The Maryland Intercollegiate Football Association (MIFA), also called the Maryland Intercollegiate League, was an early college football conference with a membership composed of schools located primarily in the state of

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to it ...

. One exception was Gallaudet, which is located in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

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 school, selective admissions criteria located in Baltimore, Maryland. Opened in October 1839, B ...

, 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 Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean ...

(now known as the University of Maryland, College Park) and Saint John's College of Annapolis. Maryland won the game, 6–0, but St. John's players later wrote in the ''

Baltimore American The ''Baltimore News-American'' was a broadsheet newspaper published in downtown Baltimore, Maryland until May 27, 1986. It had a continuous lineage (in various forms) of more than 200 years. For much of the mid-20th century, it had the largest ...

'' that "a decision by which the M.A.C. were allowed to score the only

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

made by the quarterback after a run 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 upright=1.2, An enlargeable map of Maryland's 23 counties and one independent city Western Maryland, also known as the Maryland Panhandle, is the portion of the U.S. state of Maryland that typically consists of Washington, Allegany, and Garr ...

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 The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ameri ...

and coach William W. Skinner 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 Washington College is a private liberal arts college in Chestertown, Maryland. Maryland granted Washington College its charter in 1782. George Washington supported the founding of the college by consenting to have the "College at Chester" na ...

in Annapolis, and Maryland Agricultural College and Western Maryland in

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bucki ...

. The association voted to disband during the 1899 season under the threat of withdrawal by

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consiste ...

after legislation was passed to prevent its use of graduate student-athletes. The league was subsequently reorganized without Hopkins.

claimed the championship in 1906. After the 1907 season, the Aggies, St. John's and Washington reformed the association, without

Western Maryland College McDaniel College is a private college in Westminster, Maryland. Established in 1867, it was known as Western Maryland College until 2002 when it was renamed McDaniel College in honor of an alumnus who gave a lifetime of service to the 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 * Gallaudet, 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 *

(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. *

, 1894–1897 *

(now McDaniel College), 1894–?

Football champions

*1894 – St. John's (MD) *1895 – St. John's (MD) *1896 – ''Unknown'' *1897 – Gallaudet *1898 – Gallaudet *1899 –

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

*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