American Football Association (1977–1983)
The American Football Association was a professional American football minor league that operated from 1977 to 1983.
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. Players were paid one percent of gross gate revenue, which often meant players were paid only menial sums for their service, and the league struggled to acquire recognizable players.
The league played its games on Saturday nights in the summer 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.
Teams and cities represented
| State | City | Team |
| Oklahoma | Tulsa | Oklahoma Thunder |
| Oklahoma | Tulsa | Tulsa Mustangs |
| Alabama | Birmingham | Alabama Vulcans |
| Alabama | Birmingham | Alabama Magic |
| Kentucky | Louisville | Kentucky Trackers |
| Florida | Jacksonville | Jacksonville Firebirds |
| Florida | Jacksonville | Jacksonville Sunbirds |
| Florida | Orlando | Orlando Americans |
| North Carolina | Charlotte | Carolina Chargers |
| Texas | San Antonio | San Antonio Charros |
| Texas | Austin | Austin Texans |
| Texas | Dallas | Dallas Wranglers |
| Texas | Burleson | Fort Worth Wranglers |
| Texas | Houston | Houston Hotshots |
| Texas | Houston | Houston Armadillos |
| Arkansas | Little Rock | Arkansas Diamonds |
| Mississippi | Jackson | Mississippi Stars |
| Virginia | Norfolk | Virginia Hunters |
| Louisiana | Shreveport | Shreveport Steamer |
| West Virginia | Charleston | West Virginia Rockets |
| Illinois | Chicago | Chicago Fire |
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 before folding, and players played for a paycheck equal to one percent of the net gate receipts after expenses.
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. 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.Billy Kilmer, the former NFL quarterback, 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.
In 1982, with former San Antonio Wings executive Roger Gill at the helm, the league attempted to expand northward by absorbing other semi-pro teams in Buffalo, New York, Racine, Wisconsin and Canton, Ohio.
The USFL's securing of a TV contract, especially after the AFA had failed to do so, led to the AFA eventually declining into semi-pro status and folding after its 1983 season.
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. 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.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 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".| 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
Indicates overtime victory.King Kong Bowl
San Jose Tigers 32 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.| 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 |