1885 American Cup

American Cup first edition

Football tournament season

1885 American Cup

Harry Holden with the American Cup

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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:

* New York — New York F.B.C.
* Paterson — Caledonian Thistle Club and Paterson F.B.C.
* Newark — Clark O.N.T., Domestic, and Kearny Rangers.

## Venues

[edit]

New Jersey

O.N.T. Grounds  |

O.N.T. Grounds

Domestic Grounds

Olympic Grounds

Hoboken

Capacity:
Domestic Grounds
Capacity:
Olympic Grounds
Capacity:

## First round

[edit]

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

Clark O.N.T. v Domestic October 25, 1884 |  Clark O.N.T. | 2–0|  Domestic | Kearny, New Jersey

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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.

Kearny Rangers v Caledonian Thistle November 1, 1884 |  Kearny Rangers | 3–2|  Caledonian Thistle | Newark, New Jersey

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4:00 PM |  |  |  | Stadium: Domestic Baseball Grounds

New York v Paterson November 1, 1884 |  New York | 5–0|  Paterson | Hoboken, New Jersey

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|  | [6] |  |

## Second round

[edit]

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.

Kearney Rangers v New York November 27, 1884 |  Kearney Rangers | 0–4|  New York | Newark, New Jersey

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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

[edit]

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.

Clark O.N.T. v New York February 14, 1885 |  Clark O.N.T. | 2–1|  New York | Newark, New Jersey

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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

[edit]

Clark O.N.T. v  New York April 25, 1885 |  Clark O.N.T. | 1-0|  New York | Paterson, NJ

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4:00 PM | Swithemby  44' | [9][10][11] |  | Stadium: Olympic grounds

Clark O.N.T.

New York

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Match rules

* 90 minutes
* Replay if game ends in a draw

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## American Cup Bracket

[edit]

Home teams listed on top of bracket

| First Round | | | Second Round | | | Finals |

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|  |  |  | | |  |  |  | | |  |  |  |
|  | Clark O.N.T. | 2 | | |
|  | Domestics | 0 |
| |  | Clark O.N.T. |  |
|  |
| | |  | bye |  |
|  |  |

|  |  |
| |  | Clark O.N.T. | 2-1[a] |
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| | |  | 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

1. ^ replay after New York protested first match

## Champions

[edit]

American Football Association Challenge Cup

First Title

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Foot Ball". (October 1, 1884). Newark Daily Advertiser, p.4 col.2
2. ^ a b "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". (April 26, 1885). The Sunday Call, p.1 col.4

## Sources

[edit]

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

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