The Union Club of Columbia football team was a football club composed of Columbia College students and alumni that operated from 1886 to 1887. It was the only school-related football team in 1886 after the varsity of Columbia was on hiatus from 1885 to 1888. Very little is known about the Union Club, its relation to Columbia College, and its reason for establishment and dissolution.

1886 season

1886 Unions of Columbia College football
ConferenceAmerican Football Union
Record1–3 (1–2 AFU)
CaptainA. Cohen
Home stadiumSt. George Cricket Grounds
Seasons
← 1885
1887 →
1886 American Football Union standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Crickets of Stevens Institute $ 3 – 0 – 0 4 – 1 – 0
Staten Island Football Club 1 – 2 – 2 2 – 3 – 3
Unions of Columbia 1 – 2 – 0 1 – 3 – 0
Brooklyn Hill 0 – 1 – 2 3 – 5 – 3
Cutler School 0 – 0 – 0 – – – – –
Spartan Harriers 0 – 0 – 0 – – – – –

In 1886, the Unions of Columbia football club joining the fledgling American Football Union for their inaugural 1886 season. The Unions would compile a 1–3 record, all against AFU opponents, and outscored their opponents by a total of 28 to 23. The AFU ruled that the November 6th forfeit loss between Brooklyn Hill and the Unions would not count towards the league record.[1] The 1886 team was composed mostly of Columbia College alumni, particularly from the 1883 and 1884 varsity squads.

DateOpponentSiteResultSource
October 16Staten Island Football ClubStaten Island, NYW 22–0[2]
October 30Crickets of Stevens InstituteLikely postponed [3]
November 2Crickets of Stevens Institute
L 6–13[4]
November 6Brooklyn Hill
L (forfeit)[5]
November 20Staten Island Football Club
  • St. George Cricket Grounds
  • Staten Island, NY
L 0–10[6]

1887 season

1887 Unions of Columbia College football
ConferenceAmerican Football Union
Record0–3 (0–3 AFU)
CaptainA. Cohen
Seasons
← 1886
1888 →
1887 American Football Union standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Crescent Athletic Club $ 6 – 0 – 0 7 – 1 – 0
New York Athletic Club 2 – 2 – 0 1 – 2 – 0
Staten Island Cricket Club 1 – 3 – 0 1 – 3 – 0
Unions of Columbia 0 – 3 – 0 0 – 3 – 0

The 1887 Unions of Columbia College football team compiled a 0–3 record (all in the AFU) and were outscored by their opponents by a total of 63 to 2. Sometime in the middle of October, the team was able to secure new players when the Crickets of Stevens Institute (who had won the 1886 AFU championship) decided to consolidate their team with the Unions. On November 13, the Unions resigned from the AFU for an unstated reason, and disbanded their student alumni football team. Speculation at the time for the team's disbandment was blamed on the club "not being able to stand defeat".[7] Another possibility was the alumni simply lost interest in the game, which was a common reason for dropping football at the time (this was the reason for Columbia's Varsity hiatus' in the 1880s and 1890s), or perhaps the most viable, the student sect of the Unions team was consolidated into the 1887 Columbia interclass teams, and there were two few alumni remaining to continue the season.

DateOpponentSiteResultSource
October 15Staten Island Cricket Club
L 2–30[8][9]
October 22Crescent Athletic Club
L 0–27[10]
November 5Staten Island Cricket Club
  • Crescent Athletic Club grounds
  • Brooklyn, NY
Likely Cancelled
November 12Crescent Athletic Club
  • Crescent Athletic Club grounds
  • Brooklyn, NY
L 0–6

