The Shelby Blues were an American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 team based in Shelby, Ohio

Shelby, Ohio

Shelby is a city in Richland County in the U.S. state of Ohio, northwest of the city of Mansfield. It is part of the Mansfield, Ohio Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 9,821 at the 2000 census.-History:...

. The team played in the Ohio League

Ohio League

The Ohio League was an informal and loose association of American football clubs active between 1903 and 1919 that competed for the Ohio Independent Championship . As the name implied, its teams were based in Ohio...

 from 1900 to 1919. In 1920, when the Ohio League became the APFA (now known as the National Football League

National Football League

The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

), the Blues did not join but continued to play against APFA teams, only to later suspend operations. The Blues returned to play as an independent between 1926 and 1928.

The team was named for their blue uniforms, that were worn in their first year. In 1905, the Blues replaced the Shelby Athletic Club as the top football team in town. A year later the team was the runner-up for the Ohio League title, behind only the Akron Indians

Akron Pros

The Akron Pros were a professional football team located played in Akron, Ohio from 1908–1926. The team originated in 1908 as a semi-pro team named the Akron Indians, however name was changed to the Pros in 1920 as the team set out to become a charter member of the American Professional...

. The Blues won Ohio League championships in 1910 and 1911, with Peggy Parratt

Peggy Parratt

George Watson "Peggy" Parratt was a professional football player who played in the "Ohio League" prior to it becoming a part of the National Football League...

, an early pioneer and master of the forward pass

Forward pass

In several forms of football a forward pass is when the ball is thrown in the direction that the offensive team is trying to move, towards the defensive team's goal line...

, at quarterback. In 1904, the Blues are credited with signing the first black players in American professional football

Black players in American professional football

Details of the history of black players in American professional football depend on the professional football league considered: the National Football League , which evolved from the first professional league, the American Professional Football Association, or the American Football League, , a...

, halfback Charles Follis

Charles Follis

Charles W. Follis, a.k.a "The Black Cyclone," was the first African-American professional football player. He played for the Shelby Blues of the "Ohio League" from 1902 to 1906. On September 16, 1904, Follis signed a contract with Shelby making him the first African-American contracted to play...

.http://www.nfl.com/history/chronology/1869-1910