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1897 Pittsburgh Athletic Club football season

1897 Pittsburgh Athletic Club football

5–5
.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul{line-height:inherit;list-style:none;margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol li,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul li{margin-bottom:0}R. E. HamiltonW. H. Hastings (late season)
George Hoskins
George W. RitcheyJames P. Brownlee (late season)
PAC Park
Seasons

The Pittsburgh Athletic Club played its eighth season of American football in 1897. The team shut out its first five opponents and was shut out by its remaining five to finish with a 5–5 record. It played its home games at PAC Park at the corner of Larimer Avenue and Shetland Street in Pittsburgh.

Despite being one of the first football teams to employ professional players, the Pittsburgh Athletic Club (PAC) team, under new manager Robert E. Hamilton, began the 1897 season intending to maintain a purely amateur status. George W. Hoskins returned as coach and halfback/tackle George Ritchey was re-elected captain.

The PAC compiled a perfect record through the first half of its schedule, winning five games against weak-to-middling opponents without allowing a point.

The team's fortunes then reversed, starting with shutout losses to Washington & Jefferson College and local rival Duquesne Country & Athletic Club.

The low point of the season came when the PAC visited Latrobe, which that year made history as the first all-professional football team to play a full season. Playing its third hard game in only eight days, the beat-up and worn-out PAC lost 47–0. This worst defeat in the team's then eight-year history was followed by the resignation of manager Bob Hamilton and the appointment of William H. Hastings in his place.

Manager Hastings brought in new players to strengthen the squad in preparation for its November 20 rematch with the Duquesne Country and Athletic Club. End John Van Cleve, whom Hamilton had earlier kept off the team for being a professional, was added to the roster along with halfbacks Jake Camp and Dick Ely. Also joining the East Enders were linemen Archibald Stevenson of the Chicago Athletic Association and Bill Inglis of Washington & Jefferson. The night before the game, fullback James P. Brownlee was elected captain in place of Ritchey, who was "deposed" from the role for an apparent lack of dedication. These changes did not bring success against the Duquesnes, who had been strengthening their team as well and shut out the PAC by a larger margin than before.

A 16–0 loss to Greensburg completed a disastrous second half of the season in which the PAC failed to score any points. The Pittsburg[h] Press reported that amateurism had been abandoned by the football programs of both major Pittsburgh clubs, the PAC and Duquesne C&AC, and was unlikely to return if the teams expected to keep in the front ranks of the sport. The city, according to the paper, could not afford to yield football supremacy to smaller-town clubs such as Latrobe and Greensburg, which made no pretense of being amateur.

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance
September 25	Emerald Athletic Club	.mw-parser-output .hlist dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul{margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt,.mw-parser-output .hlist li{margin:0;display:inline}.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul ul{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .hlist .mw-empty-li{display:none}.mw-parser-output .hlist dt::after{content:": "}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li::after{content:"\a0 · ";font-weight:bold}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li:last-child::after{content:none}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dd:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dt:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dd:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dt:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dd:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dt:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li li:first-child::before{content:" (";font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd li:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt li:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li li:last-child::after{content:")";font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .hlist ol{counter-reset:listitem}.mw-parser-output .hlist ol>li{counter-increment:listitem}.mw-parser-output .hlist ol>li::before{content:" "counter(listitem)"\a0 "}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd ol>li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt ol>li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li ol>li:first-child::before{content:" ("counter(listitem)"\a0 "}PAC ParkPittsburgh, PA	W 22–0	300
October 2	Imperial Athletic Club	PAC ParkPittsburgh, PA	W 54–0
October 9	West Virginia	PAC ParkPittsburgh, PA	W 6–0
October 16	Grove City	PAC ParkPittsburgh, PA	W 20–0
October 23	Wheeling Tigers	PAC ParkPittsburgh, PA	W 14–0	1,500
October 30	Washington & Jefferson	PAC ParkPittsburgh, PA	L 0–18	4,000–5,500
November 2	at Duquesne Country and Athletic Club	Exposition ParkAllegheny, PA	L 0–4	3,500
November 6	at Latrobe Athletic Association	Latrobe, PA	L 0–47	1,200
November 20	Duquesne Country and Athletic Club	PAC ParkPittsburgh, PA	L 0–10	4,000–6,000
November 25	Greensburg Athletic Association	PAC ParkPittsburgh, PA	L 0–16	2,000–3,000

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