Crider's 'Lost Birmingham' details first Alabama-Auburn football game

If you look back at yesterday's posts, you’ll see a book review about an outstanding, new book called “Lost Birmingham” by Beverly Crider. This book contains descriptions of dozens of historic sites in the Birmingham area, and one of the most entertaining portions of the book is Crider’s discussion of Lakeview Park, which was the site of the very first Alabama-Auburn football game.

Hardcore Alabama and Auburn football fans in the reading audience will know that the very first Alabama-Auburn (or is it Auburn-Alabama?) game was played 120 years ago - on Feb. 22, 1893 – at Lakeview Park in Birmingham. Back then, Auburn University was known as the Alabama Agricultural & Mechanical College and on that day, the “Orange and Blue” beat Alabama, 32-22. That score can be deceiving for modern readers because under the rules in 1893, a touchdown was worth only four points and you got two points for a successful extra point kick. Field goals were worth five points.

The 1893 Alabama-Auburn game was scheduled to kick off at 3 p.m. and an estimated crowd of 5,000 saw that first game. Special trains from Tuscaloosa and Auburn brought students and spectators to Birmingham for what was later reported as “the greatest football game ever played in Birmingham.” Gate receipts totaled between $1,200 and $1,500. Both teams were just in their second years of football at the time.

I thought it was interesting that this first Iron Bowl was played in February. Interestingly, Alabama considered this game as the final game of the 1892 season, but Auburn considered it the first game of the 1893 season. Auburn went on to finish the 1893 season with a 3-0-2 record. Alabama went 2-2 in 1892 and 0-4 in 1893. Another interesting side note from those days is that Alabama played all of its home games at that time at Lakeview Park and on “The Quad” in Tuscaloosa.

Auburn’s head coach in the first Alabama-Auburn game was D.M. Balliet, but G.H. Harvey was the team’s head coach later that fall. Eli Abbott was Alabama’s head coach in 1893. Abbott was a former Alabama player, who also played college football at the University of Pennsylvania, before becoming Alabama’s head coach.

I’ve often wondered what players, coaches and fans from those early days of football would think about the college game today. Now, instead of crowds of 5,000, both schools boast stadiums with combined seating capacities of over 188,000. There are also huge differences in the rules, officiating, protective equipment – not to mention that television and radio hadn’t even been invented in 1893.

At The Courant’s office, we’ve got an old-timey photo from that game hanging on the wall, and Crider’s description of this historic game really breathed life into that old, black and white picture. Next time you’re in the office take a few seconds to check it out for yourself. It’s one of the neatest old sports photos you’ll ever lay eyes on.