Founded | 1899 |
---|---|
Suspended | 1931 |
Based in |
Frankford, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States |
League | Independent (1899–1923) National Football League (1924–1931) |
Team history |
Frankford Athletic Association (1899–1909, 1912–1924) Loyola Athletic Club (1909–1912) Frankford Yellow Jackets (1924–1931) |
Team colors | Blue, Yellow, White |
Head coaches |
Punk Berryman (1924) Guy Chamberlin (1925–26) Charley Moran (1927) Swede Youngstrom (1927) Charley Rogers (1927) Russ Daugherty (1927) Ed Weir (1927–28) Bull Behman (1929–31) |
General managers | Theodore Holden (1924–26) James Adams (1926–30) Shep Royle (1930–31) |
Owner(s) | Frankford Athletic Association |
NFL Championship wins | (1) 1926 |
Home field(s) |
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The Frankford Yellow Jackets were a professional American football team, part of the National Football League from 1924 to 1931, though its origin dates back to as early as 1899 with the Frankford Athletic Association. The Yellow Jackets won the NFL championship in 1926. The team played its home games from 1923 in Frankford Stadium (also called Yellow Jacket Field) in Frankford, a section in the northeastern part of Philadelphia, noted for the subway-elevated transit line that terminates there.
The Frankford Athletic Association was organized in May 1899 in the parlor of the Suburban Club. The cost of purchasing a share in the association was $10. However, there were also contributing memberships, ranging from $1 to $2.50, made available to the general public. The Association was a community-based non-profit organization of local residents and businesses. In keeping with its charter, which stated that "all profits shall be donated to charity", all of the team's excess income was donated to local charitable institutions. The beneficiaries of this generosity included Frankford Hospital, the Frankford Day Nursery, the local Boy Scouts, and the local American Legion Post 211. The officers of the Association never received a salary or compensation for their work on behalf of the team.
The association's clubhouse was originally located at the current site of Frankford High School. The field at this site, known as Wistar Field, became the first official home of the Yellow Jackets. Several years later, when the construction of the current high school was proposed, the team moved to Brown's Field. The Association initially fielded a baseball team, however soccer and football clubs were also formed. The Association's football team played several games in 1899, including victorious contests against the Pioneer Athletic Association, Jefferson Medical College, the Philadelphia Athletic Club, and a team from Atlantic City.