Nov. 21, 1862 – Founding of first football club in Western Hemisphere (Oneida FC)
Post by frankdellapa@gmail.com
The Oneida Football Club played on the Boston Common, using a combination of rugby and soccer rules known as “The Boston Game.” The club was founded by Gerritt Smith “Gat” Miller, a student at the Dixwell School on Boylston Place.
James D’Wolf Lovett, a member of the Oneidas, described how the game was played in “Old Boston Boys and The Games They Played.” Lovett noted how he scored to decide a contest between Dixwell and Boston Latin by “kicking the winning goal.”
The Oneidas’ founding was commemorated with a monument on the Common on Nov. 19, 1925. At the ceremony, former Boston Red Stockings captain George Wright recalled Lovett having pitched for a team that defeated the Red Stockings in 1869 and said Lovett “was one of the greatest all-around athletes of his day.”
Gerrit Smith Miller was the grandson of abolitionist Gerrit Smith.
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