Club history and losing streak
The Mechanix suffered what is believed to be the longest losing streak in the history of professional sports: 81 games in a row, stretching over a seven-year period, from April 29, 2017 [3] to June 22, 2024. [4] On that day, the Mechanix defeated the Pittsburgh Thunderbirds, 26-15; it was their only victory of 2024.
The Mechanix all-time regular season record was a woeful 18-156 (.103), and the team went winless seven times in their thirteen-year history. After a decent 7-9 record in their inaugural season in 2012, Detroit managed only a 4-12 mark in 2013, then suffered back-to-back 0-14 seasons in 2014-15. The club managed to record four victories in 2016, [5] but tumbled to 1-13 in 2017—and that lone win would be their last for quite a while, as Detroit would log five straight winless seasons. [6] In what would be their final campaign in 2025, Detroit managed another win against Pittsburgh, downing them, 21-20 at Highmark Stadium; it would be their only win that season, as they would finish 1-11. The Mechanix would finish last overall in points per game in nine of their thirteen seasons, and last in their division twelve times (every year except 2016). [6]
Fatal accident
The 2020 AUDL season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the hapless Mechanix would suffer an even worse tragedy: on February 29, 2020, three members of the team—Kevin Coulter, Drew Piet, and Michael Cannon—were killed in a multi-car accident on Interstate 96 on their way to a team practice. Piet and Coulter played for the Mechanix during the 2019 season, while Cannon was practicing with the team. Police and news outlets reported that the players’ vehicle was stopped in traffic due to a separate single-vehicle rollover accident when a speeding driver failed to slow down and collided with theirs and several other vehicles. [7]
Since 2021, the Mechanix played their home games at Grand Rapids Christian High School in Grand Rapids, Michigan, some 150 miles from Detroit. (The club had never actually played in the Motor City: the Pontiac Silverdome was home to the team in 2012, then the Mechanix played at Ultimate Soccer Arenas in Pontiac from 2013–15, then at Bishop Foley Catholic High School in Madison Heights from 2016-20.)
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