The Ohio League was an informal and loose association of American football clubs active between 1902 and 1919 that competed for the Ohio Independent Championship (OIC). As the name implied, its teams were mostly based in Ohio. It is the direct predecessor to the modern National Football League (NFL).
A proposal to add teams from outside Ohio, such as the Latrobe Athletic Association, to form a formal league known as the "Football Association" fell through prior to the 1904 season.
Though a champion was declared by the group throughout its existence, a formal league was not founded until 1920, when several Ohio League teams added clubs from other states to form the American Professional Football Association. In 1922, the APFA became the National Football League.
All but one of the remaining Ohio League teams left the NFL after the 1926 season, with the sole remaining team, the Dayton Triangles, surviving until 1929, before moving to Brooklyn, playing as the Dodgers. That team merged with the Boston Yanks in 1945. The merger ended after the end of 1945 season. The league cancelled the Brooklyn franchise.
Championships
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| 1902 | Akron East Ends | | | | |
| 1903 | Massillon Tigers | 8 | 1 | 0 | def. Akron East Ends, 11-0 |
| 1904 | Massillon Tigers | 7 | 0 | 0 | def. Akron East Ends, 6-5 |
| 1905 | Massillon Tigers | 10 | 0 | 0 | def. Canton Bulldogs, 10-0 |
| 1906 | Massillon Tigers | 10 | 1 | 0 | def. Canton Bulldogs, 13-6 |
| 1907 | Massillon Tigers | 7 | 0 | 1 | [Massillon won by tiebreaker of common opponents. While both Massillon and the Shelby Blues went undefeated and played each other once to a scoreless tie, Shelby tied the Columbus Panhandles, while Massillon had defeated Columbus twice.] |
| 1908 | Akron Pros | 8 | 0 | 1 |
| 1909 | Akron Indians | 9 | 0 | 0 | def. Shelby Blues, 12-9 |
| 1910 | Shelby Blues and Shelby Tigers[Both teams finished undefeated, but shared so many players that it was impossible to stage a true championship game. Their records were added together and the two organizations shared the title and officially merged in 1911. The Tigers name was spun off to another team.] | 14 | 0 | 1 | def. Akron Indians, 8-5 |
| 1911 | Shelby Blues | 10 | 0 | 0 | def. Canton Bulldogs, 1-0 (forfeit) |
| 1912 | Elyria Athletics | 8 | 0 | 0 | def. Akron Indians |
| 1913 | Akron Indians | 8 | 1 | 2 | def. Shelby Blues, 20-0[While Akron is traditionally listed as champions, the Dayton Triangles won the Southern Division title with an undefeated record. Akron and Dayton never faced each other.] |
| 1914 | Akron Parratt's Indians | 8 | 2 | 1 | def. Canton Bulldogs, 21-0 |
| 1915 | Disputed | [The Professional Football Researchers Association lists 1915 as "no clear champion" and discounts the Youngstown Patricians, the only undefeated team that year, as having a subpar schedule. Canton and Massillon, the next two contenders, tied at 5-2-2.] |
| 1916 | Canton Bulldogs | 9 | 0 | 1 | def. Massillon Tigers, 24-0 |
| 1917 | Canton Bulldogs | 9 | 1 | 0 | def. Detroit Heralds, 7-0 |
| 1918 | Dayton Triangles | 8 | 0 | 0 | def. Detroit Heralds |
| 1919 | Canton Bulldogs | 9 | 0 | 1 | |
Other teams
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Akron Pros
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Cincinnati Celts
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Cleveland Panthers (debuted 1919, mainly played non-Ohio teams)
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Cleveland Tigers
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Coleman Athletic Club
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Columbus Panhandles
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Franklin Athletic Club of Cleveland
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Ironton Tanks (merger of Irish Town Rags and the Lombards)
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Lancaster Anchors
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Portsmouth Spartans (moved to Detroit in 1933, now known as the Detroit Lions)
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Shelby Tigers (merged with Shelby Blues in 1911)
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Toledo Maroons
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Washington Vigilants
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Youngstown Patricians
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Zanesville Mark Greys
Further, the Detroit Heralds, though based in Michigan, played many of its games against Ohio teams.
Successor leagues
Ohio Valley League (1925-1929)
Some of the better teams of the 1920s, who did not join the
NFL existed in the
Ohio Valley,
and would form an unofficial but recognized circuit -
The Ohio Valley League - which resembled the old Ohio League.
The "league" collapsed at the beginning of the
Great Depression.
[Bob Gill, with Tod Maher. Outsiders II: Minor League And Independent Football, 1951-1985, St. Johann Press, 2010. ]
The two stronger teams in the league were the Portsmouth Spartans and the Ironton Tanks,
Champions
1925 Ironton Tanks (9-1-2)
1926 Ironton Tanks (11-1-1)
1927 Ashland Armco Yellowjackets (7-1-3)
1928 Ironton Tanks (7-1-3)
1929 Portsmouth Spartans (12-2-1)
Ohio Professional Football League (1941)
In 1941, there was a resurgence in pro football in Ohio, as local teams tried to form a new professional league called
The Ohio Professional Football League (also known as
Ohio Valley League).
Six teams came together in an attempt to restore the region's former old glory: The Dayton Dakotas, Dayton Merchants, Cincinnati Pepsi-Colas, Columbus Avondales, Middletown Merchants, and another
Canada team the Thomas Athletic Club from Windsor, Ontario,
but they withdrew from the league before the season started.
The circuit operated on a much smaller scale from previous leagues, and did not return for a second season.
| +1941 League standings |
|
Cincinnati Pepsi-Colas | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
Dayton Dakotas | 5 | 2 | 0 | .714 |
Middletown Merchants | 3 | 3 | 1 | .500 |
Columbus Avondales | 1 | 5 | 0 | .167 |
Dayton Merchants | 0 | 7 | 1 | .063 |
See also
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Canton Bulldogs-Massillon Tigers Betting Scandal
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History of the National Football League
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New York Pro Football League, another NFL predecessor
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Western Pennsylvania Professional Football Circuit, another early pro football circuit that competed at times with various Ohio League teams.
Notes
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NFL.com history pages: 1869-1910 and 1911-1920
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Sye, Roy. Independent Football History (Sye is Vice-President of the Professional Football Researchers Association committee in charge of researching professional football prior to 1920.)
