American League of Professional Football

The American League of Professional Football was the first professional football (soccer) league in the United States existing for one season in 1894, and one of the earliest professional leagues in the world given that most of the football world at this time was dominated by amateur leagues. It was created by the owners of Major League Baseball's National League partly to fill their dormant stadiums in the winter months and partly for publicity reasons to keep their baseball seasons visible to the public during the off-season.

Schedule

The 1894 schedule included six teams sponsored by National League teams (Baltimore, Boston, Brooklyn, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington) that played a total of 23 games. Although the club owners encouraged attendance by setting ticket prices low, typically 25 cents, the turn out was light averaging about 500 spectators--by comparison, average crowds in the National League that year ranged from as much as about 6000 (New York Giants) to as few as about 600 (Louisville). [ [http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/NL_1894.shtml Baseball Reference - 1894] ] The most successful franchise was Baltimore, which led the league with a 5-1 record (thus doing an "American Double" since they also won the National League that year as well) and drew crowds as large as 8,000 for some matches. However, other club owners accused Baltimore of illegally employing British players, and U.S. immigration officials soon began to investigate the allegations. At the same time, with rumors circulating that a new baseball league was being formed, the club owners became convinced that the Football League was a distraction from the serious business of possible competition from a new, rival league. Combined with a move on the part of the better established American Football Association to ban players from the ALPF from playing in the AFA. This came as the AFA saw the ALPF encroaching on its territory. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9805E7D91730E033A2575BC1A96F9C94659ED7CF September 18, 1894 "New York Times"] ] The combination of these new competitive pressures and the ongoing immigration investigation scuppered the planned 1895 season and the League itself.

Clubs

*Brooklyn Bridegrooms
*Baltimore Orioles
*Boston Beaneaters
*New York Giants
*Philadelphia Phillies
*Washington Senators

External links

* [http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/alpf.html History of the ALPF by American soccer historian Steve Holroyd]

References