Story of the Scoreboard

One of the top experts in early football rules history, Timothy P. Brown, joins us in discussing his research on the evolution of the football scoreboard and its designer, Arthur Irwin.

 Image is courtesy of Wikimedia Commons of Professional baseball player Arthur Irwin circa 1880s.

Arthur Irwin was a Canadian-American baseball player, manager, and inventor.  Irwin was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in 1863. He began his professional baseball career in 1884, and played for several major league teams, including the Boston Beaneaters, Cincinnati Reds, and Philadelphia Phillies. He also played for the University of Pennsylvania football team.

In 1893, while serving as the superintendent of physical culture at the University of Pennsylvania, Irwin invented the first football scoreboard. His scoreboard was a miniature representation of a football field, and the ball moved along the board to report each play. Irwin's scoreboard was a huge success, and it was soon adopted by other universities and professional football teams.

Irwin's scoreboard was a major innovation in the game of football. It made it much easier for fans and players to keep track of the game, and it helped to popularize the sport.

Arthur Irwin and the First Football Scoreboards

A great piece of gridiron history comes from a famous baseball player who designed the template for the modern scoreboard. Timothy P Brown tells the tale of Arthur Irwin and his invention.

View on WWW.FOOTBALLARCHAEOLOGY.COM

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Much thanks to Timothy Brown and his brilliant site https://www.footballarchaeology.com/p/todays-tidbit-baseballs-arthur-irwin">FootballArchaeology.com for sharing information on the research about Arthur Irwin and the scoreboard design.