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Ohio League

Precursor to NFL

Summary

Precursor to NFL

Field	Value
title	Ohio League
pixels
sport	American football
founded	1902
fame	Predecessor to the National Football League (NFL)
inaugural	1902
teams	23
country	United States
venue	Armory Park
Idora Park
Indianola Park
League Field
League Park
Luna Bowl
Swayne Field
Tank Stadium
Triangle Park
champion	Canton Bulldogs
most_champs	Massillon Tigers (5)
folded	1919
related_comps	New York Pro Football League (NYPFL)
Western Pennsylvania Professional Football Circuit
Chicago League

Idora Park Indianola Park League Field League Park Luna Bowl Swayne Field Tank Stadium Triangle Park Western Pennsylvania Professional Football Circuit Chicago League

The Ohio League was an informal and loose association of American football clubs active between 1902 and 1919 that competed for the Ohio Independent Championship (OIC). As the name implied, its teams were mostly based in Ohio. It is the direct predecessor to the modern National Football League (NFL).

A proposal to add teams from outside Ohio, such as the Latrobe Athletic Association, to form a formal league known as the "Football Association" fell through prior to the 1904 season.

Though a champion was declared by the group throughout its existence, a formal league was not founded until 1920, when several Ohio League teams added clubs from other states to form the American Professional Football Association. In 1922, the APFA became the National Football League.

All but one of the remaining Ohio League teams left the NFL after the 1926 season, with the sole remaining team, the Dayton Triangles, surviving until 1929, before moving to Brooklyn, playing as the Dodgers. That team merged with the Boston Yanks in 1945. The merger ended after the end of 1945 season. The league cancelled the Brooklyn franchise.

Championships

Year	Champion	W	L	T	Deciding game
1902	Akron East Ends
1903	Massillon Tigers	8	1	0	def. Akron East Ends, 11-0
1904	Massillon Tigers	7	0	0	def. Akron East Ends, 6-5
1905	Massillon Tigers	10	0	0	def. Canton Bulldogs, 10-0
1906	Massillon Tigers	10	1	0	def. Canton Bulldogs, 13-6
1907	Massillon Tigers	7	0	1
1908	Akron Indians	8	0	1
1909	Akron Indians	9	0	0	def. Shelby Blues, 12-9
1910	Shelby Blues and Shelby Tigers	14	0	1	def. Akron Indians, 8-5
1911	Shelby Blues	10	0	0	def. Canton Bulldogs, 1-0 (forfeit)
1912	Elyria Athletics	8	0	0	def. Akron Indians
1913	Akron Indians	8	1	2	def. Shelby Blues, 20-0
1914	Akron Parratt's Indians	8	2	1	def. Canton Bulldogs, 21-0
1915	Disputed
1916	Canton Bulldogs	9	0	1	def. Massillon Tigers, 24-0
1917	Canton Bulldogs	9	1	0	def. Detroit Heralds, 7-0
1918	Dayton Triangles	8	0	0	def. Detroit Heralds
1919	Canton Bulldogs	9	0	1

Other teams

Akron Pros
Cincinnati Celts
Cleveland Panthers (debuted 1919, mainly played non-Ohio teams)
Cleveland Tigers
Coleman Athletic Club
Columbus Panhandles
Franklin Athletic Club of Cleveland
Ironton Tanks (merger of Irish Town Rags and the Lombards)
Lancaster Anchors
Portsmouth Spartans (moved to Detroit in 1933, now known as the Detroit Lions)
Shelby Tigers (merged with Shelby Blues in 1911)
Toledo Maroons
Washington Vigilants
Youngstown Patricians
Zanesville Mark Greys

Further, the Detroit Heralds, though based in Michigan, played many of its games against Ohio teams.

Successor leagues

Ohio Valley League (1925-1929)

Some of the better teams of the 1920s, who did not join the NFL existed in the Ohio Valley, and would form an unofficial but recognized circuit - The Ohio Valley League - which resembled the old Ohio League. The "league" collapsed at the beginning of the Great Depression.

