Birmingham Iron
The Birmingham Iron was a professional American football franchise based in Birmingham, Alabama, and one of the eight members of the Alliance of American Football, which played eight regular season games from February 2019 to April 2019. They played their home games at Legion Field. The Iron were coached by former National Football League player and coach Tim Lewis. Trey Brown was the executive vice president of football operations and Joe Pendry was the general manager.
On April 2, 2019, the league's football operations were reportedly suspended, and on April 4 the league allowed players to leave their contracts to sign with NFL teams. The league filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on April 17, 2019.
History
The team was announced as a charter team of the Alliance of American Football on June 4, 2018. The team's first head coach was announced on June 6 as Tim Lewis, his first job at the position. On September 20, the league announced four eastern inaugural franchises' names and logos, including Birmingham as the Birmingham Iron. The name is a tribute to the city's iron industry, while the team colors of black, dark grey, and light grey were based on iron ore, coal, and flux, the components used to make steel.The final 52-man roster was set on January 30, 2019. The team's first game was at home against the Memphis Express on February 10, 2019, when the Iron registered their first win and the first shutout in league history.
On March 31, the Iron clinched a playoff berth with a win against Atlanta, though the playoffs were never played as the league suspended football operations on April 2. The Iron finished at a 5β3 record.
Final roster
Allocation pool
The team's assigned area, which designated player rights, included the following:Colleges
- Alabama
- Alabama A&M
- Alabama State
- Auburn
- Indiana University of Pennsylvania
- Jacksonville State
- Louisiana Tech
- Maryland
- Miles College
- Mississippi State
- Missouri
- NC State
- Alabama Lions football|North Alabama]
- Ohio
- Samford
- South Alabama
- South Carolina
- Troy
- Tuskegee
- UAB
- West Alabama
Canadian Football League
2019 season
Schedule
Regular season
Changed from original time and/or networkGame summaries
Week 1: Memphis
The Iron began their season at home against the Express. In the first quarter, the Iron scored when Nick Novak kicked a 29-yard field goal to make it 3β0. They would increase their lead in the second quarter when Novak kicked 28-yard and 47-yard field goals to make it 6β0 and then 9β0 at halftime. After a scoreless third quarter, the Iron managed to pull away from the Express after Trent Richardson ran for a 4-yard touchdown to make it 17β0. This would be followed by Novak's fourth field goal attempt of the day in which he kicked a 32-yarder to make it 20β0. Finally, Richardson ran for his second touchdown of the game from 5 yards out to make the final score 26β0.With the win, the Iron started their season 1β0.
Week 2: Salt Lake
After a huge shut out win, the Iron stayed home for Week 2 against the Stallions. It was all Stallions in the first half after both teams failed to score in the first quarter. In the second quarter, the Stallions made it 6β0 when Joel Bouagnon ran for a 3-yard touchdown. They made it 9β0 at halftime when Taylor Bertolet kicked a 53-yard field goal. The Iron managed to get on the board in the third quarter when Shaheed Salmon recovered a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown to make it 9β6. In the fourth quarter, the Iron were able to make the comeback as Trent Richardson ran for 3-yard touchdown to make the final score 12β9.With the win, the Iron improved to 2β0.
Week 3: at Atlanta
After the tough home win, the Iron went on the road to face the Legends. After a scoreless first quarter, the Legends scored first when Younghoe Koo kicked a 21-yard field goal to make it 3β0. The Iron tied it up when Nick Novak kicked a 39-yard field goal to make it 3β3. They moved into the lead when Trent Richardson ran for a 5-yard touchdown to make it 9β3. The Legends however drew closer when Koo kicked a 35-yard field goal to make it 9β6 at halftime. After the break, the Iron moved back ahead by 6 when Novak kicked a 27-yard field goal to make it 12β6. They would move ahead by double digits when Richardson ran for a 1-yard touchdown to make it 20β6. In the fourth quarter, the Iron pulled further away when Richardson ran for yet another touchdown to make it 28β6. The Legends wrapped up the scoring of the game when Matt Sims found Montay Crockett on a 23-yard pass to make the final score 28β12.With the win, the Iron improved to 3β0.
Week 4: San Antonio
After a tough road win, the Iron returned home for a game against the Commanders. In the first quarter, the Commanders scored first when Nick Rose kicked a 39-yard field goal to make it 3β0 for the only score. The Iron tied it up in the second quarter when Nick Novak kicked a 33-yard field goal to make it 3β3 at halftime. The Commanders got back into the lead in the third quarter when Trey Williams ran for a 12-yard touchdown to make it 9β3. They increased their lead in the fourth quarter when Rose kicked a 20-yard field goal to make it 12β3. Later on in the quarter, the Iron came within a point when Trent Richardson ran for a 1-yard touchdown to make it 12β11. The Iron were able to get the ball back and try to convert a 4th-and-12 but Luis Perez was intercepted ending the game sending the Iron to their first ever loss.With the loss, the Iron fell to 3β1 and second place in the Eastern Conference.
