Greensburg Athletic Association
Founded | 1890 |
---|---|
Folded | 1900 |
Based in | Greensburg, Pennsylvania |
League | Western Pennsylvania Circuit |
Team history | Greensburg Athletic Association (1890-1900) |
Team colors | Maroon, White[1] |
Nickname(s) | "Greenies" |
Head coaches | George Barclay (1897–1899) Ralph Hutchinson (1900) |
General managers | Lloyd B. Huff |
Owner(s) | Greensburg Athletic Association |
W. Pennsylvania Championship wins | 1 (1897) |
Home field(s) | Athletic Park |
The Greensburg Athletic Association was an early organized
Aside from Fiscus, the Greensburg Athletic Association included several of the era's top players, such as:
The team's home games were played at Athletic Park (which was later renamed
History
Amateur era
The first four years of Greensburg Athletic Association football that began with the 1890 season, through 1893, were not particularly successful. The drawbacks included a lack of local opponents, rivalries which did not develop until later as well as a lack of local experienced players. It is not even known if the club recorded a win prior to 1894.
The Greensburg Athletic Association kicked off its inaugural season in 1890. Their first game resulted in 6–6 tie against Indiana Normal (IUP), while losing their first-ever home game to the Kiskiminetas Springs School, 34–4. A group of college students, which of whom returned home to Greensburg for Thanksgiving vacation, played for the team for a game against an unknown Pittsburgh club to close out the season. However, the team, filled with supplement players, lost to the Pittsburgh club by a narrow margin. During the 1891 season, the club suffered from at least two known losses against two of the two top football athletic clubs in Pittsburgh: the Pittsburgh Athletic Club and the Allegheny Athletic Association. Meanwhile, the result of an earlier game against Indiana Normal remains unknown. Meanwhile, the surviving records of the club's 1892 campaign show only two games being played, resulting in two losses against Western University of Pennsylvania (today the University of Pittsburgh), 6–2, and the Pittsburgh Athletic Club, 28–0.
In 1893, Greensburg placed a higher emphasis on its football program. The results of three of the four games from that season remain unknown. The team's fourth game, against the Pittsburgh Athletic Club, resulted in 10–0 loss.[1]
Glory years
1894
In 1894 Greensburg hired its first professional player, Lawson Fiscus, for $20 a game plus expenses. While Fiscus did play for Greensburg as an amateur in 1893, he was actively recruited by several other teams as professionalism in football began to take hold. Fiscus played informal football at Indiana Normal, even before it even fielded a school team. He has also played at halfback for the Allegheny Athletic Association as well as for Princeton University.[5]
During
1895
Greensburg's 1895 season opened and closed with games against the
The following week, Greensburg was defeated by the Duquesne Country and Athletic Club in Pittsburgh, 14–0, in what was seen as a controversial game. A local resident with ties to Duquesne was substituted for the scheduled official. This resulted in what the Greensburg Daily Tribune called bad officiating and “thievery”. A touchdown was said to have been scored by Duquesne after time was called, along with rough play. However Greensburg soon recovered and finished their season with a 9-1-1 record. However, the score and the outcome of Greensburg's final game against Latrobe is disputed by historians. While Greensburg and Latrobe records both indicate a 4-0 Greensburg win, one Pittsburgh newspaper reported the game ended in 4-0 Latrobe victory.[6]
1896
For 1896,
On October 17, Greensburg defeated the Pittsburgh Athletic Club for the very first time, posting a 14–0 win at home. All three of the game's touchdowns were scored by Lawson Fiscus. On October 31, Greensburg defeated Latrobe, 10–4. In the stands there was considerable betting over whether Latrobe would score or not. Late in game Latrobe's
However Greensburg's hopes of winning a state championship were dashed when the club was finally defeated by the Duquesne Country and Athletic Club in Pittsburgh, 18–4, on November 14. The game was followed by a scoreless tie with Pittsburgh Athletic Club. Greensburg did recover from their road trip to post a 10–0 win over Latrobe on Thanksgiving Day to end the season 6-1-1.[4]
1897
The
Decline
The start of
Greensburg's first game that season was against, their rivals, Latrobe. The game was played on a field, so muddy that the game had to be delayed at one point so that mud could be removed from the eyes, nose, mouth and ears of Latrobe's Ed Abbaticchio, who was buried in the mud on one of his carries. Latrobe went on to win the game 6-0 (4-0 by other accounts). The 1898 season would go on to be marred with another loss to Latrobe, and ties against Duquesne Country and Athletic Club and the Pittsburgh Athletic Club. However, the team later turned things around to finish the season strong. In the final game of the season, Greensburg beat rival Latrobe 6–0 at Latrobe. According to the Greensburg Daily Tribune, the end of the game was marred by stoning and spitting on Greensburg players and fans, “boorish conduct by ruffians,” resulting in one player being injured when he was hit on the head by a rock.[1]
