Who Were The Moline Universal Tractors?

The Moline Universal Tractors, also known as the Moline Athletics, were an independent American football team that played in 1920. They played in two official APFA games. They played against the Decatur Staleys and Chicago Cardinals. They played in seven games total, and had a 2-5 record. In 2017, there was a throwback game to celebrate football history that had the Universal Tractors play the Rock Island Independents. In their first ever game they played at Staley Field losing to the Chicago Staleys 0-20. The Tractors went home to Browning Field the following week to play the Clinton Indepedents. The Tractors won 20-0 in that matchup. The next few weeks were all road games. In their third game the Tractors lost 3-33 to the Chicago Cardinals. The Tractors lost the following week 8-14 to Rockford A.A.C.,  A couple weeks later the Tractors lost 0-7 to the Elgin American Legion. The following week at a neutral site the Tractors defeated the Kewanee Walworths 27-0. They finally would play a home game the next matchup but it ultimately would be the Moline Universal Tractors last game. They were defeated at home by a final score of 0-7 to the Moline Indians.

Sources

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/

https://www.profootballarchives.com/index.html

https://americanfootballdatabase.fandom.com/wiki/Football_Wiki

https://www.gridiron-uniforms.com/GUD/controller/controller.php?action=main

https://www.profootballhof.com/hall-of-famers/

"Clipped From The Daily Times". The Daily Times. September 27, 1920. p. 10 – via newspapers.com.

 "UNIVERSAL TRACTORS TO DECATUR". The Daily Times. October 2, 1920. p. 15 – via newspapers.com.

 "1920 Moline Athletics +Peoria Caterpillars - Pro Football Archives". www.profootballarchives.com.

 "Moline Universal Tractors coaches | Pro Football History.com". pro-football-history.com.

 Turner, Jonathan (15 October 2017). "Independents, Universal Tractors square off in throwback game". Dispatch Argus.

 "Photos: Rock Island Independents and Moline Universal Tractors". The Quad-City Times. 15 October 2017.

 "Vintage football game to take place in Rock Island". www.kwqc.com. 10 October 2017.