Week 5: Orlando
After a tough home loss, the Iron stayed home to face the undefeated Apollos. In the first quarter, the Apollos scored first when Garrett Gilbert found Scott Orndorff on a 21-yard pass to make it 6β0. This would be followed by Keith Reaser returning an interception 40 yards to make it 14β0. In the second quarter, Elliott Fry kicked a 21-yard field goal to make it 17β0. The Iron finally got on the board when Trent Richardson ran for a 3-yard touchdown to make it 17β8. Though, the Apollos pulled away at halftime when Fry kicked a 22-yard field goal to make it 20β8. In the third quarter, the Iron drew closer when Keith Price found Brandon Ross on a 30-yard touchdown to make it 20β14. Though, the Apollos made it 23β14 by way of Fry's 27-yard field goal. In the fourth quarter, the Apollos wrapped up the scoring of the game when Gilbert found Jalin Marshall on a 12-yard pass to make the final score 31β14.With their second straight loss, the Iron fell to 3β2.
Week 6: at San Diego
After yet another tough loss at home, the Iron traveled west to take on the Fleet. In the first quarter, the Fleet scored first when Donny Hageman kicked a 36-yard field goal to make it 3β0. The Iron took the lead later on in the quarter when Luis Perez found Trent Richardson on a 13-yard pass to make it 6β3. In the second quarter, the Iron increased their lead when Perez found L'Damian Washington on an 83-yard pass to make it 12β3. The Fleet drew closer when Mike Bercovici found Ben Johnson on a 1-yard pass to make it 12β9. Nick Novak came out to kick a 23-yard field goal to help the Iron to a 15β9 lead at halftime. In the third quarter, the Iron went back ahead by double-digits as Richardson ran for a 2-yard touchdown to make it 21β9. However, the Fleet would score two straight times to retake the lead: Terrell Watson would run for a 2-yard touchdown to make it 21β17, followed up by Bercovici finding Watson on a 12-yard pass to make it 23β21. In the fourth quarter, however, the Iron took the lead back when Perez found Washington again, this time on a 23-yard pass to make it 29β21. Then, the Fleet would tie it up at 29β29, after Bercovici found Francis Owusu on a 13-yard pass. The Iron completed the comeback with no time left in the game as Novak kicked the game-winning 44-yard field goal to make the final score 32β29.With the win, the Iron improved to 4β2.
Week 7: at Memphis
After a tough road win, the Iron traveled again to take on the Express. In the first quarter, the Iron scored first when Luiz Perez found Braedon Bowman on an 11-yard pass to make it 8-0. In the second quarter, the Express tied it up when Terrence Magee ran for a 1-yard touchdown to make it 8-8. Trent Richardson then got the Iron ahead at halftime when he ran for a 1-yard touchdown to make it 16-8. In the third quarter, the Iron increased their lead when Nick Novak kicked a 28-yard field goal to make it 19-8. Though, the Express drew closer when Terrell Bonds blocked a punt and returned it 50 yards for a touchdown to make it 19-14. In the fourth quarter, the Iron moved ahead by double digits again when Perez found Wes Saxton on a 4-yard pass to make it 25-14. Though, the Express would score 2 straight times to tie the game up and force overtime when Austin MacGinnis kicked a 22-yard field goal to make it 25-17 and then Brandon Silvers found Reece Horn on a 7-yard pass to make it 25-25. In overtime, Silvers found Dan Williams on a 10-yard pass to make it 31-25 for the Express comeback win.With the loss, the Iron fell to 4-3.
Week 8: Atlanta
After a tough loss, the Iron returned home for their final home game of the season against the Legends. Another distraction came when minority owner Mark Jennings announced he had sold his shares in the Iron just three days before the game. In the first quarter, the Legends scored first when Younghoe Koo kicked a 33-yard field goal to make it 3-0. In the second quarter, the Iron tied the game up when Nick Novak kicked a 35-yard field goal to make it 3-3. They would take the lead when Trent Richardson ran for a 2-yard touchdown to make it 11-3. Though the Legends drew closer when Koo kicked a 31-yard field goal to make it 11-6 at halftime. In the third quarter, the Iron pulled away when Novak kicked a 37-yard field goal to make it 14-6. Though, the Legends came within 5 again when Koo kicked a 35-yard field goal to make it 14-9. In the fourth quarter, the Iron moved back ahead and eventually won by 8 when Novak kicked a 28-yard field goal to make the final score 17-9.With the win, the Iron were able to seal the second playoff spot and improve to 5-3.