The Townies: Back When Football Was King In EG

In the early 1960s, long before the Patriots were an NFL powerhouse, people in East Greenwich turned out to watch the Townies.

Long before Sundays were dominated by NFL Football on TV, football was local and live. Indeed, in East Greenwich, semi-pro football was part of the fabric of town life.  EG had its own semi-pro team, the Townies. On Sundays in the early 1960s (and before that from the early 1900s until World War II), the stands at Eldredge Field would fill to watch the Townies play teams from South Kingstown, Providence and Southeastern Massachusetts, among others. Dom Iannazzi, a math teacher at East Greenwich High School in those days, was the Townies' coach. (In his 80s now, he's been refereeing high school football games ever since.) Player George Battey did a lot of the organizing.  Bruce Mastracchio (organizer of the EGHS Wall of Honor) also helped …

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