1885 American Cup

1885 American Cup
	Harry Holden with the trophy
Tournament details
Country	United States
Dates	October 25, 1884 – April 25, 1885
Teams	6
Final positions
Champions	Clark O.N.T. (1st title)
Runner-up	New York
Tournament statistics
Matches played	6
Goals scored	20 (3.33 per match)
	1886 →

The 1885 American Cup was the inaugural edition of this tournament staged by the American Football Association. Clark O.N.T. was the champion.

History

Six teams contended for the first edition played in the 1884–85 season. Five of the teams were from New Jersey and one from New York.^[1] The Association and the tournament itself were the result of the success the game had in the previous winter and fall and despite all the teams coming from a relatively limited area it was anticipated that the game would undoubtedly grow. The completion of the trophy was announced several days later. The trophy was exhibited in several places around Newark, Paterson and New York. The trophy, originally valued at $200,^[2] was described as having "a neat design in silver and gold appropriate figures of foot ballists being engraved on it".^[3] Clark ONT became the first winners of the trophy along with the purse of $150.

Participants

Clark ONT, established in 1883,^[4] played at their association ground in the rear of the Kearny Mills. They wore crimson jerseys, white knickerbockers, and crimson stockings. Paterson wore blue and white striped jerseys, white knickerbockers, and blue stockings.^[2] The Domestics, also having blue and white for colors, were composed of employees of the Domestic Manufacturing Company and played at their counterparts baseball ground at Williams Hill. However, in March 1885 the Domestic company no longer allowed the baseball club to use that name so they simply became the Newark baseball club and their field also became Newark baseball grounds aka Emmett street grounds. The Kearny Rangers were a football and cricket club established in 1883 with navy shirts and white shorts. The participants hailing from three different cities were as follows:

State	City	Team
New Jersey	Paterson	Caldonian Thistle Club
	Paterson	Paterson F.B.C.
	Newark	Clark O.N.T.
	Newark	Domestic
	Kearny	Kearny Rangers
New York	New York	New York F.B.C.

Venues

New Jersey
O.N.T. Grounds	O.N.T. Grounds Domestic Grounds Olympic Grounds Hoboken
Capacity:

Domestic Grounds
Capacity:

Olympic Grounds
Capacity:

First round

The draw for the first round was reported in newspapers on October 1, 1884, after being conducted by the clubs' secretaries at Paterson.

October 25, 1884	Clark O.N.T.	2–0	Domestic	Kearny, New Jersey
3:00 PM	McGurk Spillane	^[5]		Stadium: O.N.T. AA Grounds Referee: James Lennox
Note: ONT: GK J. Douglas, DF A. Kenworthy, E. Sargent, MF Joe Swithemby, James Howarth, T. Smith, FW J. Spillane, J. Mitchell, Jack Swithemby, James McGurk, William Clark Jr.(c) Domestic: GK W. Hollenbeck, DF J. Corby, F. Ward, MF C. Riker, L. Conklin, FW C. Fairchild, R.O'Toole, H.Chadwick(c), T. Bock, T. Butchford, J.Utter.

November 1, 1884	Kearny Rangers	3–2	Caledonian Thistle	Newark, New Jersey
4:00 PM				Stadium: Domestic Baseball Grounds

November 1, 1884	New York	5–0	Paterson	Hoboken, New Jersey
		^[6]

Second round

The secretaries of the remaining three teams met on November 8 in East Newark to make the second round draw which resulted in the Rangers being pitted against New York on Thanksgiving Day with the winner to meet ONT in the final round.

November 27, 1884	Kearney Rangers	0–4	New York	Newark, New Jersey
2:30 PM		^[7]		Stadium: Domestic Baseball Grounds
Note: Kearny Rangers: GK D. Ferguson, DF W. Hood, D. Morris, MF John Hood, James Lennox(c), FW R. Raeburn, J. Hill, A. Bolton, H. Ashley, W. Taylor, J.Milner.

Final round

The final was played in the snow on Valentine's Day. ONT emerged victorious by a score of 2–1, however captain Mitchell of New York entered a protest indicating that some of the ONT players were not members of the club and that the goal posts were not regulation size. The AFA ordered the game replayed at Paterson.

