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Date

2025

Abstract

During the late nineteenth century, the name “football” could refer to early versions of soccer, rugby, or American football. In 1891, the city of Concordia, Kansas even had a women’s football team, who probably played soccer (association football). However, American football soon dominated interest in Kansas. Given the likelihood of injury and the organized practice time and coaching necessary, communities were slow to take up American football during the early years of the sport. Consequently, few games were played against teams from other communities. Another monograph summarized the history of football in Kansas through 1891 and the beginning of intercollegiate football. This monograph continues that story by using Abilene as an example of football in smaller cities and the rise of high school teams from 1891 to 1910. At the beginning and the end of this period, Abilene sent local athletes Abe Lott and Dwight Eisenhower to the US Military Academy at West Point, where both played varsity football. This essay was originally published in 2020 and has undergone revisions and corrections for its release in 2025 as part of the five-volume anthology Peeking through the Knothole. The open-access, digital version of this essay is available through the “Download” button on this webpage. The print-on-demand version is available through the “Buy this Book” button for volume five of the anthology (Essays on Baseball from Various Viewpoints, 1856–1940).

Keywords

foot ball, football history, American football, Abilene, Dwight Eisenhower, Ike, Abraham Lott, Alfred Briscoe, female football, women’s football, women’s soccer

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Originally Published 2020

Revised Edition 2025

Early Football in Abilene, Kansas, from Lott to Eisenhower, 1891–1910, Revised

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