The Maryland Intercollegiate Football Association (MIFA), also called the Maryland Intercollegiate League, was an early

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

conference with a membership composed of schools located primarily in the state of Maryland. One exception was

Gallaudet Gallaudet University ( ) is a private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. for the education of the Hearing loss, deaf and hard of hearing. It was founded in 1864 as a gramma ...

, which is located in Washington, D.C. All of the members were universities, except

Baltimore City College Baltimore City College, known colloquially as City, City College, and B.C.C., is a college preparatory school with a liberal arts focus and selective admissions criteria located in Baltimore, Maryland. Opened in October 1839, B.C.C. is the thir ...

, a preparatory school located in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

. The impetus for the formation of the MIFA was a controversial game on November 1, 1893 between the Maryland Agricultural College (now known as the University of Maryland, College Park) and Saint John's College of

Annapolis Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...

. Maryland won the game, 6–0, but St. John's players later wrote in the '' Baltimore American'' that "a decision by which the M.A.C. were allowed to score the only touchdown made by the quarterback after a

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of 90 yards, with no one in pursuit, appeared a very doubtful one."David Ungrady,
Tales from the Maryland Terrapins
', 2003, p. 4, Sports Publishing LLC. Maryland finished the season by beating Western Maryland and the Orient Athletic Club. With a 6–0 record, the "Aggies" were named the state champions, but the title was contested by St. John's. The following season, Maryland's former quarterback and coach

William W. Skinner William Woolford Skinner (March 28, 1874 – March 10, 1953) was an American chemist, conservationist, and college football coach. He served as the head coach at the Maryland Agricultural College (now University of Maryland) and University of Ari ...

led the effort to create an intercollegiate football league to improve the process in which the state championship was awarded. The conference began competition on October 13, 1894 with games between St. John's College and Washington College in

, and Maryland Agricultural College and Western Maryland in Westminster. The association voted to disband during the 1899 season under the threat of withdrawal by Johns Hopkins University after legislation was passed to prevent its use of graduate student-athletes. The league was subsequently reorganized without Hopkins. Maryland Agricultural College claimed the championship in 1906. After the 1907 season, the Aggies, St. John's and Washington reformed the association, without Western Maryland College, with the S.J.C. Cadets retaining their title of the three-team "league" in 1908.

Membership

The following schools were members of the MIFA at some point. Where known, the years of membership are included: *

, ?–1897 *

, 1897–?Morris Allison Bealle, ''Kings of American Football: The University of Maryland, 1890–1952'', p. 28, Columbia Publishing Co., 1952. *

Johns Hopkins Johns Hopkins (May 19, 1795 – December 24, 1873) was an American merchant, investor, and philanthropist. Born on a plantation, he left his home to start a career at the age of 17, and settled in Baltimore, Maryland where he remained for most ...

, 1894–1899 * Loyola * Maryland Agricultural College (now University of Maryland, College Park), 1894–1897Maryland Historical Data
, College Football Data Warehouse, retrieved February 12, 2009. * Mount St. Mary's * St. John's College, 1894–?Maryland College Games
''The New York Times'', October 13, 1894. * Washington College, 1894–1897 * Western Maryland (now McDaniel College), 1894–?

Football champions

*1894 – St. John's (MD) *1895 – St. John's (MD) *1896 – ''Unknown'' *1897 –

*1898 –

*1899 –

*1900 – ''retained by JHU'' *1901 – ''JHU by SJC forfeit'' *1902 – St. John's (MD) *1903 – ''Unknown'' *1904 – ''Unknown'' *1905 – ''several claimed title'' *1906 – Maryland Agricultural College *1907 – St. John's (MD) *1908 – St. John's (MD)

References

{{reflist Defunct college sports conferences in the United States American football in Maryland Sports leagues established in 1894 Sports leagues disestablished in 1899

Membership

Football champions

See also

References