First meeting: Navy 24, Army 0 (1890)

The first recorded meeting between the United States Military Academy (Army) and the United States Naval Academy (Navy) took place on November 29, 1890, at West Point, New York. Navy won the contest 24–0; contemporary accounts list the score and note that the game was organized at the request of the academies after early intercollegiate scheduling between military schools gained momentum [1][4]. The match is described in academy histories as the origin point for what became the annual Army–Navy Game, held between two service academies whose cadets and midshipmen balanced military training and athletics [3][4]. The location at West Point placed the first matchup within the Military Academy's grounds rather than at a neutral major-city site where later games became spectacles [1]. The 24–0 final underscores Navy's decisive victory in that first contest and set a competitive tone for subsequent meetings as both programs evolved their football rosters and tactics in the 1890s and beyond [1][4]. West Point materials later framed early contests like this within the academies' broader tradition of using athletics to develop leadership — a perspective captured in academy statements and quotations about sport and service [3].

As the inaugural game, the November 29, 1890 contest establishes the chronological and cultural starting point for the Army–Navy rivalry. It introduced an annual interservice matchup that would grow into a national sporting event with ritualized pageantry and institutional significance for both academies [1][4]. The result — Navy 24, Army 0 — is frequently referenced when tracing early competitive balance and the rivalry's origins [1]. Early matches like this one provided the foundation for later traditions, interruptions, and high-profile contests that shaped America's perception of service-academy football [3].

Following the 1890 game, the two academies continued to schedule annual matchups through the early 1890s, although the series experienced interruptions and tensions later in the decade related to crowd behavior and administrative decisions (notably the post-1893 suspension) [5][7]. The first game's existence allowed both institutions to build rivalry rituals and, over time, to move the contest to larger neutral sites and national audiences. Institutional narratives at West Point and Annapolis later referenced these early games in materials about the role of athletics in officer development [3][4].