The Southwestern Pirates football team represented Southwestern University in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) intercollegiate football competition from 1908 to 1950. After a brief period of prominence during the Second World War, the school disbanded its football program in April 1951 because of budgetary constraints. On October 28, 2011, The Southwestern University board of trustees voted to reinstate the program. The Pirates football team resumed play in the Fall of 2013 as part of the NCAA Division III Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference.