Champions 1920-1932
| Year | P | W | L | T | Pct | |
| 1920 + | Akron Pros | 11 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 1.000 |
| 1921 | Chicago Staleys | 11 | 9 | 1 | 1 | .900 |
| 1922 | Canton Bulldogs | 12 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 1.000 |
| 1923 | Canton Bulldogs | 12 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 1.000 |
| 1924 | Cleveland Bulldogs | 9 | 7 | 1 | 1 | .875 |
| 1925 | Chicago Cardinals | 14 | 11 | 2 | 1 | .846 |
| 1926 | Frankford Yellow Jackets | 17 | 14 | 1 | 2 | .933 |
| 1927 | New York Giants | 13 | 11 | 1 | 1 | .917 |
| 1928 | Providence Steam Roller | 11 | 8 | 1 | 2 | .889 |
| 1929 | Green Bay Packers | 13 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 1.000 |
| 1930 | Green Bay Packers | 14 | 10 | 3 | 1 | .769 |
| 1931 | Green Bay Packers | 14 | 12 | 2 | 0 | .857 |
| 1932 * | Chicago Bears | 14 | 7 | 1 | 6 | .875 |
Note: + No Official Standings kept in 1920. * Chicago Bears won Playoff against Portsmouth Spartans 9-0 after both teams finished tied at the top with 6 wins and 1 loss.
Note 2: Chicago Staleys are considered the same team as the Chicago Bears by the NFL. The Bears owner bought out the Decatur Staleys franchise in 1921 and moved them to Chicago, but the owner of the Staleys paid the new owner to keep the name Staleys for one year, after which they became the Chicago Bears.
Note 3: Ties were discounted in calculating W-L Winning Percentages at the time.
Report
The American Professional Football association was formed in late 1919 by the leading teams in the Ohio League (then the most pre-eminent Pro Football League in the USA) in order to provide a common set of rules and prevent players jumping from team to team in search of the biggest pay packet. The four original franchises (Canton Bulldogs, Akro Pros, Rock Island Independents and Dayton Triangles) invited the top teams from the New York Pro Football Circuit (Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse), Pennsylvania and New York City / New Jersey Circuits to join them in forming the first true National Football League.
The League changed its name to the National Football League from APFA in 1922, and in 1932 after the League finished in a tie the first Championship Game was arranged after the season ended. Chicago Bears defeated the Portsmouth Spartans 9-0 to win the Championship. After this the decision was made to split the League into two divisions (Eastern and Western) with a pre-arranged Championship Game between the Division Winners.
The Champions of the APFA / NFL during these years were Akron Pros (1920), Chicago Staleys (1921), Canton Bulldogs (1922, 1923), Cleveland Bulldogs (1924), Chicago Cardinals (1925), Frankford Yellow Jackets (Philadelphia suburb) (1926), New York Giants (1927), Providence Steam Roller (1928), Green Bay Packers (1929-1931) and Chicago Bears (1932).
References
Websites/ Bibliography
[1] National Football League (2019) 2019 NFL Record & Factbook Past Standings p. 398 (see also Chronology p. 351-370) [Internet] Available from: https://static.www.nfl.com/image/upload/league/f60ftapcsbynqgymw72q.pdf [Accessed 5 July 2020]
Images
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Todd Zboyan & Tim Leadingham.
About this document
Researched, compiled and written by Enda Mulcahy for the
Eirball | Irish North American and World Sports Archive
Last Updated: 5 July 2020
(c) Copyright Enda Mulcahy and Eirball 2020
You may quote this document in part provided that proper acknowledgement is given to the authors. All Rights Reserved.