Louisville Tanks

Last updated
Louisville Tanks
Founded1935
Folded1940
Based in Louisville, Kentucky, United States
League Midwest Football League (1935-1937)
American Football League (1938)
APFA (1939)
Team historyLouisville Tanks (1935-1940)
Team colorsGreen, Gold   
Head coachesH.M. "Harry" Reid
General managersWilliam H. Goepper [1]
Owner(s) American Standard, Inc.
Other League Championship winsMFL 1935-1937, AFL 1938
Named foritem sold by American Standard, Inc.
Home field(s) Parkway Field

The Louisville Tanks were a minor league professional American football team that existed from 1935 to 1940. The team formed in the wake of the dissolution of the Louisville Bourbons of the short-lived American Football League of 1934. Organized and owned by American Standard, Inc., the team was coached by AS plant manager H.M. "Harry" Reed; its name and colors (green and gold) come from one of the products sold by American Standard. [2] The Tanks played their home games at Parkway Field in Louisville, Kentucky, USA.

Contents

A charter member of the Midwest Football League (which evolved into the American Football League of 1938), the Tanks' first four seasons ended with league championships. [3] In 1939, after the AFL added the Cincinnati Bengals, Los Angeles Bulldogs (both formerly of the second major American Football League), and the Columbus Bullies (an independent team), the Tanks had the only losing season in their existence (1939), finishing in last place in the newly renamed American Professional Football Association. [3] [4]

The APFA announced its intention to become a major league in early 1940 and added a team from Milwaukee, but its ambitious plans crumbled in July, when Cincinnati, Columbus, and the new Milwaukee team defected to a new major American Football League. The APFA was mortally wounded as Louisville and the Dayton Bombers announced that they would not field teams for the 1940 season. The Tanks, the Bombers, and the APFA did not return to the field. [3]

Origin, the Midwest Football League, and the American Football League

Formed to fill the vacuum formed by the departure of the Louisville Bourbons, the Tanks wasted no time in becoming a charter member of the Midwest Football League in 1935. [1] [3] [4] The Tanks shared the 1935 championship with the Cincinnati Models and the Indianapolis Indians, two teams that disappeared within the next couple of years. [1] Louisville then dominated the league in 1936 and 1937, winning the championship title outright in both seasons. [1] In the 1937 contest, which was played on Sunday, December 12, the Tanks hosted the Cincinnati Models in the championship game, with the Tanks prevailing 13-0 behind touchdowns from Edward Crum and "Ripper" Roberts. [5]

The time between the end of the 1937 and beginning of the 1938 campaign saw much change involving the Tanks. The second major league AFL disbanded, and the freshly expanded Midwest League quickly adopted the name of the recently deceased league. While the new AFL was still asserting that it was strictly a midwestern league with no major league ambition, its footprint expanded to include Chicago and Nashville. While the Tanks finished the regular season in third place with a four-win, three-loss record (behind the Chicago Indians and the newly reformed St. Louis Gunners (four years after the latter playing in the National Football League), the Tanks won the championship in the first system of playoffs in a minor professional football league. [1] In a Shaughnessy playoff, the Tanks beat Chicago 13–0 and St. Louis 3–0 to claim the team's fourth title in its fourth year of existence. [1]

American Professional Football Association and demise

The year 1939 was the fifth year of the Tanks' existence, still with their original owners and their original (head) coach, and still in the league which they helped form in their first days of their existence. The former Midwest Football League, on the other hand, changed its name for the second consecutive year (to the American Professional Football Association) as it hinted at being more than a midwestern minor league as it added the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Bulldogs of the second major AFL and a powerful independent team that would later dominate another pro football league: the Columbus Bullies. The Tanks' string of winning seasons - and league championships - ended at four as they finished in last place with a 2–9 record. The three newcomers finished in the top three positions. [1]

The following year started with both optimism and surprise for the APFA membership. The Columbus Bullies were declared the champions with a 9–4 record despite the Los Angeles Bulldogs' losing only a single game (7 wins, 1 loss) and the Cincinnati Bengals' having a 6–2 record. [6] Milwaukee was admitted as the replacement for the Bulldogs, who left to form the Pacific Coast Professional Football League... and the league admitted to its having major league aspirations as the Green Bay Packers protested the APFA's intrusion into its territory. [3]

