After the formation of Mount Allison's first varsity rugby football team in 1890, no other sport garnered as much attention or generated as much school spirit as this sport did in the years leading up to the First World War.
Rugby football is said to have been played first at a public school in Rugby, Warwickshire, England, in 1823. While playing a game of "football," schoolboy William Webb Ellis allegedly picked up the ball and ran with it down the field. Soccer (otherwise known as association football) and rugby football emerged as the two dominant types of football played in England, and both versions were introduced to North America by the 1870s.
McGill University was the first college to in Canada to play rugby football, and the school codified its own rules for the sport in 1871. The United States, which had been playing a kicking version of football, introduced rugby football through a set of home-and-home matches between Harvard and McGill Universities in 1874. Harvard adapted McGill's rules after the mini-series, and rugby football spread rapidly across universities in eastern North America. In 1881 Canadian intercollegiate rugby football began with the first annual match between McGill and the University of Toronto.
Mount Allison University Archives, [provenance not determined], accession 8849, page 2. May only be reproduced with permission of the Mount Allison University Archives.
Mount Allison University Archives, Mrs. Bob E. Lockhart fonds, accession 7528. May only be reproduced with permission of the Mount Allison University Archives.
Mount Allison University Archives, Donald F. Taylor fonds, accession 7601/2/23. May only be reproduced with permission of the Mount Allison University Archives.
The earliest reference to "football" at Mount Allison occurred in the April 1876 issue of The Argosy, which referred to a game between students of the Academy and University. [1] Another game was played in autumn 1876 involving at least one University faculty member. The Argosy (November 1876) described the match as being "full of moving accidents," and noted that the "presence of the ladies gave tone to the occasion, and prompted the young gentlemen to noble deeds of gallantry." An elongated ball which would have been useful for carrying is pictured in the first photograph of the Male Academy football team in 1878. [2]
William L. Goodwin, a student at the Academy (1870-1871) and University (1876), was credited specifically by The Argosy (22 October 1932) for introducing rugby football to Mount Allison when he returned as professor of science at the University in 1882. [3] Following his studies at Mount Allison, he had continued to study and teach in England and Scotland between 1879 and 1882, making it possible that he acquired knowledge of the game while there. [4] The same article also claimed that Dr. Goodwin was Mount Allison's first rugby football coach.
People, left-right, top row: Lockwood, T.C.; Vigus, Thomas; Hibbard, R.S.; Brown, James; Copp, J.R.; McLaughlin, Ross A. Second row: Sayre, W.P.; Humphrey, J.E.; Lodge, M.; Tuck, C.F.; Bowser, J.C. Third row: Carter, F.B.; Tweedie, William Morley; Trites, A.J. Bottom row: Lovitt, W.L.; Bell, R. Newton; Patterson, E.A.; Tremaine, R.H.; [unidentified].
Mount Allison University Archives, Picture Collection, accession 2007.07/47. May only be reproduced with permission of the Mount Allison University Archives.
Unidentified group photograph, possibly Edinburgh University graduating class, ca. early 1880s. William L. Goodwin is pictured top left.
Mount Allison University Archives, Picture Collection, accession 2007.07/171. May only be reproduced with permission of the Mount Allison University Archives.
A handwritten document detailing Mount Allison's first competitions against outside teams was placed inside a time capsule within the cornerstone of the first University Residence in 1893. The document, "Football at Mt. Allison Past and Present," stated:
"The grand old game of Rugby football has been enjoyed by Mt. Allison students for many years, but it was not till the year 1890 that 'our fifteen' competed with an outside team." [5]
That was when Mount Allison played against a team from Saint John and won the match 8-0. In 1892 Mount Allison played its first intercollegiate match against the University of New Brunswick (UNB) and again shut out its opponent 17-0.
Although rugby football was not the first sport at Mount Allison to be played against another post-secondary institution (that distinction belongs to baseball in 1887), it was the first sport to be played at the collegiate level on a regular basis. In addition to varsity-level competition, Mount Allison continued to compete with teams from cities and towns such as Amherst, Dorchester, Moncton, Saint John, and Fredericton throughout the 1890s and early 1900s.
People, left-right, back row: McConnell, James W. (Manager); Beer, Edgar George. Second row: Munroe, Clayton; Beers, J.L.; Chapman, A.; Graham, George; Carey, Everett P. Third row: Leonard, Stanley C.; Scott, Frank B.; Lefurgey, Alfred A. (Captain); Mosher, Gibson; King, Melaim L. Bottom row: Morris, Clarence; Bonnell, Saul; Rice, Cyrus Herbert; Smith, Harris S.; Huestis, Harry.
Mount Allison University Archives, Picture Collection, accession 2007.07/138. May only be reproduced with permission of the Mount Allison University Archives.
People, left-right, back row: Lucas, Frank E.; Wright, Frank W.; Clegg, Herbert; Jardine, David; Killam, Cecil; Roach, Edwin B.; Tweedie, Thomas Mitchell M.; Brooks, John E. Second row: Buffett, Aaron Forsey; Rogers, Alfred Seymour; Douglas, John Carey; Petterson, Frank J.; Sprague, Fred W. Bottom row: Rice, Jabez Melville; Johnson, George Ray; Butler, Percy Edgar; Bruce, James; Dobson, Frederick William.
Mount Allison University Archives, Picture Collection, accession 2007.07/114. May only be reproduced with permission of the Mount Allison University Archives.
The growth of the sport at Mount Allison in the 1890s was hampered by poor playing field conditions. Although a new athletic field was created in 1892, it was uneven, lumpy, and even considered to be hazardous to the players' safety. The Argosy (January 1898) claimed that Mount Allison had "the worst football field" in all of the Maritimes. In addition, the field was located on the university's agricultural grounds a quarter of a mile away from campus.
In October 1900 after two years of fundraising efforts by Mount Allison's Athletic Club a new athletic field was completed next to the recently constructed University residence.
Enthusiasm for the sport of rugby football had been dipping in the late 1890s but now increased. The level of competition and the desire to win on the part of players and fans also increased. Dr. David Allison, president of Mount Allison between 1869 and 1878 and from 1891 to 1911, was observed by future rugby football coach Herbert F.S. Paisley to have "muttered fiercely in his beard if Mount Allison were beaten."
People, left-right, top row: Pyne, [?]; Moffett, [?]. Second row: Simpson, [?]; Johnson, George Ray; Petterson, Frank J.; Morse, James; Clegg, Herbert; Roach, Edwin B.; Brooks, John E.; Weir, [?]; Bruce, James. Third row: Rogers, Alfred Seymour; Killam, Cecil; [unidentified]. Fourth row: Jardine, David; Rice, Jabez Melville; Moffett, H.; Lucas, Frank E.; Buffett, Aaron Forsey. Fifth row: Douglas, John Carey (Manager); Sprague, Fred W. (Captain); Croquere, [?]. Bottom row: Rice, [?]; Butler, Percy Edgar; Turner, [?]; Silliker, [?]; Pride, [?]; McDonald, [?].
Mount Allison University Archives, Picture Collection, accession 2007.07/106. May only be reproduced with permission of the Mount Allison University Archives.
Mount Allison buildings, left-right: second Men's University Residence, Centennial Hall, Owens Art Gallery, Borden Hall, Domestic Sciences Building (former Ladies' College gymnasium), Allison Hall, Conservatory of Music.
Mount Allison University Archives, Picture Collection, accession 2007.07/139. May only be reproduced with permission of the Mount Allison University Archives.
Mount Allison University Archives, [creator not identified], accession 5502, page 36, picture 1 of 3. May only be reproduced with permission of the Mount Allison University Archives.
Rugby football was declared the "the king of sports" at Mount Allison by The Argosy in November 1902. [6] The varsity team faced a punishing schedule that year. Following games against Fredericton, Moncton and St. Joseph's, all in New Brunswick, the football team scheduled a three day trip to Nova Scotia, playing games against Acadia University, Dalhousie and the Halifax Wanderers. [7]
In the years leading up to the First World War Mount Allison generated the most rivalry against the Acadia team with whom it had played annually since 1895. In 1903 with UNB they formed an intercollegiate league and began competing for the King-Richardson Cup. Before meeting in a championship match in Truro on 23 November 1910, Acadia and Mount Allison were tied for the greatest number of King-Richardson Cup victories. On the eve of the championship match, the Sackville Tribune newspaper (21 November 1910) predicted:
"It is expected that the game will be one of the greatest football contests which has ever been played in the provinces..." [8]
The game was won by Mount Allison on a winning try by future New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame member William S. ["Bill"] Godfrey, thereby increasing Mount Allison's lead in the cup standings to three over Acadia's two.
People, left-right, back row: Curry, Frederick Burton; McAnn, George T.; McQuaid, Edward S.; Powell, Ralph Edmund; Hume, Jack Percy; Way, Hezekiah Roderick; Peters, H. Roy. Middle row: DeLong, M. Lorne; Day, Frank Parker; Wright, Charles W.; Shanklin, James Edward; Avard, Norman Thompson (Manager); Jakeman, Harry W.; Wright, George Roy; Hudson, Charles K. Bottom row: McFadzen, Frank H.; Bigelow, Harold Eugene (Captain); Black, Vaughan Elderkin.
Mount Allison University Archives, Robert Cutten Read Collection, accession 8731/3/1/11. May only be reproduced with permission of the Mount Allison University Archives.
People, left-right, back row: Hartley, Ralph Perley (Manager); Parker, John Stewart; White, C. Avard; Glendenning, George B.; Woodman, Ralph B.; Peacock, Fletcher. Second row: Milford, John Carl; Godfrey, Willian Stephen; Cochrane, Caleb Haliburton (Captain); Buckley, Louis Albert; Smith, Frank Morton. Third row: McKean, H. Stewart; Lawrence, John F.; Rowe, Frank H. (Trainer); Moore, Guy S.; Dickenson, Frank. Bottom row: Trapnell, Donald M.; MacDougall, Charles Gordon.
Note: King-Richardson trophy in foreground.
