American Association (American football)
Sport | Northeast Football League, Atlantic Coast Football League |
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The American Association (AA) was a professional
The American Association was the first minor football league with a working arrangement with the
In the late 1930s and 1940s, the league enjoyed popularity comparable to that of the more established
The Atlantic Coast Football League originally established itself in several former American Association markets (reviving some of the team names as well) and hiring the same president, Joe Rosentover, when it began play in 1962.
Origin of league
The American Association was formed after a proposal by
From 1936 to 1937, there was at least one "groupie" team that never joined the league, but played the bulk of its games against AA franchises: the Harlem Brown Bombers, a
American Association (1936–1941)
1936
While the league did not have official divisions, several sources show the membership divided into a “New York Division” (NY) and a “New Jersey Division” (NJ). Teams are ranked by win percentage.
Team | W | L | T | Pct. | PF | PA [1] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Paterson Panthers (NJ) | 4 | 1 | 0 | .800 | 59 | 13 |
Brooklyn Bay Parkways (NY) | 4 | 2 | 2 | .667 | 86 | 32 |
New Rochelle Bulldogs (NY) | 3 | 2 | 1 | .600 | 30 | 40 |
Mt. Vernon Cardinals (NY) | 3 | 2 | 0 | .600 | 37 | 42 |
Orange Tornadoes (NJ) | 4 | 4 | 0 | .500 | 54 | 55 |
Passaic Red Devils (NJ) | 3 | 5 | 0 | .375 | 33 | 76 |
White Plains Bears (NY) | 2 | 4 | 0 | .333 | 27 | 40 |
Stapleton Buffaloes (NJ) | 1 | 4 | 1 | .200 | 26 | 54 |
Playoffs: Brooklyn 18, New Rochelle 0; Paterson 10, Orange 0 (Mt. Vernon declined to participate in playoffs)
Championship: Brooklyn wins title after Paterson withdraws (Paterson stays in the league)
In the first game of a series between the AA champion and the winners of the
1937
Passaic dropped out due to stadium issues and was replaced by the Brooklyn Bushwicks and the
While the league was "unofficially divided" into two divisions in its first year, the realigned American Association was put into two official divisions for 1937: a Northern and a Southern division. For the 1937 season only, standings were based on two points per win and one point per tie.
Point totals do not include 1-0 forfeit scores.
The 1937 championship game matched the Newark Tornadoes against the White Plains Bears, whihch ended in a 3-3 tie. Newark suggested an extra period to end the game, with the blessing of the league commissioner provided that White Plains agreed, but the Bears refused and the title was shared.[2]
Northern Division
Team | W | L | T | Pct. | PF | PA | Pts.[1] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
White Plains Bears | 3 | 2 | 1 | .600 | 19 | 49 | 7 |
Danbury Trojans | 3 | 1 | 0 | .750 | 58 | 0 | 6 |
New Rochelle Bulldogs | 3 | 6 | 0 | .333 | 62 | 65 | 6 |
Brooklyn Bushwicks | 1 | 4 | 1 | .200 | 17 | 74 | 3 |
Mt. Vernon Cardinals | 1 | 6 | 1 | .143 | 14 | 88 | 3 |
Southern Division
Team | W | L | T | Pct. | PF | PA | Pts.[1] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Newark Tornadoes
|
6 | 1 | 3 | .857 | 96 | 31 | 15 |
Paterson Panthers
|
4 | 1 | 1 | .800 | 95 | 7 | 9 |
Brooklyn Eagles | 4 | 3 | 1 | .571 | 35 | 62 | 9 |
New York Tigers | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 20 | 0 |
Championship: Newark 3, Paterson 3 (co-champions declared when Paterson refused to play the suggested overtime period)
1938
Gone were Mt. Vernon, New Rochelle, and White Plains; the Clifton Wessingtons received the rights to White Plains' 1937 team and joined the AA for 1938; and the Brooklyn Bushwicks moved to Union City, New Jersey, and became the Rams. Tim Mara, New York Giants owner, purchased the Stapleton franchise, moved it to Jersey City, New Jersey, and made it the first farm team in professional football. Bill Owen, brother of Steve Owen, managed the team. A number of former New York Giant players were on the New Jersey team, including Ken Strong, who was barred from the NFL club until 1939 after defecting to the New York Yankees of the second American Football League in 1936.