The two stronger teams in the league were the Portsmouth Spartans and the Ironton Tanks, that in the year after the circuit died (1930) beat the New York Giants and Chicago Bears, while the Spartans would join the NFL and would later become the Detroit Lions. Two other noteworthy teams were the Armco Corporation employees teams - Ashland Armco Yellowjackets (Kentucky) and Middletown Armco Blues (Ohio), who featured many former college All-Americans, including Red Roberts.

Champions

1925 Ironton Tanks (9-1-2)

1926 Ironton Tanks (11-1-1)

1927 Ashland Armco Yellowjackets (7-1-3)

1928 Ironton Tanks (7-1-3)

1929 Portsmouth Spartans (12-2-1)

Ohio Professional Football League (1941)

In 1941, there was a resurgence in pro football in Ohio, as local teams tried to form a new professional league called The Ohio Professional Football League (also known as Ohio Valley League). Six teams came together in an attempt to restore the region's former old glory: The Dayton Dakotas, Dayton Merchants, Cincinnati Pepsi-Colas, Columbus Avondales, Middletown Merchants, and another Canadian team the Thomas Athletic Club from Windsor, Ontario, but they withdrew from the league before the season started.

The circuit operated on a much smaller scale from previous leagues, and did not return for a second season.

Team	W	L	T	PCT
Cincinnati Pepsi-Colas	7	0	0	1.000
Dayton Dakotas	5	2	0	.714
Middletown Merchants	3	3	1	.500
Columbus Avondales	1	5	0	.167
Dayton Merchants	0	7	1	.063

Notes

NFL.com history pages: 1869-1910 and 1911-1920
Sye, Roy. Independent Football History (Sye is Vice-President of the Professional Football Researchers Association committee in charge of researching professional football prior to 1920.)

References

Massillon won by tiebreaker of common opponents. While both Massillon and the [[Shelby Blues]] went undefeated and played each other once to a scoreless tie, Shelby tied the [[Columbus Panhandles]], while Massillon had defeated Columbus twice.
Both teams finished undefeated, but shared so many players that it was impossible to stage a true championship game. Their records were added together and the two organizations shared the title and officially merged in 1911. The Tigers name was spun off to another team.
While Akron is traditionally listed as champions, the [[Dayton Triangles. Dayton Cadets]] won the Southern Division title with an undefeated record. Akron and Dayton never faced each other.
The [[Professional Football Researchers Association]] lists 1915 as "no clear champion" and discounts the [[Youngstown Patricians]], the only undefeated team that year, as having a subpar schedule. Canton and Massillon, the next two contenders, tied at 5-2-2.
"the Ohio Valley in 1924".
"Thorpe's Farewell Season".
Bob Gill, with Tod Maher. ''Outsiders II: Minor League And Independent Football, 1951-1985'', St. Johann Press, 2010. {{ISBN. 1878282654
"The "Famous" Ironton Tanks".
"1930 Ironton Tanks".
(2 September 2019). "Armco Semi-Pro Football Teams 1924-1929".
"Armco's Semi-Pro Football Teams".
"1925 Ironton Tanks".
"1926 Ironton Tanks".
"1927 Ashland Armcos".
"1928 Ironton Tanks".
"1929 Portsmouth Spartans".
(October 10, 1941). "Dakotas to Stand Pat On Lineup". [[The Journal Herald]].
(September 21, 1941). "2 Dayton Teams In New Pro Football Circuit". [[Dayton Daily News]].
"1941 Cincinnati Pepsi-Colas (OVFL)".
"1941 Dayton Dakotas (OVFL)".
"1941 Middletown Merchants (OVFL)".
"1941 Columbus Avondales (OVFL)".
"1941 Dayton Merchants (OVFL)".

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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