Mount Allison University Archives, Robert Cutten Read Collection, accession 8731/3/1/19. May only be reproduced with permission of the Mount Allison University Archives.
Note: King-Richardson trophy visible toward left of picture.
Mount Allison University Archives, Picture Collection, accession 2007.07/147. May only be reproduced with permission of the Mount Allison University Archives.
When Mount Allison and Acadia met again in Truro on 17 November 1911 [9] for another championship match, over 2,000 spectators were abuzz with anticipation. In The Argosy (November 1911) an onlooker described the excitement filling the stands prior to the start of the game:
"It is the biggest event of the season, this football match between the rival teams of Acadia and Mt. Allison colleges. Although still half an hour before the time of the game, the banks are crowded with spectators, who are exchanging bright greetings and teasing remarks. There are people of all descriptions in this waiting throng. Here is seen a middle-aged couple, perhaps the fond parents of one of the players. Near them is a group of sports, who take no particular interest in the separate teams, but are here simply for the game. Running among the crowd, are some noisy school boys, who have probably excused themselves from their lessons 'to see the fun.' The great masses, however, are college students, eager, excited, jubilant rooters, sending back and forth over the campus, their songs of anticipated victory, making the cool air ring with the yells intended to inspire the men of the grid-iron."
Mount Allison lost the match 1-0. [10] Two years later the King-Richardson Cup became the permanent property of Acadia after they won the trophy for a fifth time.
People, left-right, back row: Ruggles, Walter Trueman (Manager); Mercer, A. Jenson; Durant, Norman Morton; Woodman, Ralph B.; Peters, Joshua; Freestone, John H.; Lewis, Harold; Toombs, Wendell. Middle row: Parker, John Stewart; Godfrey, William Stephen; Smith, Frank Morton; Buckley, Louis Albert (Captain); Milford, John Carl; Sears, Chester B.; West, Frank Leslie. Bottom row: Thompson, Charles C.; Pickard, Charles W.; Grant, W. Howe; Barter, Ernest H.; Dickenson, Frank.
Mount Allison University Archives, Robert Cutten Read Collection, accession 8731/3/1/21. May only be reproduced with permission of the Mount Allison University Archives.
Mount Allison University Archives, Raymond Clare Archibald fonds, accession 5501/6/1/10, unnumbered. May only be reproduced with permission of the Mount Allison University Archives.
Varsity football was cancelled in 1915 following a unanimous decision by Mount Allison University students, [11] who thought that it was the school's patriotic duty to curtail spending on sports when Canada's resources were being devoted to the war effort. UNB invited Mount Allison to join a new football league in 1916, but Mount Allison declined, stating in The Argosy (December 1915) that "it was not the proper time to discuss football matters and that we preferred to wait till after the war before discussing a new football league." [12]
Interclass rugby football continued to be played at Mount Allison as it had since 1910 with the Sophomore, Freshman and Academy teams competing for the Gass Shield. [13]
Note: Gass Shield trophy is in foreground of picture.
Mount Allison University Archives, Bennett Family fonds, accession 7746/1. May only be reproduced with permission of the Mount Allison University Archives.
Mount Allison University Archives, [provenance not determined], accession 9935. May only be reproduced with permission of the Mount Allison University Archives.
[1] Argosy, vol. II, no. 8, Apr. 1877, “Sackvilliana,” p. 80
[2] Mount Allison University Archives, Picture Collection, accession 2007.07/46
[3] Argosy, vol. LIX, no. 3, Oct. 22, 1932, "Founder's Day Celebrations," p. 2
[4] Mount Allison University Archives, Picture Collection, accession 2007.07/171, sheet of paper attached to group photograph
[5] Mount Allison University Archives, Mount Allison University Ledgers, Account books, etc., 1872-1919, accession 8336/8/6
[6] Argosy, vol. XXIX, no. 2, Nov. 1902, [untitled], p. 43
[7] [St. John] Globe, Nov. 12, 1902 "Sackville News," [by A.D. Smith], located in Mount Allison University Archives, R.C. Archibald fonds, accession 5501/6/2/1, p. 3
[8] [Sackville] Tribune, Nov. 21, 1910, "The Old Rivals to Meet Again," located in Mount Allison University Archives, R.C. Archibald fonds, accession 5501/6/1/12, p. 18
[9] [St. John] Globe, Nov. 22, 1911, "Acadia Wins Trophy - An Interesting Game," located in Mount Allison University Archives, R.C. Archibald fonds, accession 5501/6/1/12, p. 102
[10] [St. John] Globe, Nov. 22, 1911, "Acadia Wins Trophy - An Interesting Game," located in Mount Allison University Archives, R.C. Archibald fonds, accession 5501/6/1/12, p. 102
[11] [Sackville] Tribune, Oct. 21, 1915, "Mount Allison Notes," located in Mount Allison University Archives, R.C. Archibald fonds, accession 5501/6/1/12, p. 183
[12] Argosy, vol. XLII, no. 3, Dec. 1915, "Locals," p. 211
[13] Argosy, vol. XLIII, no. 2, Dec. 1916, "Locals," p. 116; Argosy, vol. XLIII, no. 7, May 1917, p. 360