# Canonical recap data for Intercollegiate Football Championship Established (1869)
# Source: https://recap.at/1869/first-college-football-1869
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: first-college-football-1869
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/1869/first-college-football-1869"
title: Intercollegiate Football Championship Established
subtitle: The first American college football match between Rutgers and Princeton formalized the sport and launched collegiate athletics.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 1869-01-01
datePrecision: year
year: 1869
decade: 1860
country:
name: United States
slug: united-states
summaryShort: College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football first gained popularity in the United States.
summaryLong: College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football first gained popularity in the United States.
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bf/US_Navy_051203-N-2383B-223_U.S._Naval_Academy_Midshipman_fullback_Adam_Ballard_%2822%29_rushes_for_one_of_two_touchdowns_while_being_persued_by_Army_defenders_Cason_Shrode_%2854%29_and_Taylor_Justice_%2842%29.jpg/1280px-thumbnail.jpg"
heroImageCredit: Wikipedia · "College football"
importance: 82
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts: []
timeline: []
sources:
- url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_football"
  title: Intercollegiate football
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
categories:
- sports
metaDescription: College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition th
wikidataQid: Q1109032
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20260630213048/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_football"
  capturedAt: 2026-06-30
  label: Intercollegiate football
  originalUrl: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_football"