In the lineup of the Brooklyn Eagles was a reserve guard who eventually made his mark as a head coach:
Down to seven teams, the league decided to scrap the divisional alignment for 1938. In addition, there were no plans for championship playoffs: the championship was determined strictly by winning percentage (ignoring tie games).
Team | W | L | T | Pct. | PF | PA [1] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jersey City Giants | 7 | 1 | 0 | .875 | 133 | 7 |
Danbury Trojans | 4 | 1 | 1 | .800 | 67 | 26 |
Paterson Panthers
|
6 | 3 | 0 | .667 | 114 | 60 |
Brooklyn Eagles
|
3 | 5 | 1 | .375 | 81 | 70 |
Union City Rams | 2 | 5 | 1 | .286 | 52 | 121 |
Newark Tornadoes
|
2 | 5 | 0 | .286 | 28 | 119 |
Clifton Wessingtons | 1 | 5 | 1 | .167 | 27 | 199 |
No playoffs: Jersey City was declared league champions
1939
A year after Tim Mara bought the Jersey City Giants and used it as a farm team for his New York Giants NFL franchise, the AA underwent more change in 1939. Gone was Clifton, but the league returned to a two-division, eight team format as the
Northern Division
Team | W | L | T | Pct. | PF | PA [1] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Paterson Panthers
|
7 | 5 | 0 | .583 | 145 | 115 |
Providence Steamroller
|
3 | 4 | 0 | .429 | 53 | 89 |
Danbury Trojans | 0 | 5 | 1 | .000 | 26 | 114 |
Brooklyn Eagles
|
0 | 7 | 1 | .000 | 26 | 140 |
Southern Division
Team | W | L | T | Pct. | PF | PA [1] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Newark Bears | 6 | 2 | 1 | .750 | 122 | 71 |
Wilmington Clippers | 9 | 3 | 1 | .750 | 158 | 66 |
Jersey City Giants | 7 | 3 | 1 | .700 | 148 | 52 |
Union City Rams | 2 | 5 | 2 | .286 | 82 | 113 |
Championship: Newark 27, Paterson 7
1940
Brooklyn, Danbury, and Union City dropped out in the offseason; the Long Island Indians join the league for the 1940 season... and was promptly raided by members of the new American Football League and lost four starters. The rest of the American Association was similarly hurt by defections to the new league (the Boston Shamrocks, champions of the AFL in both 1940 and 1941, got the bulk of its roster by raiding the Indians and the Steamroller).[1]
Back to only six teams, the AA instituted a
Team | W | L | T | Pct. | PF | PA [1] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jersey City Giants | 6 | 3 | 1 | .667 | 104 | 46 |
Paterson Panthers
|
6 | 4 | 0 | .600 | 106 | 133 |
Wilmington Clippers | 5 | 4 | 1 | .556 | 139 | 64 |
Newark Bears | 5 | 5 | 1 | .500 | 136 | 121 |
Long Island Indians | 5 | 5 | 1 | .500 | 88 | 123 |
Providence Steamroller | 2 | 8 | 0 | .200 | 41 | 127 |
Standings include two forfeits by Providence; the point totals do not. Providence dropped out of the league November 12, 1940, but was expected to return for the 1941 season.
