American Association (football)

Southern Division

Southern Division

Playoffs: Wilmington 33, Paterson 0; Long Island 7, Jersey City 6

Championship: Wilmington 21, Long Island 13

1942

The Hartford Blues were expected to replace the New York Yankees for the 1942 season; the Churchill Pros (based in Springfield, Massachusetts) were enlisted to replace Providence when the team became the new Springfield Steamroller.

American Association president John Rosentover announced in August 1942 that the American Association was following the lead of the third American Football League, that the league was suspending operations due to World War II. While the member teams played on in an informal assemblage, the AA remained officially out of action until 1946. [ [http://www.profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/12-02-398.pdf Nothing Minor About It: The American Association/AFL of 1936-1950] – Bob Gill, Pro Football Researchers Association (1990)]

American Football League (1946-1950)

In the autumn of 1945, after the surrender of Japan in World War II, the American Association returned to business, unlike the third American Football League. John Rosentover remained league president, the five teams that finished the 1941 AA season (Jersey City, Long Island, Newark, Paterson, and Wilmington) returned to the fold, but the two franchises that were supposed to join the league in 1942 (Hartford and Springfield) did not survive the league's layover.

Neither did the third American Football League, which had originally announced intentions of resuming play after the war. So the American Association adopted a new name upon resumption of operations: American Football League. The league renewed its working relationship with the National Football League, with whom a compact with the Dixie League and the Pacific Coast Professional Football League prohibited the participation of players signed to “outlaw leagues” (originally directed toward the third AFL, but, starting 1946, applied to the newly-formed All-America Football Conference). [ [http://www.profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/12-02-398.pdf Nothing Minor About It: The American Association/AFL of 1936-1950] – Bob Gill, Pro Football Researchers Association (1990)]

1946

The resurrected league had three new entries for the first post-war season: the Scranton Miners, Newark Bombers (replacing the Bears, which moved to Akron, Ohio), and the Bethlehem Bulldogs. As the games resumed, fan attendance returned to pre-war levels.

Eastern Division

Western Division

Playoffs: Richmond 66, Wilmington 0; Paterson defeated Bethlehem

"'Championship: Richmond 35, Paterson 14

After winning three games in their first four games, Wilkes-Barre was hit by a rash of injuries in their games with Richmond and Paterson. Bob Edgerson, Bullets president, informed the league that the injuries would force him to cancel an upcoming game with Wilmington. Two days later, league president Joe Rosentover revoked the franchise. Rosentover then asked the independent Erie Vets if they could finish the Bullets’ schedule, but the team had disbanded for the season. The last four scheduled Wilkes-Barre games were declared forfeits. [ [http://www.profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/12-02-398.pdf Nothing Minor About It: The American Association/AFL of 1936-1950] – Bob Gill, Pro Football Researchers Association (1990)]

Richmond owner Harry Seibold applied for an expansion franchise in the All-America Football Conference, which had lost a member when the New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Dodgers merged for the 1949 season. No action was taken on the application as the AAFC merged with the NFL for the 1950 season. Richmond remained in the AFL. [ [http://www.profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/12-02-398.pdf Nothing Minor About It: The American Association/AFL of 1936-1950] – Bob Gill, Pro Football Researchers Association (1990)]

1950

Although the Erie Vets could not complete Wilkes-Barre’s schedule in 1949, they did join the AFL for the 1950 season; in addition, the Wilmington Clippers left the league and were replaced by the Brooklyn Brooks. The league abandoned the Shaughnessy playoff system and opted to have only the top two finishers play for the championship. It turned out that only two teams were still playing at the end of the season.

Bethlehem called it quits in early October, having lost two games (one by forfeit); later that week, the Brooklyn franchise was revoked for failure to pay the entrance fee. After Joe Rosentover announced the revocation, he announced that none of the games involving the Bulldogs or the Brooks would not count (they are included below). A new league schedule was drawn up, but in early November, charter member Paterson was forced to close up shop because of a financial dispute. [ [http://www.profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/12-02-398.pdf Nothing Minor About It: The American Association/AFL of 1936-1950] – Bob Gill, Pro Football Researchers Association (1990)]

Later that month, longtime league member Jersey City Giants (who entered the league in 1938 after its owners purchased the assets of charter member Stapleton Buffaloes) also called it quits after being crushed by each of the other two remaining teams in the league. Thus after nine weeks, Erie and Richmond were the last teams standing.

Includes forfeits by Brooklyn and Bethlehem (point totals exclude them); official league records officially have the games involving Brooklyn and Bethlehem stricken.

Championship: Richmond 35, Erie 7

With only two teams remaining in the league, the American Football League folded after the championship game.

References

See also

*Pacific Coast Professional Football League
*American Football League (1936)
*American Football League (1938)
*American Football League (1940)