The Big Controversy of 1886

The Yale - Princeton Game You Never Knew About

The Big Controversy of 1886

From New-York Tribune, November 25, 1886, page 7

We take a lot for granted in modern football. Lights, for example.

As I’ve mentioned before, the true rivalry in college football in 1886 was not between Yale and Harvard, but, rather, was between Yale and Princeton. For several years in a row, the end of season game between Yale and Princeton was generally the most important game of the season. Both teams usually would show up with unblemished records, and the victor would be considered the best team in the country by the sporting press.

And, as you can imagine, the hype for this game was real:

From The New York Times, November 25, 1886, page 1

You know that it was a big deal when hype for the game made the front page of the New York Times. In fact, all the New York and New England newspapers made a huge deal of this rivalry.

As for the game itself? Well, this one was really one for the ages:

From The Boston Globe, November 26, 1886, page 2. All subsequent images come from the same page.

That’s right. This one ended in a tie due to darkness — something that is unfathomable today.

That’s right — the referee didn’t show up. That’s another thing we take for granted today.

Yeah, you read correctly. The game was called in the end with about 20 minutes left to play because of the darkness. And the whole mess wound up in a series of fistfights.

Although Yale gathered 4 points before the game was called, the official ruling was that the game would be ruled a 0-0 draw:

From The Boston Globe, November 28, 1886, page 3

And that’s the way the season ended. There was no makeup game.