Union Club of Phoenixville The Union Club of Phoenixville was a professional football team based in Phoenixville , Pennsylvania . The team was the result of a 1919 merger between the Phoenixville Union Club and the upstart Phoenix Athletic Club . From 1907 until 1919 , the Union Club was considered one of the best football teams in eastern Pennsylvania . However in 1919 , the upstart Phoenix Athletic Club signed many of the top players of the area , leaving the Union Club no choice but to merge with the Phoenix A . C . The team is best known for defeating the Canton Bulldogs 14 - 7 , in 1920 . The team however would fold in 1921 . History . Origins . In 1907 the Phoenixville Union Club fielded its first football team . The team frequently played rival clubs from Schuylkill County , as well as teams from Philadelphia and New Jersey . Within a few years , the Union Club became one of the strongest teams in the region . Several times they were declared the mythical " Champions of the Schuylkill Valley " and " Champions of Eastern Pennsylvania " . However the team experience tragedy on occasion . In November 1913 , George Gay , a star player for the Ursinus College football team , died from a neck injury three days after it was broken in a Phoenixille - Pottstown game . He broke his neck after being tackled from behind . The merger . World War I and the 1918 flu pandemic had a sever impact on Phoenixville ' s 1917 football season . The team had only managed to schedule 5 games in 1917 , while only one game was played in 1918 . In 1919 , the Union Club and the new Phoenix Athletic Club merged . The merger began when the Phoenix Athletic Club signed away many of the area ' s top football players . This left Union in a dilemma . In 1919 , Union played what should have been an easy game against a local high school . However that game resulted in scoreless tie . As a result , the Union Club merged with the Phoenix A . C . Meanwhile the Union Club of Phoenixville ended their 1919 season with a 6 - 0 - 3 record . The final game of the season against the Conshohocken Athletic Club , ended in a scoreless tie . However Phoenixville , managed to sign many ex - college players to their roster including ; Heinie Miller of Penn and Butch Spagna of Lehigh University . 1920 . The 1920 Phoenixville Club fielded many of the top players of the era . These players included Lou Little , Lud Wray , Fats Eyrich , Bodie Weldon , Heinie Miller , Earl Potteiger , Stan Cofall and future Hall of Famer , Fritz Pollard . The club also fielded several members ( eight in all , including Ockie Anderson and Swede Youngstrom ) of the Buffalo All - Americans of the National Football League ; Pollard and Cofall also had NFL jobs , Pollard with the Akron Pros and Cofall with the Cleveland Tigers . The NFL players would play a non - league game with Phoenixville on Saturdays , then hop the train for Buffalo or Ohio and the next day ’ s game . This arrangement helped the All - Americans earn extra money . Incidentally , the team had been organized by Bert Bell , the future NFL commissioner and Philadelphia Eagles owner , but Bell had planned to play the team as the " Philadelphia Collegians " before Phoenixville ' s managers came and signed all of Bell ' s players . The Phoenixville club went 11 - 0 in 1920 . The team defeated several local teams , including their rivials , the Conshohocken Athletic Club , Holmesburg Athletic Club , and the pre - NFL Frankford Yellow Jackets . However the team still had the biggest game of the year , and in team history , to play . The Canton Bulldogs game . At the end of the 1920 season , Phoenixville fans began to wonder how their team stacked up to the best teams of the era . Prior to 1920 , the Canton Bulldogs were considered the best pro football team in world . The team featured Joe Guyon and the legendary Jim Thorpe , both future Pro Football Hall of Famers . The team was also not only a member of the mythical " Ohio League " , which consisted of the best teams in pro football , but won the league ' s championship in 1916 , 1917 and 1919 . On December 12 , 1920 an estimated 17 , 000 fans turned out to watch the Union Club and Canton Bulldogs play at the Baker Bowl . Despite the Bulldogs scoring first off of a Pete Calac touchdown , the Phoenixville soon gained control of the game with a fumble recovery by Heinie Miller . That play set - up a Stan Cofall touchdown pass to Lou Hayes . Later in the third quarter , Cofall blocked a Guyon punt which was returned for another touchdown by Hayes . While Canton did manage a late game drive to the Phoenixville 20 yard line , a Guyon fumble , was recovered by Phoenxiville ' s Heinie Miller . Phoenixville would go on to win the game 14 - 7 . Despite their victory , the Union Club could not claim any national professional championship based upon the outcome of the Canton game . The 1920 Canton Bulldogs were just not the dominant football team that they had been in previous seasons . In the NFL , the Akron Pros , Decatur Staleys ( renamed the Chicago Bears in 1922 ) and the Buffalo All - Americans had all placed higher ahead of the Bulldogs in the standings . 1921 and closure . In 1921 , the Union Club ' s status as a premier professional team disappeared . The club ' s board of directors rejected Heinie Miller ' s proposal to for the team to reform with a similar 1920 lineup for the 1921 season . The club instead opted to field a less costly team of mostly local talent . The Big Red went on to a 5 - 2 - 0 record in what turned out to be its final season . However Miller , managed to keep most of the 1920 team intact and fielded them in 1921 as the Union Quakers of Philadelphia in 1921 .