1895 Crescent Athletic Club football team

1895 Crescent Athletic Club football
AFU champion
ConferenceAmerican Football Union
Record8–2–1 (4–0 AFU)
CaptainW. D. Hotchkiss
Home stadiumEastern Park
Seasons
← 1894
1896 →
1895 Athletic Club football records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Entre Nous AA     09 1 0
Pittsburgh AC     07 1 2
Crescent AC     08 2 1
Greensburg AA     08 2 1
Chicago AA     10 3 1
Elmira AC     06 2 0
Illinois CC     06 2 0
New Jersey AC     05 3 0
Orange AC     06 4 1
Duquesne CAC     04 3 1
Noblesville AC     03 3 2
Newton AA     04 4 1
Louisville AC     02 4 0
Hyde Park AA     00 3 2
Syracuse AA     01 5 0

The 1895 Crescent Athletic Club football team was an American football team that represented the Crescent Athletic Club in the American Football Union (AFU) during the 1895 college football season. The team played its home games at Eastern Park in Brooklyn and compiled an 8–2–1 record and claimed the AFU championship.

Crescent was scheduled to play the Orange Athletic Club for the AFU championship on November 16, but Orange objected to Phil King playing for the Crescents on grounds that he had previously been paid to coach for Princeton and was therefore not an amateur.[1] The Crescents denied the Orange contention that King was disqualified under the AFU rules.[2] The Orange club scheduled a game with Yale on the day that had been set with the Crescents. On the date set for the game, the Crescents appeared on the field without an opponent, ran one play for a touchdown, and claimed a disputed UFA championship.[3][4]

W. D. Hotchkiss, a former player at Williams College, was the team captain and played at the center position. Other key players included Phil King and Harry Beecher at quarterback, Juan Smith at halfback, and Billy Ohl at fullback.[5][6]

During the season, most of the players lived at the Crescent Athletic Club's clubhouse and ate at the clubhouse's training table.[7] The new clubhouse opened in mid-October 1985. It was a four-story building with reading and smoking rooms, grill room, and offices on the first floor; card, chess and billiard rooms on the second floor; dining rooms on the third floor; and gymnasium with domed ceiling on the fourth floor.[8]

  1. ^ "The Crescent-Orange Debate". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. November 10, 1895. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Crescent's Statement". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. November 11, 1895. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference SFT was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "The Orange Side of It". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. December 12, 1895. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "For the Eagle Foot Ball Cup: Brooklyn Crescents and Orange Athletic Club to Contend". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. September 8, 1895. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Rivals for the Eagle Cup: Crescent and Orange Foot Ball Teams Want Permanent Possession". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. September 22, 1895. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Crescents Lining Up: Good Practice Work at the Bay Ridge Grounds". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. September 25, 1895. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Crescents' New Club House". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. October 13, 1895. p. 9 – via Newspapers.com.