The American Football Union (AFU) was a coalition of amateur, semi-professional, and collegiate club football teams that operated from 1886 to 1895 in the New York metropolitan area. Although the minor league was practically inconsequential and obscure in the development of professional American football, the Orange Athletic Club, who participated in the league from 1888 to 1895, would go on to become the Orange and Newark Tornadoes, and join the NFL for two seasons in 1929 and 1930.
History
Founding
On January 6, 1886, representatives from several different athletic institutions across the New York metropolitan area met at 23 Dey Street in Manhattan to discuss the plausibility of a new athletic association for the sport of football. These institutions were the Staten Island, New-Brighton, Cutler, Stevens Institute, Polytechnic Institute, Brooklyn Hill, Crescent, and Victoria football clubs. The delegates of these eight athletic clubs eventually voted to form the association known as "The American Football Union". An election was held, and C. M. Smith of the Staten Island Cricket Club was chosen as the first AFU president. William Denman won secretary, and William H. Ford, E. P. Moorton, and R. M. Ormiston were appointed to the Executive Committee.
The second meeting for the fledging football association was held at 3:00 p.m. on the following Wednesday at the same site, and was focused on laying down a series of rules for the league to adopt. A committee composed of R.M Ormiston, H. C. Staniland, and H. Waldo Jr., who were the captains of the Polytechnic, Victoria, and New-Brighton athletic clubs respectively, were chosen to draft the new rules for the union. Other developments of note were arrangements for a schedule of conference matchups for the upcoming football season, as well as a trophy for whichever club won the most in-league games. A new rule was established that if any club failed to make an appearance within half an hour of their scheduled contest, they would have to forfeit the contest to the opposing team. The Brooklyn Hills and Cutler's school delegates were absent, and the Stevens Institute sent in a letter of resignation from the Union.
1886 season
The AFU's first fall meeting was held on September 31 at No.243 Broadway Street, and welcomed representatives from the five institutions who confirmed their teams for the 1886 season. They were the Unions of Columbia College, Brooklyn Hill Football Club, Cutler School, the Spartan Harriers, and the Staten Island Football Club. The Staten Island Football Club was a consolidation of three clubs on Staten Island, the Athletic, Cricket, and Rowing associations, as well as the Clifton Athletic Club. William Halsey of the Brooklyn Hills was appointed the new secretary of the AFU, and the annual dues for membership were set at $10 (roughly $275 in 2020).
Although the first contest between two members of the AFU occurred on October 10, the first AFU sanctioned football game took place on October 16 with the Brooklyn Hills Football Club against the "Crickets of Stevens" (Stevens Institute Secondary team) at 3:30 p.m. on St. George's Cricket grounds in Hoboken, New Jersey. The Crickets won 22–6, but disputed calls by the referee resulted in the contest coming under review of the AFU Executive Committee.