By July, it was all over as Cincinnati, Columbus, and Milwaukee left the loop to become the charter members of a new American Football League. Louisville and the Dayton Bombers announced that they were not fielding teams for 1940... and the APFA folded. The Tanks and the Bombers never returned to the gridiron. [1] [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

Below is a list of professional football Championship Games in the United States, involving:

The 1920 APFA season was the inaugural season of the American Professional Football Association, renamed the National Football League in 1922. An agreement to form a league was made by four independent teams from Ohio on August 20, 1920, at Ralph Hay's office in Canton, Ohio, with plans to invite owners of more teams for a second meeting on September 17, 1920. The "American Professional Football Conference" (APFC) was made up of Hay's Canton Bulldogs, Akron Pros, the Cleveland Tigers and the Dayton Triangles, who decided on a six-game schedule to play each other at home-and-away, an agreement to respect each other's player contracts, and to take a stand against signing college students whose class had not yet graduated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sports in Cincinnati</span>

Cincinnati is the home of three major league teams, three minor league teams, five college institutions with sports teams, and numerous top level amateur teams.

The United Football League was a professional american football minor league that operated between 1961 and 1964. It had eight teams, primarily based in the Midwestern United States.

The Cincinnati Bengals were a short-lived professional football team that played in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is unrelated to the current Cincinnati Bengals. Originated by Hal Pennington, the team was formed as a member of the second American Football League in the 1937 season. The Bengals finished with a 2–3–2 record in their first year, but the league folded after the season, and Pennington returned to his former team, the Cincinnati Models, which would change its name to the Cincinnati Blades for an ill-fated 1938 campaign. Pennington was replaced by new player-coach Dana King, who would guide the Bengals for the remainder of the team's existence.

The American Football League, also known retrospectively as the AFL III to distinguish it from earlier organizations of that name, was a professional American football league that operated from 1940–1941. It was created when three teams, the original Cincinnati Bengals, the Columbus Bullies, and the Milwaukee Chiefs, were lured away from the minor-league American Professional Football Association and joined three new franchises in Boston, Buffalo, and New York City in a new league. It competed against the National Football League (NFL), the oldest existing professional football league, established 1920 and reorganized 1922.

The American Football League (AFL) was a professional American football league that operated in 1936 and 1937. The AFL operated in direct competition with the more established National Football League (NFL) throughout its existence. While the American media generally ignored its operation, this second AFL was the first "home" of the Cleveland Rams, which joined the National Football League after one year in the AFL.

The Midwest Football League (MFL) was a professional american football minor league that existed from 1935 to 1940. Originally comprising teams from Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois, the league eventually expanded its reach to include teams from Missouri, Tennessee, Wisconsin, and California to become a national league with major league aspirations by 1939. In 1938, the league became the American Professional Football League after the collapse of the second major league of the same name, but changed its name once again the following year to American Professional Football Association (APFA). Some sources refer to it as the American Professional Football League.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Columbus Bullies</span> Professional football team from 1938 to 1942

The Columbus Bullies were a professional football team founded by Dean Carter in Columbus, Ohio in 1938. The Bullies started out as a member of the American Professional Football Association (APFA) in 1939. Later, in 1940, the Bullies joined the Cincinnati Bengals and Milwaukee Chiefs in leaving the APFA and becoming charter members of a new American Football League. Playing in Red Bird Stadium, the Bullies won both AFL Championships prior to ceasing operations when the AFL disbanded due to World War II. The Bullies defeated the Milwaukee Chiefs in 1940, and the New York Americans in 1941 in the only two AFL Championships.

The 1937 AFL season is the second and final season of the second American Football League. After the folding of the Syracuse/Rochester Braves in the 1936 season and the departure of the Cleveland Rams for the National Football League, the league added the Cincinnati Bengals and the Los Angeles Bulldogs, the latter being the first professional football team to play its home games on the American West Coast.

