AMERICAN INDOOR FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION
NORTH DIVISION
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|---|---|---|
| CANTON | DANVILLE | ERIE |
| LEGNEDS | DEMOLITION | FREEZE |
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|---|---|---|
| HUNTINGTON | JOHNSTOWN | PITTSBURGH |
| HEROES | RIVERHAWKS | RIVER RATS |
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|---|
| READING |
| EXPRESS |
SOUTH DIVISION
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|---|---|---|
| BALTIMORE | CAROLINA | FLORENCE |
| BLACKBIRDS | SPEED | PHANTOMS |
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|---|---|---|
| GULF COAST (FL) | LAKELAND | MISSISSIPPI |
| RAIDERS | THUNDERBOLTS | MUDCATS |
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|---|---|
| MONTGOMERY | TALLAHASSEE |
| BEARS | TITANS |
Above is the alignment for the 2007 season of the American Indoor Football Association. Formerly the AIFA, the reorganized league added several new teams -- the Danville Demolition, Pittsburgh River Rats, Baltimore Blackbirds, Carolina Speed, Gulf Coast Raiders, Mississippi Mudcats and Tallahassee Titans. Two established franchises also joined the league -- the Lakeland Thunderbolts and Montgomery Bears (formerly the Maulers) both left the NIFL to join the "new" league.
The changes have not all been good. Following the 2006 season, six teams left the AIFL. Four teams (Augusta Spartans, Daytona Beach Thunder, Raleigh Rebels & Rome Renegades) left to form a new league, the WIFL. The Miami Valley Silverbacks and Steubenville Stampede left to join the CIFL. Several other teams folded, including the Syracuse Soldiers, Richmond Bandits and Chattahoochee Valley Vipers.
HISTORICAL TEAMS
AUGUSTA SPARTANS
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| 2006 |
The Spartans played their home games in Augusta, GA. They left the league after a single season to help found the rival WIFL.
BALTIMORE BLACKBIRDS
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| 2007 - present |
The Blackbirds play their home games near Baltimore, MD. The team was linked to the failed EIFL at one time.
CANTON LEGENDS
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| 2005 - present |
The Legends play their home games in Canton, OH.
They are one of three original AIFL teams still active in the league and are the defending champions, having beat the Rome Renegades in the 2006 finale, 61-40.
CAROLINA GHOSTRIDERS / AIFL GHOSTCHASERS
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|---|---|---|
| 2005 | pre 2006 | 2006 (first 4 games) |
The Ghostriders were based in Ashville, NC. In 2005, they played as a travel team to replace the Carolina Sharks, a charter franchise which dissolved days before their first game was to be played. The Ghostriders intended to be a regular team in 2006, but their own financial troubles forced them to fold only four games into the season. They were replaced by another travel team, the Ghostchasers, in order to complete the schedule.
The second helmet above was displayed on websites, including the team's own site, prior to and during the season. However, the only photos I have seen of the team have them wearing the third design shown above. Many AIFA teams used prototype helmet images prominently on the web, so I assume the middle design was never actually worn on the field.
As for the Ghostchasers? I have no information about the team other than what I've already written. I have no idea what sort of uniforms they wore, but if I had to guess, I'd say they probably wore Ghostriders helmets, or a basic black helmet with no logo.
CAROLINA SPEED
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|---|
| 2007 - present |
The Speed play their home games in Concord, near Charlotte, NC.
CHATTAHOOCHEE VALLEY VIPERS
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| 2006 |
The Vipers played their home games in Columbus, GA. Their arena lease was terminated following the 2006 season and the team folded.
DANVILLE DEMOLITION
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| 2007 - present |
The Demolition play their home games in Danville, IL.
DAYTONA BEACH THUNDER
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| 2006 |
The Thunder played their home games in Daytona Beach, FL. They left the league after a single season to help found the rival WIFL.
ERIE FREEZE
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| 2005 - present |
The Freeze play their home games in Erie, PA.
They are one of three founding teams still active in the league.
FLORENCE PHANTOMS
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|---|---|
| Pre 2006 Prototype (?) | 2006 - present |
The Phantoms are based in Florence, SC. The first helmet above was used on various AIFL team websites, including the Phantoms homepage. However, it appears that the second helmet was the one actually used on the field.
GULF COAST RAIDERS
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| 2007 - present |
The Raiders are playing as a travel team in 2007. They plan to find a permanent home in Florida for the 2008 season.
HUNTINGTON HEROES
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| 2006 - present |
The Heroes play their home games in Huntington, WV. Prior to 2007, the team announced a move to the rival WIFL, but later decided to stay put in the reorganized AIFA.
JOHNSTOWN RIVERHAWKS
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|---|---|---|
| pre 2005 | 2005 | 2006 |
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| 2007 present |
The Riverhawks play their home games in Johnstown, PA. I believe they are somehow connected to the Tennessee Riverhawks which played in the NIFL prior to 2005. If this is in fact true, and I have no reason to think otherwise, then the Riverhawks are the "first" franchise in the AIFL, being the only team to pre-date the league.
The first helmet design was used on the team's homepage during the 2005 season. To my knowledge, they never actually wore the helmet on the field however. This seems to be a common occurance with AIFA team pages, where prototype graphics are never replaced with more accurate images.
LAKELAND THUNDERBOLTS
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| 2007 - present |
The Thunderbolts play their home games in Lakeland, FL. The team played in the NIFL in 2006.
