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          On Dec. 14, 1935, the first All-Star football game in the state was played in Birmingham. Proceeds from the game went to the Crippled Children's Clinic in Birmingham to aid unfortunate and under privileged crippled children. The clinic opened in 1929 with the hopes of helping children with polio.

          Seventy-three players made the trip and were divided into east and west teams. The West squad worked out at Munger Bowl on the Birmingham Southern campus. The team was coached by Jack Meagher of Auburn University and Jenks Gillem of Birmingham Southern.

          The East team was led by Frank Thomas of the University of Alabama with the assistance of Ray Davis Howard and Red Drew. The East team practiced at Berry Field at Howard College.

          The teams were made up of senior football players chosen by coaches throughout the state. They were selected as the year's best crop of future college stars for the game played at Legion Field.

          The West team won the game 14-7 on two touchdowns set up by blocked punts. The East squad jumped out to a 7-0 lead following a fumble by the West team near midfield. Halfback Eager from Ramsay scored on a one-yard run for the early lead. Noojin booted the extra point and the East led 7-0 late in the first quarter.

          Fred Innes from Tuscaloosa high school broke through the line to block a East punt and Myers from Walker County recovered the football in the end zone for a touchdown. The West squad tied the game on Salter's point after.

          The game-winning touchdown came just minutes later when Carl Jones, from Murphy, found Benny Allen of Jones Valley for a 10-yard touchdown pass. Salter again converted the extra point and the West led 14-7 as the first half ended.

         Although both teams threatened to score in the second half, neither team was able to cross the opponent's goal line.

         The contest was a one-time event as an all-star game. The following season the freshmen teams of Birmingham Southern and Howard met in the charity game. In 1943, the Crippled Children's Clinic Classic was born in Birmingham. The game matched local teams against each other after the regular season.

          The game was sponsored by the Monday Morning Quarterback Club and raised money in support of the Clinic until it closed in 1969. That first game in 1943 raised over $40,000 to aid needy children.

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1935 Crippled Children's Clinic All-Star Game
WEST			EAST
Grady Elmore	Pickens County	LE	Pearson	Phillips Birmingham
F.A. Salter	Hueytown	LT	Hobson Porter	Scottsboro
Key	Carbon Hill	LG	Laney	Phillips Birmingham
Murphy Courington	Walker County	C	Ed Sellers	Ramsay
Johnny Clark	Tuscaloosa	RG	Bruce Little	Piedmont
Kincaid	Bessemer	RT	Raymond Cunningham	Piedmont
Morris Applebaum	Ensley	RE	Douglas	Huntsville
Benny Allen	Jones Valley	QB	Noojin	Ramsay
Eugene Jackson	Decatur	LHB	Eagar	Ramsay
Mims	Ensley	RHB	Reeves	Andalusia
Walter Holoman	Bessemer	FB	Proctor	Scottsboro
Substitutes			Substitutes
Jesse James			Clayton McCarroll
Herman Cork			Jack Giles
Albert McCorkle	Deshler		Henry Harrington
James Byrd	Deshler		Corley Odom
B.W. Carter			Nick Wilkinson
Clyde Boozer	Marengo County		Wilmot Brown	Alexander City
Hubert Rogers			Raymond Cunningham	Piedmont
Marshall Reddick	Ensley		Frank Mintz	Alexandria
Guy Lawler	Hackleburg		Fred McCain
Carl Jones	Murphy		Paul Connor
Ray Myers	Walker		Manon Smith	Lineville
Hasty Holloway	Marengo County		Joe Middleton
Pete Hicks	Carbon Hill		Robert Miller	Collinsville
Bryant Gorday	Murphy		Richard McKay	Tallassee
Joe Adams			Jim Moriarty
Bernard Day			John Patterson
Eugene Mays			Frank Landers	Piedmont
Max Cantrell			Claude Kelley	Cullman
Harvey Johnson			George Bailey	Alexander City
Charles Heinton			Froal Martin	Alexandria
Fred Innes	Tuscaloosa		John Crider
Anderson Padgett	Hackleburg		Walter Merrill	Andalusia
Leigh Van Hoose			Edward Richburg	Opp
Archie Smith	West End Birmingham		Joe Kirby	Woodlawn
Walt Hewitt			George Burt
			Charles Cotton	Alexander City

David Parker
  AHSFHS.org
  dparker@ahsfhs.org

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