Ottawa Citizen, September 21st, 1876

Ottawa REDBLACKS
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A little something for those of you who dig football history.

Here is the article which recapped the meeting to create a football club in Ottawa. It’s a little dry, but it’s neat to see how the language and terminology have changed since.

[i]The meeting advertised to take place at the Cricket Grounds on Monday afternoon for the organization of a Football Club was adjourned until last night, and accordingly a goodly number of gentlemen assembled at 8:30 in a “private? room at the Russell House, and at once proceeded to business.

Mr. C. Brodie was appointed chairman of the meeting, and Mr. G. H. Scott secretary. The following gentlemen were then enrolled as members — the Club to be known as the “Ottawa Football Club?: –

C. B Brodie, J. Albert Grant,
G. H. Scott, J. E. Prower,
A. F. Cotton, A. Stewart,
M. K. Dunlevi, G. Tempest,
A. C. Welsh, J. B. Monk,
V. Nicholson, J. Fletcher,
L. Jarvis, Dr Powell,
F. Newby, W. R. Baker,
K. Eardly Wilmot, F. A. Dixon,
J. Brunel, J. J. Gormully,
J. Bruce McDonald, T. M. Morton,
G. R. Robertson, G. E. Millar,
E. S. Skead, — Henry
J. Leslie, J. Morkell,
G. Thompson, — Piddington,

The following officers were next duly elected : Mr. Allan Gilmour, President; Mr. K. Eardly Wilmot, Vice-President; Mr James Fletcher, Secretary-Treasurer.

Committee– A Stewart, E.S. Skead, G.H. Scott, P. Sherwood, Dr. Powell.

The jerseys, stocking and caps have already been ordered from England by Morgan & sons, and are expected in the course of a week or ten days. The colors of the club are cerise and French grey. The jerseys and stockings will be of these colors, with navy blue knickerbockers. Candidates for admission to the club, must in future be proposed and seconded by members and their names then handed to the committee for approval. The making out of by-laws, choosing of a standard game, ground, etc, is all left in the hands of the committee. After a vote of thanks to Mr. Brodie, for the able manner in which he had filled the chair, the meeting adjourned.[/i]


It’s also interesting to see these articles in their proper historical context, next to articles about horse thieves and such. Anyway, I hope you get a kick out of it.

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Very, very cool. I love stuff like this. IRL, I publish a magazine which was founded in 1898 - always enjoy leafing through some of the early copies.

Interesting to note how smoothly and easily things seemed to progress, back then, with no need for 'International Design Competitions', no need to purchase copy-rights for the use of a simple white letter-'R', no need to negotiate concessions licenses or worry about salary caps, no environmental impact statements to prepare, or any one of a thousand other little things that, sadly, have become such a prevalent part of today's professional game.

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Thanks, great read. I don’t have any degrees in history but man history is something so important to let us know who we are. And yet I get the feeling that a lot of people in the world today scuff off history as just some academic venture for a few academics in universities that has little or no relevance to the modern world of technology and making money etc. A shame, a real shame. I hope history is still mandatory in high schools and I think Canadian history should be a mandated course as well.
Again, great read, thanks. I took a course in the history of sport in Canada as part of my phys ed degree in university and while Frank Cosentino wasn’t the main professor, he did come in and give a couple of lectures. What a fascinating man, he would give the lecture without looking at any notes, and just see enthusiasm ooze from him. A great Canadian and he played in the CFL also!!

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Good point. Back then, you just ordered your blue knickerbockers from England and took the field!

I’ll post some others when I have a chance, but the other striking difference is how biased reporting was. They made no effort to be sublte about it at all.

It was also so much more brutal a game. One recap of a game between Ottawa and Montreal from the late 1800’s included the following:

The visitors were accorded a hearty cheer upon their victory, which was obtained in a manner which proved that they were desirous of playing in a gentlemanly manner and not with a desire to main or disfigure their opponents.

That was mighty good of them. :thup:

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The visitors were accorded a hearty cheer upon their victory, which was obtained in a manner which proved that they were desirous of playing in a gentlemanly manner and not with a desire to main or disfigure their opponents.

Sounds like the Argos playing in Hamilton on Labour Day. lol

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Here's a little jog down memory lane for my fellow fans. Click on the image to make the article easier to read.

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I've got four of them for that game specifically. I'll be adding the others before long.