The Franklin Athletic Club was an early professional football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 team based in Franklin, Pennsylvania. It was considered the top team in professional football in 1903, by becoming the becoming the US Football Champions and winning the 1903 World Series of Football, held after the 1903 season, at New York's

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 Madison Square Garden

Madison Square Garden (1890)

Madison Square Garden was an indoor arena in New York City, the second by that name, and the second to be located at 26th Street and Madison Avenue in Manhattan...

. The team was also the rivials to the nearby Oil City Athletic Club

Oil City Athletic Club

The Oil City Athletic Club was a professional football team based in Oil City, Pennsylvania from 1893 until 1903. The team was the interstate rivial of the Franklin Athletic Club...

.

1902 bidding war

Franklin and Oil City, Pennsylvania

Oil City, Pennsylvania

Oil City is a city in Venango County, Pennsylvania that is known in the initial exploration and development of the petroleum industry. After the first oil wells were drilled nearby in the 1850s, Oil City became central in the petroleum industry while hosting headquarters for the Pennzoil, Quaker...

 had a lot of money tied up in their football teams. In 1902, during the teams' third meeting however, Oil City signed the entire team from the Pittsburgh Athletic Club

Pittsburgh Athletic Club (football)

The Pittsburgh Athletic Club football team, established in 1891, was based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1892 the intense competition between two Pittsburgh-area clubs, the Allegheny Athletic Association and the Pittsburgh Athletic Club, led to William Heffelfinger becoming the first known...

, seven of the Philadelphia All-Stars

Philadelphia Phillies (NFL)

The Philadelphia Phillies were a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1902. The team was member of what was referred to as the National Football League. This league has no connection with the National Football League of today. The whole league was a curious...

, some players from a team located in Steubenville, Ohio

Steubenville, Ohio

Steubenville is a city located along the Ohio River in Jefferson County, Ohio on the Ohio-West Virginia border in the United States. It is the political county seat of Jefferson County. It is also a principal city of the Weirton–Steubenville, WV-OH Metropolitan Statistical Area...

 and from Grove City College

Grove City College

Grove City College is a Christian liberal arts college in Grove City, Pennsylvania, about north of Pittsburgh. According to the College Bulletin, its stated three-fold mission is to provide an excellent education at an affordable price in a thoroughly Christian environment...

 for that one game against Franklin. Since there was a large amount of hometown gambling on football games in 1902, this action resulted in all of the Franklin fans losing their bets to Oil City. However while losing the game, Franklin did manage to hold Oil City's all star team to a 10-0 score.

1903 Pre-season

To avoid being out bid again by Oil City for football talent, Franklin's manager Bill Prince recruited an every star player inside of Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

 to play for Franklin. After the team's loss against Oil City, Prince attended the first National Football League

National Football League (1902)

The National Football League was the first attempt at forming a national professional football league in 1902. The league has no ties with the modern National Football League. In fact the league was only composed of teams from Pennsylvania, which was hardly "national". Two of the teams were based...

 championship game between the Pittsburgh Stars

Pittsburgh Stars

The Pittsburgh Stars were a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1902. The team was member of what was referred to as the National Football League. This league has no connection with the National Football League of today. The whole "league" was a curious mixture...

 and Philadelphia Athletics

Philadelphia Athletics (NFL)

The Philadelphia Athletics were a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1902. The team was member of what was referred to as the National Football League. This league has no connection with the National Football League of today. The whole "league" was a curious...

. Immediately after the game, Prince signed every important player in sight to Franklin.

After seeing what Prince had done, Oil City forfeited their season due to a lack of players. All of the money that was to be gambled on the 1903 football contests between Franklin and Oil City , sat in a bank escrow

Escrow

An escrow is:* an arrangement made under contractual provisions between transacting parties, whereby an independent trusted third party receives and disburses money and/or documents for the transacting parties, with the timing of such disbursement by the third party dependent on the fulfillment of...

 account and was later returned to the gamblers.

1903 Season

With every major football star under contract with Franklin, Prince decided to open up a challenge to every major professional football club in Pennsylvania. Many stars from the first NFL played for Franklin including Blondy Wallace

Blondy Wallace

Charles Edgar "Blondy" Wallace was an early professional football player. He was a 240-pound, former Walter Camp second-team All-American tackle from the University of Pennsylvania. He also played two years at Peddie Institute, in New Jersey, winning state championships in 1896 and 1897...

 and Eddie Wood

Eddie Wood

Edward Wood was an early professional football player for the Latrobe Athletic Association, the Franklin Athletic Club and finally for the Canton Bulldogs of the "Ohio League"...

 who later became one of the first players to catch forward pass

Forward pass

In several forms of football a forward pass is when the ball is thrown in the direction that the offensive team is trying to move, towards the defensive team's goal line...

es when they became legal in 1906. The team marched its way to a 10-0 record. Franklin then defeated the Pittsburgh Athletic Club, which consisted of the ringers that defeated them the year before, 23-0.

1903 World Series of Football

After defeating the Syracuse Athletic Club, the winners of the 1902 World Series of Football

World Series of Football (1902)

The World Series of Football was a series of football games played indoors at New York's Madison Square Garden in 1902 and 1903. It originally comprised five teams, four from New York state and one from New Jersey...

, 12-0. Franklin entered the 1903 Series to be held at Madison Square Garden. The walked away with the Series Championship after defeating the Watertown Red & Black

Watertown Red & Black

The Watertown Red & Black is a semi-professional American football team based in Watertown, New York. Founded in 1896, the team is the oldest semi-pro football team in the United States...

12-0. However after winning the Championship, Prince announced that Franklin would not field an all-star squad in 1904.