Playoffs: Newark and Long Island tied for the last playoff spot. The two teams played to a 0-0 tie on December 1, 1940. A rematch scheduled for December 5 was cancelled due to snow; the league broke the tie with a best three-of-five
Semifinal games: Jersey City 7, Newark 6; Wilmington 11, Paterson 8
Championship: Jersey City 17, Wilmington 7
1941
While Tim Mara sold the Jersey City Giants, the team was sold to the owners of the N.F.L.'s
The 1941 New York Yankees was not the same team as the
Team | W | L | T | Pct. | PF | PA [1] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Long Island Indians | 8 | 2 | 0 | .800 | 176 | 45 |
Paterson Panthers
|
6 | 2 | 2 | .750 | 142 | 72 |
Wilmington Clippers | 4 | 3 | 2 | .571 | 120 | 77 |
Jersey City Giants | 4 | 4 | 2 | .500 | 47 | 99 |
Newark Bears | 3 | 6 | 0 | .333 | 62 | 105 |
Providence Steamroller | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 7 | 24 |
New York Yankees | 0 | 6 | 0 | .000 | 13 | 143 |
Playoffs: Wilmington 33, Paterson 0; Long Island 7, Jersey City 6
Championship: Wilmington 21, Long Island 13
1942
The Hartford Blues[4] were expected to replace the New York Yankees for the 1942 season; the Churchill Pros[5] (based in Springfield, Massachusetts) were enlisted to replace Providence when the team became the new Springfield Steamroller.[6]
American Association president John Rosentover announced in August 1942, that the AA was following the lead of the third American Football League, in that the league was suspending operations due to World War II.
Despite the absence of the AA, there was an unofficial "league" operating in the area - the Northeast Football League,[7] with an informal association of teams that operated since 1940.[1] To the already existing Blues, Steamroller, Wilmington Clippers and Paterson Panthers[8] joined the newly formed Holyoke Golden Bears,[9] Long Island Clippers,[10] New London Diesels[11] and Worcester Panthers.[12] Wilmington considered the best team in the circuit, finishing undefeated with only one tie against Philadelphia Eagles.[13]
While some member teams kept playing on in an informal assemblage, the Northeast circuit did not return in 1943, and the AA remained officially out of action until the post-war year of 1946.[1]
American Football League (1946–1950)
In the autumn of 1945, after the surrender of Japan in World War II, the American Association returned to business, unlike the third American Football League. John Rosentover remained league president, and the five teams that finished the 1941 AA season (Jersey City, Long Island, Newark, Paterson, and Wilmington) returned to the fold, but the two franchises that were supposed to join the league in 1942 (Hartford and Springfield) did not survive the league's layover.
The third American Football League, which had originally announced intentions of resuming play after the war, did not survive it either, so the American Association adopted a new name upon resumption of operations: "American Football League". The league renewed its working relationship with the old
1946
The resurrected league had three new entries for the first post-war season: the Scranton Miners, Newark Bombers (replacing the Bears, who moved to Akron, Ohio), and the Bethlehem Bulldogs. As the games resumed, fan attendance returned to prewar levels.
