[7][2] By the early 19th century, as was the case in Great Britain, schools and universities in North America played their own local games, between sides made up of students.

[11] They remained largely "mob football" style games, with huge numbers of players attempting to advance the ball into a goal area, often by any means necessary.

The universities of Yale, Princeton (then known as the College of New Jersey), Rutgers, and Brown all began playing "kicking" games during this time.

[2] Nevertheless, that situation changed in 1873 when the Harvard team received an invitation from Canadian McGill University Football Club.

Harvard boys agreed to a rugby match with McGir under the condition the Canadians played the Boston Game.

The Canadians were easily defeated by a Harvard squad familiarised with the Boston rules in contrast to the lack of experience of McGill players.

[7] Many college teams followed them, which led to a long decline of popularity of association football in North America.

[2] In 1880, Yale coach Walter Camp, who had become a fixture at the Massasoit House conventions where the rules were debated and changed, devised a number of major innovations.