1888 season

1888 Unions of Columbia College football
ConferenceIndependent
Record~2–1
CaptainRead G. Dilworth (quarterback and rusher)[11]
Seasons
← 1887
1889 →
1888 Eastern college football independents records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Yale   –   13 – 0 – 0
Harvard   –   12 – 1 – 0
Princeton   –   11 – 1 – 0
Lehigh   –   10 – 2 – 0
Trinity (CT)   –   5 – 1 – 1
Lafayette   –   6 – 3 – 0
Cornell   –   4 – 2 – 0
Penn   –   9 – 7 – 0
Bucknell   –   2 – 3 – 0
Fordham   –   1 – 2 – 0
Massachusetts   –   2 – 4 – 0
Wesleyan   –   2 – 7 – 0
Worcester Tech   –   1 – 4 – 0
Rutgers   –   1 – 6 – 1
Penn State   –   0 – 2 – 1
Swarthmore   –   0 – 5 – 0

The Union Club football team was reformed for the 1888 season as an independent, compiled a 2–1 record (approximately), and were outscored by their opponents by a total of 38 to 6. The return of the Union Club is not well documented, but they seemed to now be mostly made up of Columbia students as opposed to alumni. With the Varsity of Columbia returning from hiatus in 1889, there was no longer a need for separate football clubs and interclass teams, and the Unions were disbanded permanently.

DateOpponentSiteResultSource
October 27Manhattan Athletic Club
W 4–0[12]
November 3Consolidated team of Crescent Athletic Club
L 4–6[13]
December 8Manhattan Athletic Club
  • Manhattan Athletic Club grounds
  • Manhattan, NY
W 30–0[14]

Team rosters

In 1886, nearly all of the players in the Union Club were alumni or students of Columbia College. For the 1887 season, however, the Unions of Columbia roster would also include the Crickets of Stevens, which were another alumni football team that represented the Stevens Institute of Technology. Various members of other athletic clubs in the AFU also played a small part on the Union team. The following players were a member of the Unions of Columbia football team between 1886 and 1888. In 1888, restrictions from the new AFU constitution regarding fixed rosters slowed the influx or shifting of players of any club in the New York metropolitan area, and as such many of the Crickets or other players not affiliated with the college left the team. Any additional information regarding the player's history will follow their years and position with the Unions.

[15] [16] [17] [18]

References

  1. ^ "Football Notes". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 1886-11-18. p. 1. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
  2. ^ "Victories at Football". The New York Times. 1886-10-17. p. 1. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
  3. ^ "City and Suburban News". The New York Times. 1886-10-30. p. 8. Retrieved 2020-08-12.
  4. ^ "Clipped From The New York Times". The New York Times. 1886-11-03. p. 3. Retrieved 2020-08-12.
  5. ^ "Football Notes". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 1886-11-18. p. 1. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
  6. ^ "Columbia College Boys Beaten". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 1886-11-21. p. 16. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
  7. ^ "Football Near Prospect Park". The Brooklyn Citizen. 1887-11-14. p. 3. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
  8. ^ "The American Football Union". The Sun. 1887-10-16. p. 11. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
  9. ^ "The Football Championship". The New York Times. 1887-10-16. p. 13. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
  10. ^ "Crescent Wins at Football". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 1887-10-09. p. 16. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
  11. ^ "Columbia Beats the Manhattans at Football". The Sun. 1888-10-28. p. 13. Retrieved 2020-08-17.
  12. ^ "Columbia Beats the Manhattans at Football". The Sun. 1888-10-28. p. 13. Retrieved 2020-08-17.
  13. ^ "Two Victories for the Crescents: They Defeat the Unions of Columbia and the New York Athletics". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. November 4, 1888. p. 16 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "Football". The Sun. 1888-12-09. p. 13. Retrieved 2020-08-17.
  15. ^ "Victories at Football". The New York Times. 1886-10-17. p. 1. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
  16. ^ "Columbia College Boys Beaten". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 1886-11-21. p. 16. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
  17. ^ "Crescent Wins at Football". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 1887-10-09. p. 16. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
  18. ^ "2018 Columbia Football Recordbook (PDF)" (PDF). Columbia University Athletics. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
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