Eastern Division
Team | W | L | T | Pct. | PF | PA [1] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jersey City Giants | 9 | 1 | 0 | .900 | 204 | 86 |
Long Island Indians | 5 | 5 | 0 | .500 | 104 | 124 |
Newark Bombers | 2 | 7 | 1 | .222 | 99 | 166 |
Paterson Panthers
|
2 | 8 | 0 | .000 | 102 | 195 |
Western Division
Team | W | L | T | Pct. | PF | PA [1] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Akron Bears | 8 | 2 | 0 | .800 | 263 | 122 |
Scranton Miners | 5 | 3 | 2 | .625 | 160 | 143 |
Bethlehem Bulldogs | 5 | 4 | 1 | .556 | 203 | 172 |
Wilmington Clippers | 1 | 7 | 2 | .125 | 57 | 184 |
Championship: Jersey City 14, Akron 13
1947
Akron left the AFL in early 1947, leaving Newark as the Chicago Bears' primary farm team. Newark moved to Bloomfield, New Jersey, and became the Cardinals. Similarly, the Scranton Minors moved to Wilkes-Barre and became the Barons. The league retained its divisional setup despite having only seven teams.[1]
Eastern Division
Team | W | L | T | Pct. | PF | PA [1] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Paterson Panthers
|
8 | 2 | 0 | .800 | 152 | 111 |
Bloomfield Cardinals | 6 | 4 | 0 | .600 | 184 | 134 |
Jersey City Giants | 5 | 5 | 0 | .500 | 139 | 128 |
Richmond Rebels
|
3 | 3 | 1 | .500 | 112 | 105 |
Long Island Indians | 0 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 19 | 72 |
Western Division
Team | W | L | T | Pct. | PF | PA [1] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bethlehem Bulldogs | 8 | 1 | 0 | .900 | 264 | 73 |
Wilmington Clippers | 2 | 5 | 1 | .286 | 74 | 147 |
Wilkes-Barre Barons | 0 | 9 | 0 | .000 | 77 | 251 |
The Long Island Indians dropped out after three games; they were replaced by the
Championship: Bethlehem 23, Paterson 7
1948
Bloomfield folded before the start of play in 1948 and the league scrapped its two-division setup for the upcoming season. The Shaughnessy playoff system was reinstated.
Bethlehem was crippled by a pair of events prior to play. First, the Philadelphia Eagles ended their working arrangement with the Bulldogs and worked with Paterson instead; second, the league instituted a new rule limiting salaries to $2000 a game per team (in 1947, the Bulldogs averaged $5500 a week). After a 0-4 start blamed in part by salary dissention, owner Bob Sell released seven players. The team barely missed the playoffs despite playing the last six games with a 4-1-1 record.[1]
It was the last year that the league had an official working agreement with NFL teams, as the league severed ties with all minor league teams.[15][16] The last affiliate teams were Paterson Panthers (Eagles), Jersey City Giants and Richmond Rebels (Bears), although some teams kept an informal relationship with their NFL affiliates until the AFL collapsed.[17]
Team | W | L | T | Pct. | PF | PA [1] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Paterson Panthers
|
7 | 1 | 2 | .875 | 224 | 103 |
Richmond Rebels
|
6 | 4 | 0 | .600 | 164 | 142 |
Wilmington Clippers | 5 | 4 | 1 | .556 | 148 | 137 |
Jersey City Giants | 5 | 5 | 0 | .500 | 154 | 168 |
Bethlehem Bulldogs | 4 | 5 | 1 | .444 | 158 | 155 |
Wilkes-Barre Bullets | 1 | 9 | 0 | .100 | 57 | 200 |
Playoffs: Wilmington defeated Richmond; Paterson beat Jersey City
Championship: Paterson 24, Wilmington 14
1949
With the dissolution of the Pacific Coast Professional Football League in 1948, the American Football League (formed as the American Association in 1936) became the sole remaining prewar minor league. Charter member Paterson had not missed a week of league play (except refusing to play the 1936 league championship game), and would not until the end of the league. For the first time since the end of World War II, there were no changes in membership prior to league play in 1949.
