History of the Maxwell Football Club

The Maxwell Football Club has had over three-quarters of a century selecting the promising talent of tomorrow with educated accuracy. Recognizing talented players at the earliest stages of their careers has been a Maxwell standard. In fact, a majority of our Maxwell Award winners have experienced continued success at the professional level with several going on to be legends of the game. In 1935 when the Club was founded, weekly meetings consisted of informal sessions with football officials, coaches and the public to talk about the previous weekend’s games. At these meetings local high school and college players were honored. The Maxwell Football Club is the first organization to honor football from beginner to professional. The Maxwell Football Club first presented its namesake award in 1937. In 1959, following the death of its founder Bert Bell, The Maxwell Football Club’s Professional Player of the Year Award was instituted and christened the Bert Bell Trophy. The inaugural presentation of the Jim Henry Award to the Tri-State High School Player of the Year in 1985 and the addition of The National High School Player in 2007, the Maxwell Football Club solidified its status as the preeminent organization with a keen view of excellence at all levels of football.