What if Everything You Thought You Knew About the Radnor - Lower Merion Rivalry . . . .

You Didn’t Know at All?

For the better part of a century, Radnor and Lower Merion, as well as the local newspapers, have dutifully counted the wins, losses and ties in their storied rivalry.  Pep rallies have focused on how many games have been played, milestone games were celebrated and programs have recounted the scores of every game.  Here is the 100th anniversary program in 1996 that recounts the Rivalry Scoreboard:

Last year it was widely reported that Radnor finally retook the all-time lead in the series at 57-56-11.  

But this was wrong. 

The information recounted on RadnorFootballHistory.com comes from a history sharing partnership between Radnor alumni, the Radnor Township School District, parents and the Radnor Historical Society, to unearth the origins and traditions of Radnor football.  Part of this effort has uncovered two previously unknown second games played by Radnor and Lower Merion – both wins by Radnor -- at the turn of the century, in 1900 and 1903.  The scoreboard above only lists one game in those years.

This year will mark 125 years of the Rivalry, but the 127th meeting of the teams  . . . . at least (more on that below).

We were put on the trail of this possibility through our effort to collect all the Radnor v. Lower Merion game programs.  (Note: we still need anything prior to 1925 as well as 1928 and 1929).  The 1933 program contains a discussion of the Rivalry’s results and the authors’ efforts to research: “Working with . . . . students of Lower Merion in the earlier days of the high school, we have found that Lower Merion and Radnor played two games each year from 1897 to 1903, inclusive, with the exception of 1901 when no games were played. ”  

The authors asked for details on second games in 1898, 1899, 1900 and 1903, which were scheduled but they could not find results.  This effort was likely hampered by a dramatic 1906 fire in the center of Wayne that destroyed the offices of The Suburban and its archives, and also led to the creation of the Radnor Fire Company.  The possibility of additional games was never raised again and the work described in the 1933 program was forgotten . . . . until now.

Researching the history of the Rivalry led to a 1903 Radnorite (even then the Radnor school paper), mentioning an earlier season 11-5 win by Radnor and evidence of the first missing game. This was confirmed by a 1903 Philadelphia Inquirer short note on the game. 

A 1912 Radnorite, recounting the 1900 season, provided the source for the second new score, another Radnor win, 16-0.

However, we are not done, as the 1933 program suggests there are 2 more results from 1898 and 1899 to be unearthed. The current records: