Mahoning Valley Thunder
Encyclopedia
Af2
AF2 was the name of the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football rules and style of play. League seasons ran from April through July with the postseason and ArenaCup...
arena football
Arena football
Arena football is a variety of gridiron football played by the Arena Football League . It is a proprietary game, the rights to which are owned by Gridiron Enterprises, and is played indoors on a smaller field than American or Canadian outdoor football, resulting in a faster and higher-scoring game....
team from 2007-2009.
Having entered af2 as an expansion team in 2007, the Thunder played its home games at Cortland Banks Field at the Covelli Centre in downtown Youngstown, Ohio
Youngstown, Ohio
Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Mahoning County; it also extends into Trumbull County. The municipality is situated on the Mahoning River, approximately southeast of Cleveland and northwest of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...
.
The teams colors were a combination of Black and Navy Blue
Navy blue
Navy blue is a very dark shade of the color blue which almost appears as black. Navy blue got its name from the dark blue worn by officers in the British Royal Navy since 1748 and subsequently adopted by other navies around the world....
, with the minor color of Gray.
Single-game tickets ranged from $5.00 to $50.00.
The team sold out their inaugural home game, on March 31, 2007, to a crowd of over 5,900 fans, while their 2nd home game entertained almost 4,800 fans, on April 21, 2007.
The Thunder's first head coach, Mike Hold, went 11-26 in his two-plus years at the helm. Hold was fired on April 28, 2009..
After going 0-3 under interim head coach, Brennan Booth, the Thunder named the franchise's second head coach, Chris MacKeown, on May 26, 2009. The team ended with a 2-14 record in 2009.
Attendance declined steadily over the three years, and the owners were unable to find investors to keep the team afloat . This led to an announcement on September 9, 2009 that the team will suspend operations indefinitely. It is assumed that the team will not return, as the af2 league disbanded the same day.
Season-by-season
|-|2007 || 7 || 9 || 0 || 3rd AC East || --
|-
|2008 || 3 || 13 || 0 || 4th AC East || --
|-
|2009 || 2 || 14 || 0 || 4th AC East ||
|-
!Totals || 12 || 36 || 0
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