The AFA was concentrated in the southern United States and served as the second tier of professional football between the World Football League, which folded in 1975, and the United States Football League, which began play in 1983. Unlike the WFL or USFL, the AFA always fashioned itself as a minor league, and never planned to rival the National Football League for "major league" status.[1] Players were paid one percent of gross gate revenue, which often meant players were paid only menial sums for their service (often comparable to minimum wage for three hours of work), and the league struggled to acquire recognizable players.[2]
The league played its games on Saturday nights[1] in the summer (beginning its season Memorial Day weekend and ending in August) to avoid direct competition against other football in the fall, a move that foreshadowed the USFL's similar spring football schedule. The AFA ended operations in 1983, unable to take advantage of the strike that hit the NFL the year prior or weather the competition from the USFL.
Many nicknames came from previous leagues, with minor alterations to avoid trademark disputes: the Steamer, Vulcans and Fire all took their names from WFL teams, while the Rockets borrowed their moniker from a Continental Football League and United Football League team of the same name.
The operations were often fly-by-night, with most teams lasting only one season (or less) before folding, and players played for a paycheck equal to one percent of the net gate receipts after expenses (In August 1980, Shreveport Times sports reporter Ron Higgins estimated the average Steamer game check to be about $35 per man).
Despite its minor-league status, the league's teams often were able to secure leases for unusually large stadiums, often those used by the WFL and the USFL: the Orlando Americans, in their lone season, played in the 70,000-seat Citrus Bowl, while the Vulcans and Magic played at similarly-sized Legion Field, Houston played at 73,000 seat Rice Stadium, and the Fire played at Soldier Field.[9] The Mustangs played at 30,000-seat Skelly Stadium. The Jacksonville Firebirds played in the Gator Bowl.
History
The AFA was founded in May 1977 and began to play that summer. It was formed to take advantage of the places where the WFL was the most popular, while avoiding the overspending that led to that league's demise.[1]
Billy Kilmer, the former NFL quarterback (and coach of the AFA's Shreveport Steamer in 1979),[10] was named commissioner in 1981. Kilmer lasted one season as commissioner, working unpaid, during which he encountered numerous problems in the AFA, including a scandal in San Antonio which a player named Robert Lee Johnson misrepresented himself as former NFL offensive lineman Randy Johnson. The Carolina Chargers, one of the league's more successful and stable teams, dropped out of the league mid-season but re-emerged in 1982 under new ownership as the Carolina Storm.[11]
The USFL's securing of a TV contract, especially after the AFA had failed to do so (the AFA was only able to get a few of its teams onto local cable stations, still a nascent technology at the time), led to the AFA eventually declining into semi-pro status and folding after its 1983 season.[2]
The AFA lasted six seasons, one of the longest runs of a minor professional football organization in the sport's history, and considered the strongest league in the era between the WFL and the USFL.[12] The development of arena football and its numerous imitators has effectively reduced most outdoor leagues to amateur or semi-pro status, with some exceptions, until the modern era of professional spring football began in 2019 with the Alliance of American Football and subsequently the component leagues that would form the United Football League of 2024.
The modern American Football Association, a sanctioning body for semi-pro and amateur football, is unrelated to the former AFA.
1977
Harry Lander and Roger Gill, from the existing San Antonio Charros amateur club, decided to create a new minor league football league and attract local investors. Five other clubs from Houston, Fort Worth, Austin, Wichita Falls, and Oklahoma City joined the Charros to establish the AFA.[13]
The plan was to play two exhibition games, and then each team would play twelve regular-season games beginning on July 2. The players were promised 1% of each game's gate receipts.
After three games (including two preseason) where they failed to score any points, the Fort Worth Stars were forced out of the league, while the Houston franchise—which had failed to secure a home stadium, pay their league dues, or secure medical insurance for their players—folded mid-August.
Team
W
L
T
Pct.
PF
PA
Notes
San Antonio Charros
8
0
0
1.000
329
81
Champions
Oklahoma City Warriors
4
3
0
.571
192
73
Austin Texans
4
4
0
.500
168
177
Wichita Falls Steelers
2
5
0
.285
74
162
Houston Seagulls
0
5
0
.000
38
183
Folded mid-season
Fort Worth Stars
0
1
0
-
0
77
Forced out of the league
The San Antonio Charros finished undefeated in the regular season and were declared league champions.
1978
The AFA entered an agreement for a loose affiliation with the California Football League for the 1978 season, that both leagues will play their normal league schedules, and at the end of the season the champions of each league will play in the "King Kong Bowl" to determine the "national champion".[12][14][15]
Team
W
L
T
Pct.
PF
PA
Shreveport Steamer
9
1
0
.900
375
161
San Antonio Charros
6
4
0
.600
235
185
Houston Titans
6
4
0
.600
226
206
Oklahoma City Stampede
6
4
0
.600
263
185
Wichita Falls Roughnecks
2
8
0
.200
101
300
Austin Texans
1
9
0
.100
158
273
Playoffs
Semi-finals September 2
American Bowl I September 16
1
Shreveport
14
4
Oklahoma City
0
1
Shreveport
17*
2
San Antonio
14
2
San Antonio
25
3
Houston
7
* Indicates overtime victory.
