Oneida Football Club

This article is about the historical football team. For the current rugby league team, see Oneida FC.

The Oneida Football Club, founded in Boston, Massachusetts in 1862, was the first organized team to play any kind of football in the United States. The game played by the club, known as the "Boston game", was an informal local variant that predated the codification of rules for soccer, rugby, or American football. The team, which consisted of graduates of Boston's elite preparatory schools, played on Boston Common from 1862–1865, during which time they reportedly never lost a game or even gave up a single point.

Oneida

The Oneida Football Club was established in 1862 by Gerrit Smith "Gat" Miller, a graduate of the Latin School of Epes Sargent Dixwell, a private college preparatory school in Boston. At the time there were no formal rules for football games, with different schools and areas playing their own variations. This informal style of play was often chaotic and very violent, and Miller had been a star of the game while attending Dixwell. However, he grew tired of these disorganized games, and organized other recent preparatory school graduates to join what would be the first organized football team in the United States.

The team consisted of a group of Boston secondary school students from relatively elite public (state) schools in the area, such as Boston Latin School and the English High School of Boston. Organization served the club well, and it reportedly never lost a game, or even allowed a single goal.

Game

The game played by the Oneida Football Club is known as the "Boston game". This informal local football variety later took hold at Harvard University and was an important precursor to American football. Although it has been claimed by much later followers of both soccer and American football, the club predated formal rules of any football variant.

The Oneida Foot Ball Club played its games on the Boston Common, where it is commemorated by a plaque. It played matches against pickup teams throughout the Boston collegiate community.

An excellent history of the Oneida Foot Ball Club was written in 1926 by an original member of the club - Winthrop Saltonstall Scudder. An Historical Sketch of the Oneida Football Club

See also

• History of American football
• Soccer in the United States

References

• http://books.google.com/books?id=Nw-ttmmB1a8C&pg=PA50&dq=Oneida+Football&hl=en&ei=5V-KTZYIx5LRAfip9IgO&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CEAQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=Oneida%20Football&f=false
• http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89098742257

External links

• History of Professional Soccer in New England