Anthracite League
| Sport | Football |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1924 |
| Founder | James H. Gildea |
| Ceased | 1924 |
| No. of teams | 5 |
| Country | United States |
| Last champion(s) |
Pottsville Maroons |
| Most titles | Pottsville Maroons |
The Anthracite League, also referred to as the Anthracite Association, was a 1924 football league comprising teams based in eastern Pennsylvania. These teams were based in coal mining towns, hence the league name's reference to anthracite coal. The league lasted for just one season, before folding. The teams in the league were the Coaldale Big Green, Wilkes-Barre Barons, Shenandoah Yellow Jackets, the Gilberton Cadamounts, and the Pottsville Maroons.
In the years following World War I, the coal mining towns of eastern Pennsylvania produced a number of outstanding football clubs. An annual competition between the locals for the Curran Cup produced a game that was arguably the equal of that played by the fledgling National Football League. Although these teams played each other as independents the success of the NFL eventually helped to prompt these teams to form their own official league.
The league was founded by James H. Gildea, Coaldale's manager. On August 28, 1924, Gildea set up a meeting at the town hall in Coaldale to establish the league. The managers and owners of every major coal region team and the local sportswriters were all invited.
The main reason for the league was to first put an end to teams raiding their opponents' rosters for big-name players. During this, money was being handed over by several managers in record amounts, as they hoped to lure the finest talent available. When the on-field talent wasn't available for signing, these managers would then steal players from other teams with the offer of higher salaries. As a result of the meeting, the teams agreed that the league teams had to secure all of their players prior to the start of the league season. A required list of eligible players had to also be filed by each team for all the others to observe. The plan was that all teams would be required to finish the season with the same players listed on the roster at the start of the year. Also a monetary forfeit of $500 or $1,000 had to be posted by each team to guarantee that the team would stick to its preseason player roster during league play and that there was no objection to any player being signed.
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