Steelers vs Trafford

Pittsburgh Steelers vs Trafford City Alumni

The first team to ever play the Pittsburgh Steelers: Trafford City Alumni

by Andrew Capets

The story of the Trafford City football team competing against the Pittsburgh Steelers was mostly forgotten by Trafford residents and sports enthusiasts. I stumbled upon the topic while searching through articles in an online newspaper trying to find information about the players on Trafford's early sandlot teams.

Growing up during the era of the 1970's Steel Curtain, I can look at an old photo of Jack Lambert or "Mean Joe" Greene and quickly recall the deep baritone voice of the NFL Films narrator describing the scene, often shown in slow motion, of those glorious football days. The narrator built suspense that could pull any viewer right up to the TV screen. In that deep, commanding voice, he would say something like, "The Pittsburgh Steelers, a team crafted from the smoke and grit of a working class neighborhood, played hard to earn their right to hoist the Lombardi Trophy and built a formidable place in football history. And to think, it all started years ago with a fearsome battle against the Trafford City Alumni."

Ok, so maybe I never heard that exact statement on TV. However, it's true. Alright, partially true. Everything except the "fearsome battle." It really wasn't fearsome, and it wasn't much of a battle. Yes, the Steelers were a professional football team, and the Trafford team was a group of mostly former high school guys and a few ex-college players, who simply loved playing the game. The Steelers did, in fact, play this sandlot team from Trafford. More importantly, it was, in fact, the FIRST team to ever play against the Pittsburgh Steelers. So, if you lost money on a bet from a guy from Trafford who kept this Ace card next to his Sam's Club card in his wallet, I'm sorry to be the one to break the news to you. Yes, Trafford was first. Pay up!

Here are the facts:

1933: Art Rooney's "Pittsburgh Pirates" professional football team joins the NFL.

1939: The "Pittsburgh Pirates" football team finishes its season 1-9-1, with its only win of the season against the Philadelphia Eagles.

1940: Rooney's team was playing its games at Forbes Field, but he wants his team to have their own identity. He works with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to come up with a new name chosen from multiple contest entries; Rooney's team, then called the Pittsburgh Pirates, becomes the Pittsburgh Steelers.

August 21, 1940: The Pittsburgh Steelers are scheduled to play their first pre-season game against a team from Altoona. However, the scrimmage is cancelled because Altoona was unable to secure a playing field.

August 26, 1940: 15 players from the Pittsburgh Steelers are suffering from colds during training camp at St. Francis College in Loretto, PA so Coach Walter Kiesling limits the practice to light sessions.

August 28, 1940: The Pittsburgh Steelers professional football team takes on the Trafford City Alumni at the Duquesne High School field in their first exhibition game of the season. In pure "Chief" fashion, Art Rooney slates the game as a charity fundraiser to benefit the Duquesne Police Pension Fund. This is the first time the professional team will face an opponent under their new moniker, the Pittsburgh Steelers.

True, this first game was played against some guys from Trafford City who punched the clock at the Westinghouse Foundry and then they got together after work to throw around the pigskin. And yes, the Trafford team was a sandlot team, and they probably dreamed of their glory days on the gridiron. Despite their 49-0 loss against this future dynasty, I can't help but think that some of these men from Trafford must have watched Art Rooney build his professional team over the years, and in true modest fashion, kept their memories of playing against the Steelers to themselves. It's possible that only a few trusted souls ever heard their father or grandfather proclaim, "I played against the Pittsburgh Steelers." This may have only been a one-time event in the chronicles of Pittsburgh football history, but to the people of Trafford, we're gonna' press this fact to our non-Trafford friends like we were Sonny Vaccaro talkin' to Nike, "Have I got a story to tell you."

If you had a family member play for this 1940 team, the Trafford Historical Society would like a photo and a short bio of these men. Here's the roster of the 21 men from Trafford City Alumni that played in this legedary game:

Elmer Merkovsky

Merkovsky

Albert J. "Elmer" Merkovsky (1917-1982) was born in North Braddock and played college football at the University of Pittsburgh. He was a member of Pitt's 1937 Rose Bowl championship team. He also played for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1945-1946.

Love

Louis Bohince (1918-2000)

Bohince

Viola

Geno Onder

Onder

Geno Onder (1915-1998) was born in Lowber, PA, and played college football for the Duquesne Dukes. He was a member of the Dukes 1937 Orange Bowl championship team.

John C. Lawrence (1919-1972)

Lawrence

Bob Elliott

Elliott

A former player on the Saint Vincent's College Bearcats Football Team.

Stephen Turchan (1909-1968)

Turchan

Sapp

Richard L. Pogue (1919-2014)

Peter "Rade" Miholovich

Peter "Rade" Miholovich (1914-2010) A former boxer at the McKeesport Palisades went undefeated 5 years.

William Critchfield

Bill Critchfield played college football for the Duquesne Dukes and was a member of the Dukes 1937 Orange Bowl championship team.

More Trafford Players:

Cardville/Cradvilla
Virgal
Reiney
Seargent
Gilbert E. Snyder (1918-1990) Gettysburg College Football
Anthony
Poleik
Lacini/Lacina
Thomas

If you enjoyed this article, please consider making a donation to the Trafford Community Public Library which helps support the Historical Society's efforts in preserving Trafford's History.