 The Lambert Trophy on display in the Army Sports Hall of Fame at the United States Military Academy in 2019. | |
| Awarded for | the best team in the East in Division I FBS (formerly I-A) college football. Eastern championship[1][2] |
|---|---|
| Location | Eastern United States |
| Country | United States |
| Presented by | Metropolitan New York Football Writers |
| History | |
| First award | 1936 |
| Most recent | Army[3] – 9th time |
The Lambert Trophy was an annual award given to the best team in the East in Division I FBS (formerly I-A) college football. In affiliation with the Metropolitan New York Football Writers (founded 1935), the Lambert Trophy was established by brothers Victor A. and Henry L. Lambert in memory of their father, August V. Lambert.[4] The Lamberts were the principals in a distinguished Madison Avenue jewelry house and were prominent college football boosters.
By the time the “Lambert Trophy” was established in 1936, major schools in other regions of the country had formed their own leagues (i.e., SEC, Big Ten, Big Eight, Pacific Coast Conference, etc.) and Division I FBS (formerly I–A) schools located in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions remained independent, with the exception of the 1954 formation of the Ivy League.[5][6] Emblematic of the "Eastern championship",[7][8] the Lambert Trophy, voted on by a panel of sports writers in New York, became the de facto conference championship for those schools.[9]
Since 1936, there have been 19 different winners in Division I-A/FBS. To be eligible for the Lambert Award, a school must be located in the "East." Teams in the "East" were originally interpreted as being north of Washington D.C. and east of the western boundary of Pennsylvania,[10] but has sometimes been expanded to include teams located in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Delaware and the District of Columbia (although there are no FBS teams in Delaware nor Washington D.C., there are teams that compete at lower levels that can win the various Lambert Cup awards for their levels). Additionally, while the Big East Conference was a football conference, members of that conference outside of the "East" were also made eligible if at least half their schedule was against Lambert-eligible teams.
A set of parallel trophies collectively known as the Lambert Cup use to be awarded to teams in Division I FCS (formerly I-AA), Division II, and Division III. The Metropolitan New York Football Writers, owned and operated by American Football Networks, Inc., took the administration of the Lambert Meadowlands Awards back from the New Jersey Sports & Exhibition Authority in 2011.
As of 2024, plans were announced to revive the Lambert Trophy and begin awarding it for the 2024 season.[11]
- ^ "Boys' Life". November 1968.
- ^ Dartmouth College Football: Green Fields of Autumn. Arcadia. 2004. ISBN 9780738536118.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
2019 and 2020 ECAC Awardswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Get Lambert Award". Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph. December 1, 1936. p. 26. Retrieved June 28, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Remember What It Took to Get Here". 11 April 2016.
- ^ "What happened to college football in the Northeast?". 4 August 2022.
- ^ "Boys' Life". November 1968.
- ^ Dartmouth College Football: Green Fields of Autumn. Arcadia. 2004. ISBN 9780738536118.
- ^ "Remember What It Took to Get Here". 11 April 2016.
- ^ "Dec 01, 1936, page 18 - The Times Leader at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2024-09-24.
- ^ @LambertTrophy (September 23, 2024). "... @SickosCommittee @PickSixPreviews @FQACC @ECACSports @ShutdownFullcas @SplitZoneDuo @ArmyWP_Football @SolidVerbal" (Tweet). Archived from the original on September 24, 2024. Retrieved September 23, 2024 – via Twitter.