Team | W | L | T | Pct. | PF | PA [1] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Richmond Rebels
|
8 | 1 | 1 | .889 | 285 | 99 |
Paterson Panthers
|
6 | 3 | 1 | .667 | 192 | 141 |
Bethlehem Bulldogs | 6 | 4 | 0 | .600 | 154 | 138 |
Wilmington Clippers | 5 | 5 | 0 | .500 | 93 | 155 |
Wilkes-Barre Bullets | 3 | 7 | 0 | .300 | 81 | 112 |
Jersey City Giants | 1 | 9 | 0 | .100 | 68 | 228 |
Playoffs: Richmond 66, Wilmington 0; Paterson 16, Bethlehem 7
Championship: Richmond 35, Paterson 14
After winning three games in their first four games, Wilkes-Barre was hit by a rash of injuries in their games with Richmond and Paterson. Bob Edgerson, Bullets president, informed the league that the injuries would force him to cancel an upcoming game with Wilmington. Two days later, league president Joe Rosentover revoked the franchise. Rosentover then asked the independent Erie Vets if they could finish the Bullets' schedule, but the team had disbanded for the season. The last four scheduled Wilkes-Barre games were declared forfeits.[1]
Richmond owner Harry Seibold applied for an expansion franchise in the All-America Football Conference, which had lost a member when the New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Dodgers merged for the 1949 season. No action was taken on the application as the AAFC merged with the NFL for the 1950 season. Richmond remained in the AFL.[1]
1950
Although the Erie Vets could not complete Wilkes-Barre's schedule in 1949, they did join the AFL for the 1950 season; in addition, the Wilmington Clippers left the league and were replaced by the Brooklyn Brooks. The league made an unsuccessful overture to the
Bethlehem called it quits in early October, having lost two games (one by forfeit); later that week, the Brooklyn franchise was revoked for failure to pay the entrance fee. After Joe Rosentover announced the revocation, he announced that the games involving the Bulldogs or the Brooks would not count (they are included below). A new league schedule was drawn up, but in early November, charter member Paterson was forced to close up shop because of a financial dispute.[1]
Later that month, longtime league member Jersey City Giants (who entered the league in 1938 after its owners purchased the assets of charter member Stapleton Buffaloes) also called it quits after being crushed by each of the other two remaining teams in the league. Thus after nine weeks, Erie and Richmond were the last teams standing.
Team | W | L | T | Pct. | PF | PA [1] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Richmond Rebels
|
6 | 3 | 0 | .667 | 239 | 145 |
Erie Vets | 5 | 3 | 0 | .625 | 154 | 142 |
Paterson Panthers
|
4 | 4 | 0 | .500 | 94 | 76 |
Jersey City Giants | 3 | 4 | 0 | .429 | 83 | 137 |
Brooklyn Brooks | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 21 | 63 |
Bethlehem Bulldogs | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 7 | 35 |
Includes forfeits by Brooklyn and Bethlehem (point totals exclude them); official league records have the games involving Brooklyn and Bethlehem stricken.
Championship: Richmond 35, Erie 7
With only two teams remaining in the league, this American Football League (the fourth of that name) folded after the championship game.
See also
- Pacific Coast Professional Football League
- American Football League (1934)
- American Football League (1936)
- American Football League (1938)
- American Football League (1940)
- Atlantic Coast Football League
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag Bob Gill, "Nothing Minor About It: The American Association/AFL of 1936-50," The Coffin Corner, vol. 12, no. 2 (1990).
- ^ "SNAGS, CLIPPERS, AND LOMBARD" (PDF). The Coffin Corner.
- ^ "It's a Minor Thing" (PDF).
- ^ "1942 Hartford Blues".
- ^ "1941 Churchill Pros".
- ^ "1942 Springfield Steam Roller".
- ^ "Other Minor Leagues" (PDF).
- ^ "1942 Paterson Panthers".
- ^ "1942 Holyoke Rosary Golden Bears".
- ^ "1942 Long Island Clippers".
- ^ "1942 New London Diesels".
- ^ "1942 Worcester Panthers".
- ^ "1942 Wilmington Clippers".
- ^ All for One: The Minor Leagues’ “Big Three” Make History in 1946 Archived 2010-11-27 at the Wayback Machine – Bob Gill, Pro Football Researchers Association (1989)
- ^ "FOOTBALL PACT ENDED; Bell Reveals That N.F.L. and American Loop Have Parted". New York Times. February 10, 1948.
- ISBN 9780252039140. "At January 1948 meeting, Bell stated that, "the NFL agreement with minor league affiliates meant verry little to the NFL...he would agree to any request for cancellation of our agreement with our minor league affiliates."
- ^ "Jerry Lindquist's Sports Memories: Semipro football and what could have been". 5 December 2020.