performance in its October 16th issue. The October 23rd Aquinas featured a dogged defense of Coach Harding signed by the football team. This little joust with the school newspaper may have increased the team's determination because the second half of the season found the team undefeated, suffering only a scoreless tie during the Thanksgiving day game with LaSalle. The Purple and White ended the season with a 5-2-2 record. The November 1st victory against Mount St. Mary's became a newsreel feature. Fox News filmed the game and showed the highlights in Fox theaters around the country. Another first for the school arrived when students were allowed to bring their girlfriends into the student section of the stands for games.
St. Thomas college was stunned when Jack Harding resigned his position in February 1937 to become head coach at Miami University. Harding stated "this is an opportunity that I can't afford to miss" about leaving for Florida. He had however been offered the position before and had turned it down. The Aquinas speculated that continuing financial problems in the athletic department may have been the cause. Harding completed his tenure at St. Thomas with a football record of 53 victories, 36 defeats, and 8 ties. Tom Davies became the new had football coach and Robert "Pop" Jones became his assistant, moving up from his position as freshman coach.
The groundwork established by Jack Harding in turning St. Thomas into a real college football team was built upon by his successor. Tom Davies was a University of Pittsburgh graduate who came to St. Thomas with 15 years of coaching experience including nine years as head coach at the University of Rochester.
Davies started the 1937 season by closing training camp to visitors. He also started the season with a substantial core of veteran players from previous year. Davies was cautious however and he stated that he only found the team's prospects fair. The season proved that Davies was being overly cautious as the Tomcats marched to a 6-1-1 record including, finally, a victory over San Antonio. The team suffered one tragedy during the season when team physician and professor of anatomy, Charles Thomson, died from a heart attack shortly after the St. Joseph game in Philadelphia. He complained of indigestion the night before but had performed his duties during the game then collapsed outside the players' dressing room after the contest.
A major change had occurred for St. Thomas college prior to the start of the 1938 season. St. Thomas college was no more, the school would now be referred to as the University of Scranton. This had little impact on the football team which would continue to go by its traditional variety of names, Tomcats, Tommies, and Purple and White.
Davies had reason for concern at the start of the 1938 season. Twelve seniors had left the team after the 37 season. But the team came roaring out of the gate and defeated St. Francis 32-0. Davies however was concerned about the quality of play in the opening victory and warned that the team would have to perform at a higher level to beat perennial nemesis Canisius. The team beat that old rival but lost to St. Bonaventure, another team that often spoiled Tomcat seasons. The Purple and White did turn in a 7-2 season in spite of continuing complaints about the lack of school spirit and poor cheering during games. School spirit did increase during the course of season; perhaps the students sensed something.
The 1939 team once again suffered from a lack of veterans. Nine starting players had graduated, including the center and both starting guards. Davies provided a typically cautious, if not to say pessimistic, assessment of his teams prospects. "We hope to win half our games this year, but...I don't know. Our best bet is to build for the future, next year and the year after, and not expect too much from the squad this season." If Davies truly believed this he was in for the surprise of his career.
The Tommies began the season, playing a night game, with a 33-0 rout of St. Francis, but followed that with a 0-0 tie with Canisius. The team defeated Lasalle and then went to New York for a novelty. When the University of Scranton met the City College of New York on Oct. 14 the game would be televised by NBC. According to the Aquinas this was only the third football game ever televised. Fortunately for the Tommies, although perhaps not so fortunately for most television viewers, the University of Scranton squad overwhelmed CCNY 31-0. The team squeaked by Toledo then roundly defeated Marshall 20-0. Snow, a muddy field, and the stubborn St. Vincent team-who had lost to the Tomcats in each of the past five years-almost derailed the University of Scranton's try for an undefeated season. The Tommies hung on to a 7-7 tie in a game characterized as a punting duel. The Purple and White rounded out the season with a 28-0 rout of St. Bonaventure, an old jinx team, and a 21-20 victory over Niagara. The Tommies had finally completed an undefeated 7-0-2 season and the student body celebrated by skipping class on the following Monday. Walter Stascavage proved to be the high scorer of the season even though he had missed two games due to injury. He was also honored by being placed on the second team of the All-Lithuanian team picked by Tiesa, the newspaper of the Association of Lithuanian Workers, Inc. Carl Tomasello and John Rogalla were signed by the New York Giants.
Building the Program the 1920s
During the next decade Harding, reportedly a student of Pop Warner but certainly a student of a Warner disciple, raised the level of athletics at the college. No longer would the football team contend against high schools and 2-year colleges. St. Thomas would compete against other small four-year colleges.
Harding was not instantly successful in revamping the St. Thomas football squad. In 1927 an extended editorial in The Aquinas criticized the college and the student body for not supporting the team properly. The team had started by winning its first four games, tying its next game, then losing its next four. Apparently most of the teams St. Thomas was playing, and specifically those it was losing to, had training quarters dedicated to the football team. According to the editorial St. Thomas players suffered from not spending enough time together, not eating together, and not bunking together. According to a survey conducted by the editorial's author many of the players lived outside of Scranton, some commuting more than 20 miles to school. All this commuting took a toll on the team's stamina which showed during the second half of the season. Coach Harding echoed this desire for a training camp during the annual awards banquet in April 1928.
The 1928 season opened at Camp Coffee, the new football training camp, at Lake Lodore near Carbondale. The team lost its first two games, including a narrow loss in its opener to powerhouse Temple. The team won its third game but followed this with three consecutive scoreless ties and ended the season with three victories for a 4-2-3 record.
