Early Football Leagues
1903 Allegheny Athletic Assoc. (WPPFC)

Leagues Football Early Leagues 1903 Allegheny Athletic Assoc. (WPPFC)

Walter Camp was on the various collegiate football rules committees that developed the American game from his time as a player at Yale until his death. English rugby football rules at the time required a tackled player, when the ball was "fairly held," to put the ball down immediately for scrummage. Camp proposed at the U.S. College Football 1880 rules convention that the contested scrimmage be replaced with a "line of scrimmage" where the team with the ball started with uncontested possession. This change effectively created the evolution of the modern game of American football from its rugby football origins. He is credited with innovations such as the snap-back from center, the system of downs, and the points system as well as the introduction of the now-standard offensive arrangement of players—a seven-man line and a four-man backfield consisting of a quarterback, two halfbacks, and a fullback. Camp was also responsible for introducing the "safety," the awarding of two points to the defensive side for tackling a ball carrier in his own end zone followed by a free kick by the offense from its own 20-yard line to restart play. This is significant as rugby union has no point value award for this action, but instead awards a scrum to the attacking side five meters from the goal line.

Timeline of Defunct Football Leagues

F i l t e r & S o r t

All-America Football Conference

AAFC: 1946-1949 (4 seasons)

Attracted many of the best players, introduced innovations to the game, and founded Browns/49ers franchises

American Football League III

AFL3: 1940-1941 (2 seasons)

Created when three new franchises joined with three other teams that were lured away from the APFL

American Professional Football League

APFL: 1938-1939 (2 seasons)

Began as minor-league Midwest Football League before changing aspirations to lure teams from the previously failed AFL.

American Football League II

AFL2: 1936-1937 (2 seasons)

In its brief history, the league made history by being the first league to introduce "major league" football to the West Coast.

American Football League I

AFLG: 1926-1926 (1 season)

Also known as the Grange League, founded by the sports agent who brought along his star player: future HOFer Red Grange.

National Football League

NFL: 1920-2021 (102 seasons)

Founded in an auto showroom in Canton, Ohio, known as the American Professional Football Association (APFA) its first 2 seasons.

New York Pro Football League

NYPFL: 1908-1919 (12 seasons)

The league's best team, the Jeffersons, was instrumental in bringing the NYPFL and the Ohio League together to form the NFL.

Ohio League

OL: 1902-1919 (18 seasons)

Informal and loose association of teams that competed for the Ohio Independent Championship (OIC).

National Football League I

NFL1: 1902-1902 (1 season)

Founded by baseball owners in Philadelphia, the 3-team league was comprised of baseball and football stars of the day.

Western Pennsylvania Pro Football Circuit

WPPFC: 1890-1905 (16 seasons)

A loose association of American football amateur and pro clubs that operated until the arrival of the Ohio League and NYPFL.

1 Comment

Larry Wayne Scofield says:

February 28, 2022 at 6:43 am

I sincerely appreciate the research work, and the information being shared. It is important and interesting history.

Comments are closed.

Noteworthy Teams

Early Championships

Many leagues held their own championship games, the most prominent being the Ohio Independent Championship from 1902-1919

For its first 12 seasons, the NFL determined its champion by win–loss record. In 1932, to settle a tie, a single playoff game was played

From 1933-1966, the NFL split into two divisions, the winners playing in the NFL Championship Game

In 1966, the NFL and the rival AFL agreed to merge, the champion of each league meeting at the end of the year, in the Superbowl

Recap

1 Comment