At the end of the season, against their club's wishes, Greensburg's Charles Rinehart and George Barclay played in the very first pro football all-star game for the 1898 Western Pennsylvania All-Star football team, against the Duquesne Country and Athletic Club, on December 3, 1898. The all-star team was put together by Latrobe manager, Dave Berry and resulted in 16-0 Duquesne win. For reasons that are still unclear, Greensburg leaders opposed the game and did their best to discourage their players from taking part.[9]
After an apparent decline in financial resources and interest, professional football in Greensburg and Latrobe underwent a one-year hiatus in 1899. Some efforts were made to reorganize a team around a core of local members of the 1898 squad, which would have to be shored up by obtaining some Latrobe players. However this effort never materialized. When the 1899 season began, most of the top Greensburg players of the year before were playing for either Greensburg's rivals in Pittsburgh or for other teams as far away as Newark, New Jersey. As result of not having a Greensburg or Latrobe team in 1899, the football clubs from Pittsburgh completed their schedules by playing teams mainly from eastern Pennsylvania.[1]
Final season
In 1900, plans were complete for the return of professional football to Greensburg. Under the direction of
Greensburg began the season 2-1-1, before losing 6–5 to the
By this time Greensburg was unable to regain its footing. A loss at home, this time to Latrobe, was sustained a week later on October 27. This marked Greensburg's third straight loss. During the game a fight between Seneca and the Latrobe quarterback, named Kennedy, led to a riot between the opposing fans and players. This riot prompted the Westmoreland County Sheriff's Office to devise a heighten security plan for the return game in Latrobe. On October 31, the Greensburg team, still injury-plagued, suffered a fourth consecutive loss, 24–0, to Duquesne Country and Athletic Club at Exposition Park. Greensburg's final win came on November 5 with a 22–0 over Altoona. However, the team was defeated again by Homestead five days later, 22–0 over Altoona.
The final professional football game for Greensburg took place on November 17, in Latrobe. Latrobe would go on to win the game, 11–0, and the claim of “Westmoreland County championship”. By this time, the team was experiencing major financial problems. To make matters even worse, the club's scheduled next-to-last game was cancelled due to inclement weather. However, the worst occurred when Latrobe, who always drew large crowds when they played Greensburg, withdrew from a scheduled Thanksgiving Day game. Latrobe paid a $400 forfeit and withdrew from the Thanksgiving Day game at Greensburg to play against Duquesne instead. However that game also had to be cancelled because of extreme weather conditions. Greensburg's final season record was 3–7.[1]
Legacy
Although there were probably others, several members of the 1895 squad who were known to have been paid to play football were Fiscus, guard-quarterback Adam Wyant of Bucknell and the University of Chicago, and fullback Charles Atherton and halfback Fred Robison, both of Penn State. Wyant was cited by his coach at Chicago, Amos Alonzo Stagg, as “one of the best men that ever donned the canvas jacket” (then part of the uniform). Wyant also served at one time as principal of the Greensburg schools and became a U.S. Congressman from the Greensburg area. He would go on to be the first U.S. Congressman to have played professional football. Atherton, who had a street and campus building named after him, later became president of Penn State University.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Van Atta, Robert (1983). "The History of Pro Football At Greensburg, Pennsylvania (1894-1900)" (PDF). Coffin Corner (Annual). Professional Football Researchers Association: 1–14.
- ^ "History of the Football Helmet". Past Time Sports.
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: Missing or empty|url=
(help) - ISBN 0-87413-455-2.
- ^ a b c Van Atta, Robert (1981). "The Early Years of Pro Football in Southwest Pennsylvania" (PDF). Coffin Corner. 3 (Annual). Professional Football Researchers Association: 1–15.
- ^ Riffenburgh, Beau & Bob Carroll (1989). "The Birth of Pro Football" (PDF). Coffin Corner. 11 (Annual). Professional Football Researchers Association: 1–30.
- ^ a b PFRA Research. "Ten Dollars and Cakes: The "Not Quite" First Pro: 1895" (PDF). Coffin Corner. Professional Football Researchers Association: 1–5.
- ^ "Out in the Boondocks" (PDF). Professional Football Researchers Association. Retrieved February 28, 2012.
- ISBN 0-910137-56-0. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
- ^ PFRA Research. "Stars Over All-Stars" (PDF) (Annual). Professional Football Researchers Association: 1–5.
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: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - ^ Van Atta, Robert (1980). "Latrobe, PA: Cradle of Pro Football" (PDF). Coffin Corner. 2 (Annual). Professional Football Researchers Association: 1–21.