American Football Association (1884–1924)
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The American Football Association (AFA) was the first attempt in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
to form an organizing
soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
body. It was the second oldest sports league to form, behind the
National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...
of
baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
in 1876, as well as being the oldest soccer organization in the United States.


History

The Association was formed in 1884 at a meeting at Clark Thread Company in
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.


Standardization of Rules

The purpose of the AFA included an attempt to standardize rules and procedures. It is unclear which set of rules were officially used by the AFA. At the time it was reported that the new organization had adopted English rules. though they may have been the 1881 version. But in the 1885–86
Scottish Football Association The Scottish Football Association (; also known as the Scottish FA and the SFA) is the governing body of football in Scotland and has the ultimate responsibility for the control and development of football in Scotland. Members of the SFA incl ...
Annual the AFA's secretary, P.J. O'Toole, claimed the Scottish Rules were the basis for the American game. In addition, an 1887 review of the AFA's Constitution, By-Laws and Laws of the Game, showed how the AFA rules aligned more with the SFA's rules, rather than the English rules.


Cup Competition

In addition to rule standardization, the AFA established America's first annual non-league cup for soccer. The competition was known as the American Football Association Challenge Cup, which was shorted to the
American Cup The American Football Association Challenge Cup (also known as the American Association Cup or simply American Cup) was the first major U.S. soccer competition open to teams beyond a single league. It was first held in 1884, and organised by t ...
. The initial edition took place in 1885 and was contested between six teams from
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and
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. Within a couple of years it had expanded to include teams from four different states in New England. The American Cup was held for 14 years before having to be cancelled due to economic hard times in New England. After not being held for six years, the American Cup was reorganized through the commitment of eight teams, with thirteen teams eventually taking part in the reborn competition. The competition ran for another sixteen years, prior to not being held in 1922. The ruling by the USFA to only allow State Cup competitions in addition to the
National Challenge Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States. It is the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competition. The competition was first held duri ...
, resulted in teams from states outside New Jersey withdrawing from the competition. The competition was revived in 1923, but only lasted through the 1924 edition.


Professional encroachment

In 1894, the American League of Professional Football formed by multiple National League Baseball owners in an attempt to fill their stadiums during the winter. It was the first attempt to form a fully professional league. Though it only lasted for 17 days, the AFA still barred any players who had signed contracts with the new league from playing in AFA-sanctioned events.


Initial struggles

The AFA suffered from their initial problems in 1899, after the
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, which had a negative effect on the Northeast's economy and when the textile workers went on strike, in addition professional players started becoming part of the New York and New Jersey teams, resulting in the cancellation of the American Cup from 1899 to 1905. Arlington A.A. maintained the cup during that time period.


Resurgence

The tour of both Corinthian F.C. and The Pilgrims F.C. in 1906 brought interest in soccer back to the region and the AFA reformed under the encouragement of Hal Holden. A new group of officers were reelected and the American Cup was reborn.


Association with the FA

AFA was allied with
The Football Association The Football Association (the FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest footb ...
, becoming a member on February 22, 1909, at an FA meeting chaired by
Charles Clegg Charles Myron Clegg Jr. (June 29, 1916 – August 25, 1979) was an American author, photographer, and railroad historian. Clegg is primarily remembered as the lifelong romantic partner of famed railroad author Lucius Beebe, and was a co-author o ...
, and drew on that organization's approach to the game. As part of its efforts, the AFA directly organized cup competitions as well as overseeing the operations of member leagues. The weakness of the AFA lay in its refusal to expand outside the southern
New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...
region. In addition, those involved in American Soccer had concerns about the AFA concentrating on professional players and their strong ties to the FA. AFA had never had an American president and in 1911 when they banned AFA-affiliated teams from playing Corinthian F.C., who was split from the FA, it was too much for many and they looked to join the newly formed American Amateur Football Association (AAFA).


Struggle with AAFA

When a movement began to create a national governing body in 1911, the AFA found itself confronting the newly established AAFA, a body which quickly became national. The AFA argued that it should be recognized by
FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...
. However, several member organizations defected from the AFA to the AAFA in 1912. The AAFA quickly moved to reform itself as the United States Football Association, receiving FIFA recognition in 1913. The AFA continued to run the American Cup through 1924, but by that time it had been superseded by the National Challenge Cup and
National Amateur Cup The National Amateur Cup, also known as the USASA Amateur Cup, is an American knockout soccer competition open to all amateur teams affiliated with the United States Soccer Federation through United States Adult Soccer Association The Unite ...
.


American Cup

The American Football Association Challenge Cup (also known as simply "American Cup") was the first major U.S. soccer competition open to teams beyond a single league, being first held in 1884. By the mid-1890's soccer in American was struggling due to New England going through difficult economic times. As a result, the AFA suspended the cup from 1899 until 1906. In the 1910s, it gradually declined in importance with the establishment of the
National Challenge Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States. It is the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competition. The competition was first held duri ...
. The competition was last held in 1924.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:American Football Association (1884-1924) Soccer governing bodies in the United States 1884 establishments in the United States 1925 disestablishments in the United States Defunct association football governing bodies Sports organizations established in 1884 Defunct sports governing bodies in the United States Organizations disestablished in 1925