On May 14, 1874, the first inter-collegiate “foot-ball” game was played on the Harvard Law School campus, near Langdell Hall. The Crimson emerged victorious over McGill by a score of 3-0. A rematch the next day, played under rugby rules, ended 0-0. Harvard’s first game against Yale was played the next year. The Harvard Stadium wasn’t completed until 1903, nearly 30 years after the historic double header. Here are a few highlights quoted from a 2019 article in The Athletic.

A black and white photo of a large field surrounded by a crowd of people watching a game in the center. Horse drawn carriages in the foreground.
What was then known as Jarvis Field was bounded by Massachusetts Avenue, Everett Street, Oxford Street, and Jarvis Street. In the distance is the Harvard Museum of Natural History and, on the right, a part of the original Hemenway Gymnasium (which was replaced by the current structure in 1940). Until the construction of Harvard Stadium (“Soldiers Field”) in 1903, Jarvis Field was the site of Harvard’s home football games and other athletic events.

“Around that time, the captain of McGill’s rugby team, David Rodger, writes a letter to the captain of Harvard’s team, Henry Grant, challenging Harvard to a game,” writes journalist Michael Weinreb. Two games, actually: One to be played with Harvard’s “Boston rules,” and the other under McGill’s Canadian rugby rules. … Admission is 50 cents, with the money going to an “entertainment fund” for the visiting players.

“Up to then, the Harvard players wore their oldest clothes to play football, preparing for the inevitable onslaught of dirt and blood. But here, they settle upon the first semblance of a uniform: dark trousers, a white gauze undershirt and magenta handkerchiefs tied around the head. … Harvard wins that day’s match 3-0.”

Two rows of men--one row standing, one row sitting-- pose for a portrait. with a round ball at their feet.
Harvard varsity football team, 1874. (Front row, center) Team captain Henry Grant Credit: Harvard University Archives

“The next day, though, there’s the rematch under Canadian rugby rules — believed to be the first organized rugby game played on U.S. soil. … This time, the match ends in a scoreless tie. … This was the moment rugby became the primary influencer of American football as we know it, instead of soccer,” Weinreb writes.

A large field with a line of two groups of people in the center.
On May 15, 1874, the second Harvard-McGill football game was played on Jarvis Field under the Canadian rugby rules and ended in a scoreless tie. At the center of the field the Harvard players (in white), and the McGill players (in black) flank game officials.

Other accounts of the game are available on the McGill website and in a 1915 article in The Evening News.

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