With many football games being played in empty stadiums this year, the game programs hawked at stadiums are also absent. Early football games did not need game programs. Crowds were small, and many fans knew the individual players, but as stadiums grew large and football shifted from the open rugby style to the mass game of the 1890s, fans and the press had problems distinguishing one player from another. That led game organizers to print and sell scorecards so fans could track the players who scored and the points they earned. Unlike today's game in which players wear numbers on the front and back of their jerseys, players did not yet wear numbers. Instead, the scorecard had a number next to each player's name and that number was posted on the scoreboard when that player scored.
Lon Keller and the Art of Football
Lon Keller and the Art of Football
Lon Keller and the Art of Football
With many football games being played in empty stadiums this year, the game programs hawked at stadiums are also absent. Early football games did not need game programs. Crowds were small, and many fans knew the individual players, but as stadiums grew large and football shifted from the open rugby style to the mass game of the 1890s, fans and the press had problems distinguishing one player from another. That led game organizers to print and sell scorecards so fans could track the players who scored and the points they earned. Unlike today's game in which players wear numbers on the front and back of their jerseys, players did not yet wear numbers. Instead, the scorecard had a number next to each player's name and that number was posted on the scoreboard when that player scored.