Yankee Stadium in the 1920s (WikiCommons)
New York City: since the earliest days of Notre Dame football, Notre Dame and Notre Dame football has been connected to New York City. And the Notre Dame Army series has been the catalyst.
The first game between the two was contested in 1913 at West Point on the Hudson River just north of the city. That game established Notre Dame’s national reputation when ND introduced Army to the forward pass in a stunning 35-13 victory.
In 1924, 100 years ago, in a game contested at the old Polo Grounds stadium, the Irish backfield of Crowley, Layden, Miller and Stuhldreher, spearheaded a 13-7 Irish victory and they were immortalized by sportswriter Grantland Rice the next day as the “Four Horseman”.
From 1925 to 1946 Notre Dame and Army squared off 22 times on neutral ground in the House the Ruth Built, famed ‘Yankee Stadium. Area residents many of whom were Irish Catholic would travel to the games by train and soon the term “subway alumni” was coined to describe those who adopted the Irish as their favorite team.
In 1928 Notre Dame was having a tough year at 4-2 and they faced off against undefeated Army. We now take you to Notre Dame’s Yankee Stadium halftime locker room with the score tied at 0-0:
(Knute Rockne: All-American, Warner Bros)
That memory of George Gipp’s deathbed last wish, inspired the Irish who prevailed in upset fashion that day, 12-6.
The last game in the series played in the old Yankee Stadium was in 1969. Thereafter several games were contested across the river in New Jersey.
Yankee Stadium was torn down in 2008 and in 2010, the legendary series returned to a brand-new Yankee Stadium built on the site.
This week Notre Dame fans including a lot of “Subway Alumni” will be out in force as Notre Dame and Army square off again in New York City.