St. Thomas scheduled a nine game season in 1929 featuring all strong teams and eliminating its weaker opponents from previous seasons. The football team paid a price for its boldness by starting the season with three consecutive losses. But the team rebounded with five consecutive victories before losing its final game of the season and ending with a 5-4-0 record.
The History of Football at the University of Scranton 1892-1961
According to available information, gleaned from Scranton newspapers, the team played at least three games in 1902 under Coach Gilbert. The team lost to Keystone Academy but defeated Old Forge and Tunkhannock. A junior athletic club football team fielded a squad in 1903 playing teams under 14 years of age. And there is a record of two more games in 1904. W. J. Fitzgerald, class of 1903, reminisced in 1931 about the early days of St. Thomas college. The team ran the "flying wedge" offense. The offense featured a center and quarterback in the middle of the field with the other players lined up further away and behind the line on both sides of the center. The other players would then run toward the center and as they reached the scrimmage line the center would snap the ball to the quarterback and the wedge, with running momentum, would plow into the defense. Defenses eventually learned to counteract this attack by cutting the oncoming offense players off below the knee. A 1935 alumni reunion featured some stories about the Tommies' first football game. Unfortunately the players could not remember the name of the opponent and the year is not given in the article about the reunion. The reminiscing players, Hugh Ruddy, Charles Webber, Jim Cooney, Joe Weir, and Richard Miller, related that the Tommies were being so badly beaten at halftime that there was no more room on the score sheet for more figures. Richard Beamish, former secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, volunteered to coach the team during the second half. Under his coaching the team was not scored upon. The game was called on account of darkness before the Tomcats could mount a comeback. They did however face the same opponent a few weeks later and defeated them. Unfortunately there is such scanty information about these early years that it may prove impossible to pinpoint either the year or the game. In 1908 the Tommies went undefeated and unscored upon. Only one game was played in 1909 before the college suspended the sport. Apparently there had been concern over injuries because the college removed the ban on playing football in 1910 and mentioned some rule revisions to reduce the likelihood of injury. The 1910 season featured at October 29 contest with Lackawanna Business College during which the St. Thomas team walked off the field because of a disputed call by a referee. The game was rescheduled and St. Thomas defeated Lackawanna Business College 5-0. But after the 1911 season football was dropped. It was officially reinstalled in 1916. And while the decision was made to form a football team there was no real season. The Aquinas tersely noted in its October issue "On account of school opening so late, (October 9), it has been decided to abandon starting football this season." In late October however, a game was played between the junior and sophomore classes resulting in a 18-0 victory for the sophomores. The Athletic Board arranged a Thanksgiving Day game with Technical High School. More than 3,000 people watched a muddy 6-6 tie game at Athletic Park. On Dec. 9, 300 fans sat in the cold rain to see St. Thomas lose to Central High School 6-0. And so ended the season. But football had been reestablished and would remain a varsity sport through 1960. The 1917 St. Thomas football season was quite successful. St. Thomas was undefeated enduring only a 3-3 tie with Union High School of Endicott NY. With the exception of a field-goal and a safety, St. Thomas was not scored upon by the assortment of high school and pickup teams the college contended with during its six game schedule. St. Thomas would continue playing similar schedules into the mid '20s. Since there were no other neighboring two-year colleges, the team continue to play high schools, normal schools, and business colleges. The team was coached by Bill Moore, who was "physical director" of the Catholic Club. Moore apparently coached the Tommies without remuneration. Even with good game attendance football was not bringing in enough money in Scranton.
History of Football
The college campuses of Ivy League schools all played similar variations of football through the mid 1800’s. Then shortly after the end of the Civil War around the 1860’s some of the colleges began playing organized football. Princeton University frontiered some of the basic rules of football and the game became patented. It seems odd to be able to patent a game but nonetheless the sport began to grow. The first football game in college football history was then played in 1869 between Princeton and Rutgers with Rutgers as the victor thus producing football history.
College Football History took another big step in 1873 when a number of colleges met to form the first rules of the game and established the amount of players on each squad. The coach for Yale, Walter Camp assisted the final step in the change from rugby style football to the American style. He limited the number of players to eleven on each team and sized the football field to 110 yards. He then created the downs system in 1882 which was originally three downs to gain 5 yards and then changed to 4 downs to gain 10 yards.
Without proper safety equipment at the time the sport had become extremely brutal and dangerous to all the players. There were even a number of deaths that had taken place in the sport. It had become such a serious problem that the President of the time Teddy Roosevelt summoned a change and helped implement a group of 7 selected members to govern a rules organization and save football history. This committee eventually became the NCAA or National Athletic Association which we all know today.
The committee formed a number of new rules including the forward pass and a number of safety measures which penalized players for roughness and unsafe acts. Football history was changed when a common practice for the time of locking arms and blocking in unison which was rightfully made illegal as well. The game was shortened to the sixty minutes that we play today and a neutral zone between the offense and defense was also incorporated.
The development of the sport led to an inevitable expansion into the college football area. College football history has since flourished into an incredible weekly spectacle. Hundreds of college teams now compete each year under the guidelines of the NCAA. Numerous college divisions now have conferences and all have hopes of winning a major New Year’s Day Bowl. The history of football and nostalgia are alive in well in college football today.
Professional football was first played around 1895 and in 1920 the APFA or American Professional Football Association was formed. It was renamed to what we all know today as the NFL or National Football League in 1922. The NFL started slow and in the mid forties only had ten teams. A major merger then took place in 1970 that combined the 16 NFL teams with the 10 AFL teams to make one large association with two conferences. The expansion continued to the now 32 team league and professional football has grown tremendously since it’s beginnings in 1869 from one college game to a billion dollar empire. So goes the history of football.