The Union Club of Phoenixville

Scott Ferguson Greene is proud of the town he grew up in. Phoenixville, Pennsylvania has had its share of famous citizens, but it's early football team may be the biggest surprise of them all! Join as Scott educates us on the legend of the Union Club of Phoenixville Big Red.

Union Club of Phoenixville Big Red with Scott Ferguson Greene

1907 Union Club of Phoenixville Football Team

Scott Ferguson Greene is indeed proud of his hometown of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, 23 miles NW of Philadelphia. His interest in the local history of the town has helped to share some important  events and people that all center around Phoenixville. Scott’s hometown of Phoenixvlle, Pennsylvania is noted for several things:
 

• The residence of the real 'Sundance Kid', Harry Longabaugh and his family.  His father, mother and sister are buried in Phoenixville.  He visited Phoenixville several times with his mistress Etta Place before he, Etta and Butch Cassidy moved to South America to hide from the Pinkerton Agency posse to capture them
• Filming of the Hollywood Movie The Blob in 1958
• The birthplace of former Pennsylvania governor Samuel Pennypacker.
•  The current residence of the Bacon family (actor Kevin Bacon and his brother Michael Bacon of the Bacon Brothers band). His brother Michael still lives there. Even during his early career, Kevin would visit his paternal grandmother in Phoenixville.  I went to elementary school in the same grade as Kevin's cousin, Brian Bacon.
•  Phoenixville has more beer breweries in the town per square foot than anyplace in the entire United States.
•  The birthplace of producer/director and academy award winner Peter Farrelly.
• The one we are most interested in today though on the Pigskin Dispatch is the independent pro football team, the Union Club of Phoenixville Big Red.

Founded in 1907 with passionate people in the area. Conshohocken Athletic Club, Hawkinsvile and other nearby Eastern Pennsylvania towns had club football teams that co,peted with Phoenixville. Never had a losing season as a club. Mostly local talent so the pride of your town was at stake. Pottsville and others grew to play football too in the Eastern region of PA. Eventually became an independent professional football team playing others. No season was played in 1919 due to the dreaded Spanish Flu.  In 1919 the rival Phoenixville Athletic Club arose and signed local talent, some players even that were formerly with the Union Club team. Rivalry caused 50 or so towns people to come together to unite the two clubs and merge into one great team in 1920. Pinnacle of their success is 1920 with best talent

1915 Union Club of Phoenixville Football Team

Some of the talented players who played on the Union Club of Phoenixville over the years included:  Lud Wray (co-founder of the Philadelphia Eagles along with Bert Bell); Pro Football Hall of Famer Fritz Pollard (1920); Lou Little, Heine Miller, Fats Eyrich, Bodie Weldon, Swede Youngstrom, Stan Cofall, Earl Potteiger, Butch Stagna, and Ockie Anderson - all well-known talented players. 

In 1920 Future Commissioner and Eagles Founder Bert Bell certainly knew of them, for he tried to 'poach' some of them for his proposed Philadelphia Collegians football team that he wanted to be admitted to the APFA (NFL). Leo Conway was powerful and would not let players get signed away by Bell. Bell helped make the Buffalo All-Americans and lured players from Phoenixville to play Sundays. Bert Bell had scouted some of these players in Phoenixville and Philadelphia.  One of the consistent talented players on the Union Club of Phoenixville Big Red football team was Heine Miller. Miller would sometimes be known to play 23 games in a season! The owner Leo S. Conway signed a few players from the University of Pennsylvania Quakers football team, a college football powerhouse in the early part of the 20th Century. Beat APFA eventual champs Akron Pros Undefeated 1920 11-0. 1921 Conway and Heine Miller Union Quakers of Philadelphia when the board of the Union Club cut costs on payroll for C.C. Pyles Red Grange’s AFL. They challenged the Frankford Yellow Jackets, instead played NY Giants. Union Club was still a winning team at 5-2 though. Unfortunately after that season, the Union Club squad folded shop, but in their nearly 15 years of existence, Scott Ferguson Greene tells us that they never had a losing season.

Above are images Scott shared that he collected for the archives of the Philadelphia Inquirier about the Phoenixville Club

The pictures below are from Scott Ferguson Greene's collection that he has gathered during his research on the Union Club of Pheonixville."