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{{Infobox Pre-modern NFL team
| name = Gilberton Catamounts
| bgcolor =
| fontcolor =
| helmet =
| logo =
| founded = c1920
| suspended =
| folded = c1929
| relocated =
| location = [[Gilberton, Pennsylvania]], [[United States]]
| field = Stoddard Field
| league = [[Anthracite League]] (1924) <br> [[Eastern League of Professional Football]] (1926-27)
| conference =
| division =
| colors = Unknown
| history = Gilberton Catamounts (1920s)
| nickname =
| coach = [[Charlie Copley]]
| manager = Joe Keating<br>James Rafferty<br>T. Conner
| owner =
| Other League championships =
| Undefeated seasons =
| named for =
| mascot =
| website =
}}

The '''Gilberton Catamounts''', sometimes called the '''Gilberton Cadamounts''' and the '''Gilberton Duck Streeters''', were a 1920s-era professional [[American football|football]] team based in [[Gilberton, Pennsylvania|Gilberton]], [[Pennsylvania]]. However, the team played many of its home games in nearby [[Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania|Mahanoy City]] because Gilberton's home field, Stoddard Field, was usually flooded.<ref name="HttpbooksgooglecombooksidrUQaSpHIocCpgPAdqGilbertonCatamounts">{{cite book|title=Fritz Pollard: Pioneer in Racial Advancement|author=Carroll, J.M.|date=1998|publisher=University of Illinois Press|isbn=9780252067990|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rUQaS0pHIocC|page=162|access-date=2014-10-24}}</ref> The borough got its "Ducktown" nickname mainly because of persistent flooding.<ref name="halcyon">{{cite web|url=http://www.halcyon.com/marcs/mascotdrop.html|title=Marc's Collection of Mascots: Extinct/Dropped Mascots|publisher=halcyon.com|access-date=2014-10-24}}</ref>

==Big money==
The team played independently against other teams from Pennsylvania's "coal country". During the 1920s the teams based here paid large amounts of money to talented pro football players. Many players from the [[National Football League]] came to play football in this region because of the amount of money paid out. In 1924 Gilberton, under the managership of Joe Keating and James Rafferty, Gilberton acquired three new star players just days before their season opener. The team signed [[Ben Shaw (American football)|Ben Shaw]], [[Cecil Grigg]], and [[Lou Smyth]]. All three players were members of the [[Canton Bulldogs]] of the NFL. Ironically in 1924 the team played in the [[Anthracite League]], which was formed to combat the out-of-control hiring of top professional football talent. It is no wonder that league folded after the 1924 season.<ref name="comcast">{{cite web|url=http://home.comcast.net/~ghostsofthegridiron/articles/09-An-321.pdf |title=Sorry, the page you were looking for could not be found |access-date=2014-10-24 }}{{dead link|date=January 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The team later played in the [[Eastern League of Professional Football]] from 1926 until the league folded in 1927.

==Fritz Pollard==
[[Pro Football Hall of Fame]]r [[Fritz Pollard]] played with the team in 1923 and 1924.<ref name="HttpbooksgooglecombooksidrUQaSpHIocCpgPAdqGilbertonCatamounts" /> Coach [[Charlie Copley]], a former teammate of Pollard's with the [[Akron Pros]] and the [[Milwaukee Badgers]], recruited Pollard to play for the Catamounts. He became the first African-American to play football in the coal region.<ref name="google">{{cite book|title=Race and Sport: The Struggle for Equality on and Off the Field|author=Ross, C.K.|date=2005|publisher=University Press of Mississippi|isbn=9781578068975|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WDJ9Q1KDkZIC|page=11|access-date=2014-10-24}}</ref>

==Hall of Famers==
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! colspan="5"|Gilberton Cadamounts Hall of Famers
|-
! colspan="5"|Players
|-
! No.
! Name
! Position
! Tenure
! Inducted
|-
| — || [[Fritz Pollard]] || [[Halfback (American football)|HB]] || 1923–1924 || 2005
|}

==References==
*{{cite journal|title=Anthracite League |journal=PFRA Annual |publisher=Professional Football Researchers Association |issue=8 |year=1987 |pages=1–5 |url=http://home.comcast.net/~ghostsofthegridiron/articles/09-An-321.pdf |first=Joe |last=Zagorski }}{{dead link|date=January 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
*{{cite journal|title=Other Minor League |journal=Coffin Corner |publisher=Professional Football Researchers Association |volume=11 |issue=8 |year=1989 |pages=1–5 |url=http://www.profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/11-01-362.pdf |first=Bob |last=Gill |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101127054520/http://profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/11-01-362.pdf |archive-date=2010-11-27 }}
*{{cite book | title=Fritz Pollard | first=John M. | last=Carroll | isbn=0-252-06799-1 | publisher=[[University of Illinois Press]] | year=1999}}
*{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rCnbhSRZpgIC&pg=RA1-PA176&dq=Gilberton+Catamounts#PRA1-PA178,M1| title=Pigskin: The Early Years of Pro Football | first=Robert | last=Peterson | isbn=0-19-511913-4 | publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] | year=1997}}
*{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WDJ9Q1KDkZIC&pg=PA11&dq=Gilberton+Catamounts| title=Race and Sport | first=Scott; Charles K. Ross| last=Books | isbn=1-57806-897-5 | publisher= Univ. Press of Mississippi | year=2005}}

==Notes==
{{reflist}}
{{Anthracite League |state=collapsed}}
{{Early PA football}}
{{Defunct Pennsylvania sports teams}}

[[Category:Defunct American football teams in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:History of Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Anthracite League teams]]
[[Category:Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:1920s establishments in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:1920s disestablishments in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Sports clubs and teams established in the 1920s]]

Gilberton Catamounts - Revision history

imported>Ser Amantio di Nicolao: /* top */ add {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}