MIAMI VALLEY SILVERBACKS
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|---|---|
| Pre 2006 prototype (?) | 2006 |
The Silverbacks played in Troy, OH. The first helmet above was used on various AIFL team websites, including the Phantoms homepage. However, it appears that the second helmet was the one actually used on the field.
Following the 2006 season, the team announced they were leaving the league to join the rival CIFL.
MISSISSIPPI MUDCATS
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| 2007 - present |
The Mudcats play their home games in Tupelo, MS.
MONTGOMERY BEARS
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| 2007 - present |
The Bears play their home games in Montgomery, AL. The team played as the Montgomery Maulers in 2006 as a part of the NIFL.
PITTSBURGH RIVER RATS
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| 2007 - present |
The River Rats play their home games in Belle Vernon, near Pittsburgh, PA.
RALEIGH REBELS
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|---|---|
| 2005 | 2006 |
The Rebels were based in Raleigh, NC. The team played an all-road schedule in 2005 because they could not secure an arena lease until the 2006 season.
Following the 2006 season, the team announced they were leaving the league to help form the rival WIFL as the Carolina Bombers.
READING EXPRESS
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| 2006 - present |
The Express play their home games in Reading, PA.
RICHMOND BANDITS
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| 2005 - 2006 |
The Bandits played their home games in Richmond, VA.
Despite winning the inaugural championship and posting a 12-2 record in 2006, The team was suspended for the 2006 playoffs for "flagrant rules violations" and voluntarily left the league. Unable to join another indoor league for 2007, the team has apparently folded.
ROME RENEGADES
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|---|
| 2006 |
The Renegades played their home games in Rome, GA. The team played in the NIFL in 2005.
Following the 2006 season, they announced they were leaving the AIFL to form a rival league, the WIFL. They folded before the first WIFL season however.
STEUBENVILLE STAMPEDE
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|---|
| 2006 |
The Stampede played their home games in Steubenville, OH. Following the 2006 season, the team, which struggled on and off the field, decided to move to the CIFL along with the Miami Valley Silverbacks.
SYRACUSE SOLDIERS
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|---|---|
| Pre 2006 prototype (?) | 2006 |
The Soliders played in Syracuse, NY. The first helmet above was used on various AIFL team websites, including the Phantoms homepage. However, it appears that the second helmet was the one actually used on the field.
The Soldiers were a quickly established replacement team for the Binghamton Brigade. The AIFL only had two weeks to put together a team after the Brigade folded prior to the season, and it showed. After 10 games, the team suspended operations and was replaced by traveling semi-pro teams including the Cumberland Cardinals, Philadelphia Scorpions and Columbus Blackhawks.
TALLAHASSEE TITANS
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| 2007 - present |
The Titans play their home games in Tallahassee, FL.
COMMENTS
The American Indoor Football Association began play in 2005. The league originally was known as the Atlantic Indoor Football League as the teams were based largely on the East Coast, but changed its moniker the the American Indoor Football League following the inaugural season. They seem to have some connection to the NIFL, as the Riverhawks played in the NIFL in 2004. All the other charter teams appeared to be brand new franchises.
The league got off to a rough start. Days before the opening game one team, the Charlotte Sharks suddenly folded. They were replaced by a travel team called the Ghostriders. The Raleigh Rebels are also played as a travel team as they could not secure a lease with an arena in Raleigh until 2006.
The 2006 season saw major expansion as the league added 10 new teams. The Rome Renegades defected from the NIFL, while the other franchises were new. An originally announced team, the Binghamton Brigade/ Brigadiers could not get insurance to cover playing in an arena in Binghamton, New York, and the team was hastily moved to nearby Syracuse and re-christened the Soldiers. They later suspended operations 10 games into the season. Their remaining games were played by several semi-pro teams -- the Cumberland Cardinals, Philadelphia Scorpions and Columbus Blackhawks.
Following the season, seven teams announced they were leaving the AIFL. The Augusta Spartans, Daytona Beach Thunder, Raleigh Rebels and Rome Renegades left to found their own league, the World Indoor Football League. Another team, the Chattahoochee Valley Vipers, planned to join as well, but had their arena lease terminated and ceased operations. Two other teams, the Miami Valley Silverbacks and Steubenville Stampede (who barely survived the season) both left to join the Continental Indoor Football League.
As a result, the AIFL announced further expansion. The Lakeland Thunderbolts and Montgomery Maulers (now known as the Bears) left the NIFL and new teams -- the Danville (IL) Demolition, Carolina Fuel (later the Carolina Speed), Pittsburgh River Rats, Tallahassee Titans and Mississippi Mudcats -- were announced. One other proposed franchise, the Springfield Stallions, opted to join the CIFL instead.
Later, in October of 2006, the league announced that a "new" league was formed called the American Indoor Football Association (AIFA) and that all the current and recently announced teams had joined. I'm sure there were plenty of legal and financial reasons why such an unusual announcement was made, but I don't have enough information to speculate on specifics. I do know that as a result of the reorganization, the 2006 AIFL president, Andrew Haines, was ousted.
Following the reorganization, two more new teams, the Baltimore Blackbirds and Gulf Coast Raiders, would join the AIFA prior to the start of the 2007 season.
I don't have a great deal of other information on the league. Any information on other helmet variations is much appreciated.