1874 Harvard vs. McGill football game

First "Boston rules" football game played in the United States
McGill Redmen Harvard Crimson
0 3
1 Total
McGill 0 0
Harvard 3 3
DateMay 14, 1874
Season1873
StadiumJarvis Field
LocationCambridge
First rugby football game played in the United States
The second game, played under the rugby rules. Harvard players at left, in white shirts
McGill Redmen Harvard Crimson
0 0
123 Total
McGill 000 0
Harvard 000 0
DateMay 15, 1874
Season1873
StadiumJarvis Field
LocationCambridge

The 1874 Harvard vs. McGill football game was a two-game series between the Harvard Crimson and the McGill Redmen held in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on May 14 and 15, 1874.[1][2]

With the first game being played under the Harvard's "Boston game", the second one was the first rugby-style football game played in the United States.[3] It used three periods or "games" and ended in a scoreless tie.[4][5]

A Princeton vs. Rutgers football game had been played five years earlier (in 1869), but under a variation of England's The Football Association rules, closer to contemporary soccer than American football.

The Boston game rules were developed by the first organized football team, the Oneida Football Club, founded in 1862. Many of its members went on to found, and play for, the Harvard team.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference phd93 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "THIS DATE IN HISTORY: First football game was May 14, 1874". mcgill.ca. McGill University News. May 14, 2012. Retrieved December 18, 2021.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference PFRA1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "Foot Ball". Boston Post. May 16, 1874. p. 3. Retrieved March 29, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  5. ^ DeLassus, David. "Harvard Yearly Results". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on July 28, 2014. Retrieved August 22, 2014.