Pottsville Eleven
 |
|
| Founded | 1920 |
|---|---|
| Folded | 1929 |
| Based in |
Pottsville, Pennsylvania (1920–1928) Boston, Massachusetts (1929) United States |
| League | Independent (1920–23) Anthracite League (1924) National Football League (1925–1929) |
| Team history | Pottsville Eleven (1920–24) Pottsville Maroons (1924–29) Boston Bulldogs (1929) |
| Team colors | Maroon, White, Gold |
| Head coaches |
Dick Rauch (1925–27, 1929) Pete Henry (1928) |
| Owner(s) | Yorkville Hose Company (1920–1922) Kingsbury, Heinz & Schoeneman (1923) John G. Streigel (1924–28) George Kenneally (1929) |
| NFL Championship wins | None (1925 NFL title claimed by Pottsville. Not recognized by NFL.) |
| Other League Championship wins |
1924 Anthracite League title |
| Home field(s) | Minersville Park |
The Pottsville Maroons were an American football team based in Pottsville, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1920, they played in the National Football League (NFL) from 1925 to 1928. In 1929 they relocated to Boston, where they played one season as the Boston Bulldogs.
The team was founded as the Pottsville Eleven, an independent team playing in the local eastern Pennsylvania circuit. Home games were played at Minersville Park, a high school stadium in nearby Minersville. They joined the local Anthracite League in 1924, the same year they adopted the "Maroons" nickname, and won the league title. The next season they joined the NFL under owner John G. Streigel. Though dominant on the field, a controversial suspension cost them the 1925 NFL Championship. They were reinstated the following year, but after two successive losing seasons in 1927 and 1928, Streigel sold the Maroons to a group in Boston, where they played one season before folding.
1925 was their best season. The 1928 roster included three future Pro Football Hall of Fame members – Johnny "Blood" McNally, Walt Kiesling, and coach Wilbur "Pete" Henry – but posted the worst record in franchise history. Writer John O'Hara, who would go on to become a world-famous novelist with Appointment in Samarra, covered the team for the local newspaper.
Like other coal towns in eastern Pennsylvania, Pottsville had been fielding football teams from at least the 1910s. The team that became the Maroons was established in 1920 as the Pottsville Eleven, and had a roster mostly made up of firemen from the Yorkville Hose Company. The team was initially unaffiliated with any league, playing on the independent circuit against other teams from the coal mining towns of eastern Pennsylvania. In 1922 the team attracted the sponsorship of area businessmen Harold Kingsbury, Irvin Heinz and Frank Schoeneman, who brought in talented professional players such as Carl Beck, Benny Boynton and Stan Cofall. Still, the team maintained a strong local presence by recruiting many Pottsville natives to its roster. The result was a team with consistent winning records and strong crowds.
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