King Kong Bowl
(September 30 at State Fair Stadium) San Jose Tigers32 vs. Shreveport Steamer 6
1979
The league grow to nine teams and had plans to divide to Eastern and Western divisions, but after Tulsa Mustangs folded the remaining teams has gone from two divisions format to one, with the top four teams making the playoffs.[12][16]
Team
W
L
T
Pct.
PF
PA
Alabama Vulcans
13
5
0
.722
406
220
San Antonio Charros
10
4
0
.714
405
301
Carolina Chargers
12
5
0
.705
457
277
Jacksonville Firebirds
11
5
0
.687
497
277
Shreveport Steamer
9
7
0
.562
387
279
Mississippi Stars
5
11
0
.312
220
386
Kentucky Trackers
4
12
0
.250
342
544
Tulsa Mustangs
1
4
0
.250
39
120
Arkansas Champs
2
14
0
.125
138
503
Playoffs
Semi-finals September 15
American Bowl II September 29
1
Alabama
21
4
Jacksonville
28
4
Jacksonville
27
3
Carolina
7
2
San Antonio
21
3
Carolina
28
1980
The AFA started the season with eight teams and split up to Eastern and Western divisions. The league revoked Kentucky Trackers license after several cases of misconduct with four remaining weeks in the regular season. The Trackers' remaining games was filled with semi-pro teams from the Atlantic Coast League and the Dixie League, but those games did not count in AFA standings.[12][17]
Eastern Division
Team
W
L
T
Pct.
PF
PA
Carolina Chargers
10
3
0
.769
315
231
West Virginia Rockets
9
4
0
.692
294
183
Jacksonville Firebirds
8
5
0
.615
306
225
Kentucky Trackers
0
13
0
.000
135
248
Western Division
Team
W
L
T
Pct.
PF
PA
Shreveport Steamer
9
1
0
.900
265
122
San Antonio Charros
6
4
0
.600
227
179
Austin Texans
4
6
0
.400
189
245
Fort Worth Wranglers
0
10
0
.000
85
307
Playoffs
Semi-finals August 30
American Bowl III September 7
1
Carolina
36
4
San Antonio
20
1
Carolina
18
3
West Virginia
42
2
Shreveport
17
3
West Virginia
21
1981
Billy Kilmer was introduced as the first full-time commissioner of the American Football Association. Also, for the first time, the league expended behind southern United States, when they add the Chicago Fire.The Chargers players voted to walk out on the team four games into the season, while both Shreveport Steamer and Austin Texans folded before season end, resulting in Kilmer resignation before the American Bowl. He was replaced by AFA president Roger Gill.[12]
During the season a member of the Orlando Americans admits he impersonated former NFL guard Randy Johnson to make the team. He was discovered when he couldn't crack the starting lineup.[18]
Eastern Division
Team
W
L
T
Pct.
PF
PA
West Virginia Rockets
11
1
0
.916
307
144
Jacksonville Firebirds
8
4
0
.666
228
206
Virginia Hunters
7
5
0
.583
187
210
Orlando Americans
5
7
0
.416
229
202
Carolina Chargers
2
10
0
.166
102
117
Western Division
Team
W
L
T
Pct.
PF
PA
Chicago Fire
8
4
0
.666
311
223
San Antonio Charros
6
6
0
.500
276
297
Shreveport Steamer
6
6
0
.500
169
182
Texas Wranglers
5
7
0
.416
149
237
Austin Texans
2
10
0
.166
184
324
* Includes forfeit games.
Playoffs
Semi-finals August 23
American Bowl IV August 30
1
West Virginia
42
4
San Antonio
12
1
West Virginia
29
2
Chicago
21
2
Chicago
24
3
Jacksonville
17
1982
The AFA expanded to 18 teams, and split up to three divisions, while two teams (Florida Sun and Roanoke Valley Express) folded mid-season.[12][19]
First Round (August 7): Racine 44 vs. Akron 6 Carolina 61 vs. West Virginia 18 Texas 17 vs. Oklahoma 14 Shreveport 42 vs. Georgia 35
Semi-finals August 15
American Bowl V August 21
Carolina
35
Racine
8
Carolina
46
Shreveport
22
Shreveport
30
Texas
27
1983
It was the seventh and final year of the AFA. The United Football Teams of America league champion – Oklahoma City Drillers – joined the league but later announced that they would play the season as a travelling team before folding altogether after two weeks. The majority of the teams followed, and the league decided that division champions Carolina and San Antonio would meet in the final American Bowl.[12]
^ Also known as the Carolina Storm. The Chargers/Storm were by far the most successful club in AFA history, playing in four of the league's six championship games (losing in 1979 and 1980, winning in 1982 and 1983; Charlotte was also undefeated in the latter two years).[5]
^Later merged with Orlando as the "Shreveport Americans".