The franchise's inception dates back to 1898, when a neighborhood group gathered to play in the Chicago South Side, calling themselves Morgan Athletic Club. Chicago painting and building contractor Chris O'Brien acquired the team, which he relocated to Normal Field on Racine Avenue. The team was known as the Racine Normals until 1901, when O'Brien bought used jerseys from the University of Chicago. He described the faded maroon clothing as "Cardinal red" and the team became the Racine Street Cardinals. The team eventually became in 1920 a charter member of the American Professional Football Association (APFA), which two years later was rechristened to National Football League (NFL). The team entered the league as the Racine Cardinals; however, the name was changed in 1922 to Chicago Cardinals to avoid confusion with the Horlick-Racine Legion, who entered the league the same year. Except for 1925, when they were awarded the championship after the Pottsville Maroons were suspended for playing a game in what was deemed "another teams ". Even though the Pottsville Maroons won this extra game and finished the year with the same record as the Cardinals and also beat the Cardinals in the all-important head-to-head game when they beat the Cardinals earlier in the season. The Cardinals were also guilty of breaking NFL rules when they had scheduled an extra game against high school players and cast-off players to equal Pottsville in wins. The Cardinals experienced some success on the playing field during their first 26 seasons in the league. During the post-World War II years, the team reached two straight NFL finals against the Philadelphia Eagles, winning in 1947 – eight months after Charles Bidwill's death – and losing the following year. After years of bad seasons and losing fans to the cross-town rivals Chicago Bears, by the late 1950s the Cardinals were almost bankrupt, and owner Violet Bidwill Wolfner became interested in a relocation.