1897 Richmond Spiders football team

The 1897 Richmond Spiders football team was an American football team that represented Richmond College—now known as the University of Richmond—as an independent during the 1897 college football season. Led by Bill Wertenbaker in his first and only year as head coach, Richmond compiled a record of 3–5.^[1]

Schedule[edit]

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
October 2		Richmond Athletics	Broad Street Park Richmond, VA	L 0–20		^[2]
October 9		at Hampton A.C.	Hampton, VA	L 0–32
October 16		Randolph–Macon	Broad Street Park Richmond, VA	W 6–4		^[3]
October 30		at Petersburg YMCA	Petersburg, VA	W 26–0
November 2	4:00 p.m.	Hampden–Sydney	Broad Street Park Richmond, VA	W 8–6		^[4]^[5]
November 5		Columbian	Broad Street Park Richmond, VA	L 0–22		^[6]
November 9	3:45 p.m.	St. Alban's (VA)	Richmond, VA	L 0–20		^[7]^[8]
November 13	3:30 p.m.	VPI	Broad Street Park Richmond, VA	L 0–36	300–500	^[9]^[10]^[11]
All times are in Eastern time

^ "Richmond Football Record Book" (PDF). University of Richmond Athletics. p. 29. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
^ "The Athletics Win". The Richmond Dispatch. Richmond, Virginia. October 3, 1897. p. 18. Retrieved September 8, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "The Spiders Win". The Richmond Dispatch. Richmond, Virginia. October 17, 1897. p. 16. Retrieved September 8, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "The Spiders Win". The Richmond Dispatch. Richmond, Virginia. November 2, 1897. p. 8. Retrieved September 8, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "Oh, Those Spiders!". The Richmond Dispatch. Richmond, Virginia. November 3, 1897. p. 7. Retrieved September 8, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "No trouble to win". The Richmond Dispatch. November 6, 1897. Retrieved February 13, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "The Foot-ball Game To-day". The Richmond Dispatch. Richmond, Virginia. November 9, 1897. p. 3. Retrieved September 8, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "Win By A Big Score". The Richmond Dispatch. Richmond, Virginia. November 10, 1897. p. 2. Retrieved September 8, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "The V.P.I. Wonders". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Library of Virginia. November 7, 1897. p. 2. Retrieved October 26, 2015.
^ "V. P. I.'s Victorious". The Richmond Dispatch. Richmond, Virginia. November 14, 1897. p. 15. Retrieved September 8, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "The Polytechs Win". The Times. Library of Virginia. November 14, 1897. p. 14. Retrieved October 16, 2017.

v t e Richmond Spiders football
Venues	Tate Field (1891–1893, 1925–1928) West-End Park (1894) Broad Street Park (1897–1916) Boulevard Field (1917–1920) Stadium Field (1921–1924) City Stadium (1929–2009) E. Claiborne Robins Stadium (2010–present)
Bowls & rivalries	1968 Tangerine Bowl 1971 Tangerine Bowl James Madison VMI William & Mary: Capital Cup
People	Head coaches NFL draftees
Seasons	1881 1882 1883–1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold