December 6, 1873: Eton vs. Yale

December 6, 1873: Eton vs. Yale, in football? Or in "foot ball," written as two words? Given the existence of the scorecard in this photo, apparently, it happened, if not officially, as the NCAA would say today.

Yale University, in New Haven, Connecticut, is America's 3rd-oldest college, following Harvard, and William & Mary. They are traditionally elitist and stuck-up, and that's two of the many things that they like about themselves.

But Eton College, in Eton, Berkshire, England, makes the Yalies look like nouveau riche. Founded in 1440 by King Henry VI, intended as a sister institution to King's College, Cambridge, Eton (pronounced "EE-ton") is known for its history, wealth, and notable alumni, known as Old Etonians. It is 1 of 3 public schools (what the English call private schools), along with Harrow and Radley, to have retained the boys-only-boarding-only tradition, which means that its boys live at the school, 7 days a week, with no girls. It's been called "the nurse of England's statesmen."

I quote Richard Hershberger, a historian who tends to specialize in baseball during this period:

A group of rich former students of Eton (this is more or less redundant) are tourists in America. While in Connecticut, they get up a game with some students at Yale. This is in no sense the Eton football team. I have my doubts about this being the Yale football team, or if that even had meaning in 1873. The most interesting aspect of this game is that it shows Yale playing more or less under the Football Association rules, i.e. soccer, and doing it well enough to beat a pickup team of Eton "old boys." The dominance of rugby in American college football is still a bit in the future.

The Earl of Rosebery is an interesting figure. This is Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery. He is 26 years old at this point.

"This point" being in 1873. This photo was taken years later.

After matriculating from Eton in 1866, he went to Oxford, but was kicked out two years later. He had bought a race horse, which was prohibited to undergraduates. When the school found out, they gave him the choice of selling the horse or of leaving school. He left. You have to respect that.

His lack of a degree did not hold him back. He became UK Prime Minister in 1894. Honestly, I could not have named a Victorian prime minister not named Disraeli, Gladstone, or Palmerston, but apparently there were some. In this case, it was brief and not terribly successful, but still...

What has this to do with football? Just as Yale's performance tells us something about how football was played in America in 1873, Archie's presence tells us something about the social status of football in Britain.

The game was played at Hamilton Park in New Haven. According to a newspaper, the Brooklyn Union, "After a closely contested match, played according to the English rules, with one or two American variations mutually agreed upon, it was won by Yale." No score is mentioned, nor a citation of the goalscorers. The Hartford Courant cited Yale as having won, 2-1, with Sherman being the scorer. Neither newspaper listed Sherman's first name.

Earlier in the season, both also at Hamilton Park, on October 25, Yale beat Rutgers, 3-1; and, on November 15, Yale lost to Princeton, 3-0. So Yale were 2-1 on the "season." A few months later, Harvard played McGill University of Montreal in 2 different "codes" of football, and it led to the game that would become known outside the United States as "American football."

Hamilton Park was the first home field for Yale's football team, from 1870 until the land for Yale Field was acquired in 1884. The park hosted horse races, and was home to the New Haven Elm Citys baseball team of the National Association during the 1875 season. The Hartford Dark Blues of the National League hosted a game there in 1877.

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December 6, 1873 was a Saturday. It was the only college football game played that day. No other sporting events were played: Baseball was out of season, ice hockey barely existed, and basketball wouldn't be invented for another 18 years.