February 14, 1885	Clark O.N.T.	2–1	New York	Newark, New Jersey
3:00 PM	Jack Swithemby 15' McGurck 40'	^[8]	D. Sinclair 80'	Stadium: Emmet Street Grounds Referee: James Lennox
Note: O.N.T.: GK Patrick Hughes, FB Harry Holden, J. Donnelly, HB Joe Swithemby, James Howarth, T. Smith, FW P. Garron, William Thornton, Jack Swithemby(c), Joseph Swarbrick, James McGurk. New York: GK T. Walker, DF A. Johnston, F. Marsterton, MF W. Sinclair, J. Gold, FW A.Mitchell(c), A. Young, J. Lowe, J. Grant, D. Sinclair, D.McNeil.

replay

April 25, 1885	Clark O.N.T.	1-0	New York	Paterson, NJ
4:00 PM	Swithemby 44'	^[9]^[10]^[11]		Stadium: Olympic grounds

Clark O.N.T.

New York

Match rules

90 minutes
Replay if game ends in a draw

American Cup Bracket

Home teams listed on top of bracket

First Round

Second Round

Finals

Clark O.N.T.

2

Domestics

0

Clark O.N.T.

bye

Clark O.N.T.

2-1^[a]

New York F.B.C.

1-0

Kearny Rangers

3

Caledonian Thistle

2

Kearny Rangers

0

New York F.B.C.

4

New York F.B.C.

5

Paterson F.B.C.

0

Notes

^ replay after New York protested first match

Champions

American Football Association Challenge Cup

First Title

References

^ "Foot Ball". (October 1, 1884). Newark Daily Advertiser, p.4 col.2
^ ^a ^b "Football for a cup" (PDF). Newark Evening News. October 1, 1884. p.5, col. 1. Retrieved July 10, 2024.
^ "The Foot Ball season" (PDF). Newark Evening News. October 17, 1884. p.1, col. 7. Retrieved July 10, 2024.
^ McCabe, Tom (May 27, 2015). "Loose threads". Society for American Soccer History. Retrieved July 9, 2024.
^ "The Season’s Sports". (October 27, 1884). Newark Daily Advertiser, p.4 col.1
^ "Local Matters". Paterson Daily Press. November 3, 1884. p.3 col.5-6. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
^ "Thanksgiving Sports". (November 28, 1884). Newark Daily Advertiser, p.3 col.1
^ "Football In The Snow". The Sun. New York, NY. February 15, 1885. Retrieved May 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Sports And Pastimes" (PDF). Newark Evening News. April 27, 1885. p.1 col.5. Retrieved July 10, 2024.
^ "The O.N.T.'s Take The Cup". Paterson Daily Press. April 27, 1885. p.2 col.5. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
^ "Football Champions". Newark Sunday Call. April 26, 1885. p.1 col.4. Retrieved August 20, 2024.

Sources

National Police Gazette
New York Herald
The New York Sun
Spirit of the Times
Morning Register
Daily Advertiser
Evening News
Sunday Call

[12] replay after New York protested first match

[1] "Foot Ball". (October 1, 1884). Newark Daily Advertiser, p.4 col.2

[season-2] "Football for a cup" (PDF). Newark Evening News. October 1, 1884. p.5, col. 1. Retrieved July 10, 2024.

[3] "The Foot Ball season" (PDF). Newark Evening News. October 17, 1884. p.1, col. 7. Retrieved July 10, 2024.

[4] McCabe, Tom (May 27, 2015). "Loose threads". Society for American Soccer History. Retrieved July 9, 2024.

[5] "The Season’s Sports". (October 27, 1884). Newark Daily Advertiser, p.4 col.1

[6] "Local Matters". Paterson Daily Press. November 3, 1884. p.3 col.5-6. Retrieved July 25, 2024.

[7] "Thanksgiving Sports". (November 28, 1884). Newark Daily Advertiser, p.3 col.1

[8] "Football In The Snow". The Sun. New York, NY. February 15, 1885. Retrieved May 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[9] "Sports And Pastimes" (PDF). Newark Evening News. April 27, 1885. p.1 col.5. Retrieved July 10, 2024.

[10] "The O.N.T.'s Take The Cup". Paterson Daily Press. April 27, 1885. p.2 col.5. Retrieved July 25, 2024.

[11] "Football Champions". Newark Sunday Call. April 26, 1885. p.1 col.4. Retrieved August 20, 2024.

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