Quad City Steamwheelers

Last updated
Quad City Steamwheelers
Established 1999
Folded 2009
Played in iWireless Center
in Moline, Illinois
League/conference affiliations
AF2 (2000–2009)
  • National Conference (2000–2005)
  • American Conference (2006–2009)
    • Midwestern Division (2001–2005)
    • Eastern Division (2006)
    • Midwest Division (2007–2009)
Current uniform
Team colorsNavy blue, gold and scarlet red
   
MascotSteamwheeler Willie
Personnel
Owner(s) Jim Foster
Head coach Frank Haege (2000–2001)
Rich Ingold (2002–2004)
Rick Frazier (2004–2006)
Sean Ponder (2007)
Troy Biladeau (2008–2009)
Team history
  • Quad City Steamwheelers (2000–2009)
Championships
League championships (2)
2000, 2001
Conference championships (2)
2000, 2001
Division championships (3)
2001, 2003, 2004
Playoff appearances (8)
2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008
Home arena(s)

The Quad City Steamwheelers were a professional arena football team. They were a charter member of the AF2 and played their home games at iWireless Center in Moline, Illinois.

Contents

The team was founded on September 1, 1999 when the Quad Cities was awarded an arena football franchise. Managing owner (and inventor of arena football) Jim Foster coined the team's nickname.

In December 2009, it was confirmed that the Steamwheelers had ceased operations, opting not to join the new Arena Football League after the bankruptcy of the Arena Football League and subsequent disbanding of af2. [1]

Team history

Back-to-back ArenaCup wins

The Steamwheelers played their inaugural season in 2000 and dominated the league for its first two seasons. They went undefeated in 2000 behind coach Frank Haege, even winning one game by a score of 103-3 over Greensboro in Greensboro, en route to capturing the first-ever ArenaCup Championship. In 2001, the Steamwheelers nearly repeated that accomplishment by finishing 18-1 and winning a second-straight league title. [2] During this two season span, the Steamwheelers set a record for the longest winning streak in the af2 at 24 consecutive wins.

Banned from 2002 playoffs

Allegations of rules violations plagued the Steamwheelers during the second season and they were eventually banned from the 2002 playoffs for salary cap violations under Haege.

Second coach

Coached by Rich Ingold from 2002–2004, the Steamwheelers were still successful as they clinched two more division titles. However, the team failed to win any additional league championships and lost 14 games over that three-year span. Ingold left the Steamwheelers after the 2004 season and was replaced by Rick Frazier, former coach for the Milwaukee Mustangs of the Arena Football League.

The 2006 season, under coach Frazier, was the first losing season for the franchise in its history.

New ownership and the search for a new league

In October 2006, the league awarded the right to operate the franchise to a new ownership group. The resulting change in ownership oversaw the change in team leadership from Frazier to new head coach Sean Ponder. Ponder was the team's offensive coordinator during the 2006 season. In 2009, the tenth and final af2 season, the Steamwheelers had their second losing season in franchise history.

With the folding of af2 in 2009, the Steamwheelers considered joining Indoor Football League and the newly re-formed Arena Football League. [3] They opted to cease operations instead. [1]

In 2018, a new Steamwheelers' team returned, but were not under the same operations as the previous team. [4]

Season-by-season

Season records
SeasonWLTFinishPlayoff results
200016001st NCWon Round 1 (Pensacola 55–19)
Won Semifinal (Norfolk 75–27)
Won ArenaCup I (Tennessee Valley 68–59)
200115101st NC MidwestWon Round 1 (Macon 80–55)
Won Semifinal (Carolina 35–16)
Won ArenaCup II (Richmond 55–51)
200210602nd NC MidwestBanned from playoffs
200314201st NC MidwestLost NC Semifinal (Arkansas 63–61)
200410601st NC MidwestLost NC Round 1 (Louisville 53–48)
20059703rd NC MidwestLost NC Round 1 (Rio Grande Valley 56–38)
20067905th AC EastDid not qualify
200710601st AC MidwestLost AC Round 1 (Green Bay 39–34)
20088803rd AC MidwestLost AC Round 1 (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 57–29)
200951103rd AC MidwestDid not qualify
Totals108530(including playoffs)

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References

  1. 1 2 "Wheelers officially sidelined". Quad-City Times . December 22, 2009.
  2. ↑ Mike Vergane (August 11, 2001). "An Arena Cup Nailbiter, 55–51". www.oursportscentral.com. OurSports Central. Retrieved July 19, 2017.
  3. ↑ New league could aid Wheelers return
  4. ↑ Doxsie, Don (August 15, 2017). "Steamwheelers indoor football returning to Q-C". Quad-City Times . Retrieved August 17, 2017.
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