1900 Homestead Library & Athletic Club football season
The 1900 Homestead Library & Athletic Club football team won the professional football championship of 1900. The team was affiliated with the Homestead Library & Athletic Club in Homestead, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh. The team featured a lineup of former college All-Americans paid by Pittsburgh Pirates' minority-owner William Chase Temple.
| 1900 Homestead Library & Athletic Club football | |
|---|---|
 | |
Professional football champion | |
| Record | 10–0 |
| Manager | |
| Head coach |
|
| Captain |
|
| Home field | Steel Works Park |
Seasons | |
Organization
editIn 1898, William Chase Temple took over the Duquesne Country and Athletic Club, becoming the first individual team owner in professional football. In 1900, most of the Duquesne players were hired by the Homestead Library & Athletic Club, by offering them higher salaries.[2]
Over the next two seasons (1900 and 1901), Homestead fielded the best professional football team in the country and did not lose a game. The 1900 team reportedly paid its player "from $50 to $100 a game plus 'expenses.'"[3]
After a season as coach of Georgetown, former Princeton tackle Bill Church was hired by Homestead as the team's captain and manager. Other players for the 1900 Homestead team included Dave Fultz and J. A. Gammons (halfbacks from Brown University), Pete Overfield (center from Penn), Bemus Pierce (guard from the Carlisle Indian School), Art Poe (end from Princeton), Otto Wagonhurst (from Penn), John Hall (end from Yale), George Young (quarterback from Cornell), Willis Richardson (from Brown), Artie Miller (from Carlisle), Grenville Lewis (fullback from Maryland and Columbian), John Winstein (tackle, various local teams), and guards M. P. McNulty (from Notre Dame) and P. J. Lawler.[4] George H. Brooke (fullback from Penn) was signed to appear only in "important" games, as he was coaching Swarthmore during the same season.[5]
Season summary
editBefore the season, the schedule was announced as: October 6 vs. Pittsburgh College, October 13 vs. Altoona, October 20 @ Greensburg, October 27 vs. Detroit A.C., November 3 @ Latrobe, November 6 @ Duquesne C. & A.C., November 10 vs. Greensburg, November 17 vs Lehigh, November 24 vs. Latrobe, November 29 vs. Bucknell.[6]
Season schedule
edit| Date | Opponent | Site | Result | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 6 | Pittsburgh College |
| W 37–0 | [7] |
| October 13 | Altoona Athletic Club |
| W 58–0 | |
| October 20 | at Greensburg Athletic Association |
| W 6–5 | |
| October 27 | Detroit Athletic Club |
| W 54–0 | |
| November 3 | at Latrobe Athletic Association |
| W 11–0 | |
| November 6 | at Duquesne Country and Athletic Club | W 10–0 | [8] | |
| November 10 | Greensburg Athletic Association |
| W 12–0 | |
| November 17 | Lehigh |
| W 50–0 | [9] |
| November 24 | East End Athletic Association |
| W 30–0 | [10] |
| November 29 | Latrobe Athletic Association |
| W 12–0 |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ PFRA Research. "The Worst Season Ever: Pittsburgh Pro Teams Find Hard Times: 1900" (PDF). Professional Football Researchers Association. p. 1. Retrieved March 22, 2023.
- ^ "Pro Football Before The NFL". Quake City. Archived from the original on June 25, 2009. Retrieved June 20, 2009.
- ^ "No More Wednesday Games: Mid-West Football Given up by Practically All the Colleges". New Haven Evening Register. October 30, 1900.
- ^ "Football Heroes of Last Season's College Games Will Play with Homestead's All-Star Team This Year". The Pittsburg Press. September 30, 1900. p. 15 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "George Brooke Reported To-day to Homestead". The Pittsburg Press. November 5, 1900. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Football Heroes of Last Season's College Games Will Play With Homestead's All-Star Team This Year", Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, PA, p. 15, September 30, 1900
- ^ "Homestead Has a Great Team". The Pittsburgh Press. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. October 7, 1900. p. 14. Retrieved October 2, 2021 – via Newspapers.com
.
- ^ "Homestead Won the Second Trophy Cup Game". Pittsburgh Commercial Gazette. November 7, 1900. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Homestead Won By A Large Majority". The Pittsburgh Press. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. November 18, 1900. p. 14. Retrieved July 19, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
- ^ "East Enders Hold the Stars". The Pittsburg Post. November 25, 1900. p. 12 – via Newspapers.com.