The Pacific Coast Professional Football League (PCPFL), also known as the Pacific Coast Football League (PCFL) and Pacific Coast League (PCL) was a professional American football minor league based in California. It operated from 1940 through 1948. One of the few minor American professional sports leagues that competed in the years of World War II, the PCPFL was regarded as a minor league of the highest level, particularly from 1940 to 1945, at a time in which the National Football League (NFL) did not extend further west than Chicago and Green Bay. It was also the first professional football league to have a team based in Hawaii.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Los Angeles Bulldogs</span> Professional American football team from 1936 to 1948

The Los Angeles Bulldogs were a professional American football team that competed from 1936 to 1948. Formed with the intention of joining the National Football League in 1937, the Bulldogs were the first team on the major league level to play its home games on the American West Coast. They were considered "the best football team in existence outside the NFL".

The New York Yankees of the third American Football League was the third professional American football team competing under that name. It is unrelated to the Yankees of the first AFL, the Yankees of the second AFL, and the (later) Yankees of the All-America Football Conference. The Yankees played their home games in Yankee Stadium and Downing Stadium in New York, New York.

The 1941 AFL season was the second and final season of the third American Football League. After deeming the 1940 season to be a success, the league made overtures of expansion, even going to the point of having a press conference to announce the addition of new teams (July), but when the press conference was held, the Boston Bears had withdrawn from the league and the new Detroit franchise deferred entry for the 1942 season.

The 1940 AFL season was the first season of the third American Football League. The league was formed when the New York Yankees, Boston Bears, and Buffalo Indians were joined by the Cincinnati Bengals, Columbus Bullies, and Milwaukee Chiefs of the minor American Professional Football Association. After the announcement of the formation of the AFL, applications for membership by former APFA members St. Louis Gunners and Kenosha Cardinals were rejected by the upstart league, which started with six members.

The Buffalo Indians were a professional American football team that competed in the third American Football League in 1940 and in 1941. The team played its home games in Civic Stadium in Buffalo, New York. Owned by the Buffalo American Legion, the Indians were managed by Earl "Red" Seick, who was also player-coach for the team for the first five games in 1940. While most of the AFL membership focused on raiding the rosters of the local members of the National Football League teams, the Indians concentrated on signing local talent, castoffs from the NFL, and men who played in the defunct second American Football League.

The Milwaukee Chiefs were a professional American football team based in Wisconsin that competed in the third American Football League in 1940 and in 1941.

The 1934 edition of the American Football League was a short-lived professional american football minor league with teams based in the American South and Southwest. The first of several minor leagues with the same name, the 1934 was also one of the first involving teams not located in the American Midwest and East. While its membership was the cornerstone of American football in the southern U.S., the AFL had only one season of competition and folded after cancelling competition in the 1935 season.

The New York Yankees of the second American Football League was the second professional American football team competing under that name. It is unrelated to the Yankees of the first AFL, the Yankees of the third AFL, the Yankees of the American Association and the (later) Yankees of the All-America Football Conference. The Yankees played their home games in Yankee Stadium and Triborough Stadium in New York, New York. Jack McBride was the team’s head coach throughout its existence; Yankees' president James Bush served as president of the second American Football League in 1936.

This timeline of the National Football League (NFL) tracks the history of each of the league's 32 current franchises from the early days of the league, through its merger with the American Football League (AFL). The history of franchises that began as independent teams, or as members of the Ohio League, New York Pro Football League, and other defunct leagues are shown as well.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 All Those AFL's: N.F.L. Competitors 1935-1941 Archived 2010-11-27 at the Wayback Machine - Bob Braunwort, American Pro Football Researchers Association (1979)
  2. ↑ John E. Kleiber, The Encyclopedia of Louisville (University Press of Kentucky 2001) ISBN   0-8131-2100-0
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Kenosha Cardinals: Life on the Fringe (1983) Archived 2006-03-01 at the Wayback Machine
  4. 1 2 George Gipe, The Great American Sports Book (Doubleday 1978) ISBN   0-385-13091-0
  5. ↑ [Original game program & scoresheet, personal collection]
  6. ↑ The Bulldogs: L.A. Hits the Big Time [ permanent dead link ] - Bob Gill, Pro Football Research Association (1982)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.