The effect of the Great Depression hit the AFA hard in the offseason between the 1930 and '31 seasons. St. Paul and Newark folded, and both the usually reliable Boston Minutemen and Philadelphia Hornets were in dire straits financially. Revenues were down all over - the New York Stars cut payroll, and unsurprisingly saw a drop-off on the field as well. Detroit, one of the league's healthier clubs financially, held firm as owner Rollie Barrell put his Finance degree to good use, while Carl Boon quietly sought - and could not find - a silent partner (or two). 

As summer wore on, the Harrisburg and Rhode Island clubs were the last of the "small" teams still afloat. The league office announced its intention to field a scaled-down ten team circuit for '31 and found a new club in the Pittsburgh Miners. The Miners, taking their name from the baseball club in the same city, were really just a re-branding of the old Pittsburgh Pros/Toledo Tigers/Pittsburgh Bulldogs franchise that had been off-and-on members of the AFA for most of the previous decade. Boon, Barrell and Brooklyn owner Dudley Townsend pressed AFA President Jack Kristich on focusing on big city teams and given the financial situation world-wide, it finally appeared they would get their wish.

Perhaps it was spite, or perhaps it was simply that they knew the other guys were better. Regardless of why, the Rhode Island Reds refused to play the Detroit Maroons at season's end. Both clubs had been amongst the strongest all season. On November 29th, the Reds defeated the Chicago Wildcats 20-13, running their record to 12-1-1. The Maroons, having played one fewer game thus far, were 12-0-1 pending a visit to Chicago to take on those same Wildcats on December 6th. If the Maroons won, as was expected (Chicago was 5-6-1), then they'd clinch the title with a 13th win. But if they lost, they'd be tied with Rhode Island at 12-1-1. And you guessed it, Carl Boon's boys played the spoiler, winning at home 24-13 to spoil Rollie Barrell's day and set up what the fans wanted all along - a "championship" game between the league's two best teams. And then Rhode Island refused to play it.

Declaring themselves "co-champions" the Reds firmly announced that due to their financial situation they couldn't afford to pay their players for another game. Rollie Barrell, sensing a ploy, offered to pay the Reds players himself. Rhode Island still refused, and Jack Kristich stepped in, admitting that Barrell could not pay another team's players while at the same time chastising Rhode Island for its refusal to play. Regardless, the Reds wouldn't budge. Kristich officially declared the Maroons to be the champions, but Rhode Island refused to accept that and even held a "championship" parade through downtown Providence.

Needless to say, Barrell was not amused and his fellow "big city clique" members Carl Boon and Dud Townsend were firmly on his side. Even Stars owner Tom Wilson, normally a champion of the "little guy" felt Rhode Island had gone too far. Those four pushed for a new rule to tighten up scheduling - and this time Kristich went along with it.

FINAL STANDINGS

WEEKLY RESULTS

1931 AFA ALL-PRO TEAM

QB: Fred Robishaw, Detroit Maroons
HB: Urban Dane, Chicago Wildcats
HB: Dewey Lennon, Harrisburg Generals
FB: Sammy Pitts, Cleveland Finches
LE: Alfie Elledge, Rhode Island Reds
LT: Scott Bower, Detroit Maroons
LG: Gus Ziegler, Detroit Maroons
C: Ollie Lacey, Cleveland Finches
RG: Wayne Fisk, New York Stars
RT: Henry Ulrich, New York Stars
RE: John Danner, Detroit Maroons